Who knew that so much history was tucked away at one location, Salon and Spa Museum, on Airport Freeway in Fort Worth?
Located at 5208 Airport Freeway you will find the Salon and Spa Museum, and it is well-worth a visit the next time you are in that area. It is like stepping into a time machine, and for a history buff, it is a wondrous trip into yesteryear. Right next door to Salon and Spa Galleria, you will find . . .
Learn amazing facts like . . .
Did you know that hair care and hair styling actually began with the Ancient Egyptians? Did you know that, at one time, hair care consisted of slapping on a wig before going out in public?
The modern concept of a hair salon, in fact, did not become a social phenomenon until around 1900 when Martha Matilda Harper opened the first hair salon, The Harper Hair Parlor, complete with reclining chairs. Mrs. Harper also started a training school for future hair stylists, the first in the country.
Hair salons of today
Fast forward to today and there are close to one million hair salons in the U.S., employing about 1.3 million people. If Martha Matilda Harper could only see us now! In fact, hair salons are not limited, today, to just hair care. Many offer related services, like the following:
- Hair extensions
- Microblading
- Nail styling
- Facials
- Waxing
- Tanning
- Massage
- Microdermabrasion
- And many more
Shrinking in size but increasing in number
Another change we are now seeing in the classic beauty salon business model is a movement towards independent, small, one-person salons. Examples of these can be found right next door to the Salon and Spa Museum, at Salon & Spa Galleria. There you will find beauty specialists renting salon suites from which they operate their own businesses, without employees. In every Salon & Spa Galleria you will find a variety of these small, one suite businesses, each offering their own professional talent. Customers still have the ability to obtain the services of all the services listed above, but each one is an independent business owner, and each rents their own mini-salon.
One wonders what Martha Matilda Harper would think of the evolution of the craze she began back in 1900.
Take a stroll through the Salon and Spa Museum
Taking a stroll through the museum, you will see a variety of salon and barber chairs used back in the early days of the industry. You will see photographs which will elicit fond memories in our older visitors, and looks of surprise and awe in the younger visitors. You will see hairdryers which look like some alien headdress, and many of the styling tools used over one-hundred years ago, tools which look like the implements of some Medieval torture chamber. It is all great fun, but it is also a chance to see some of the history, a part of our heritage, which led to the advancements of our modern world.
5208 Airport Freeway, in Fort Worth, an easy place to get to, an easy place to find, and a short drive into a history of long ago. We hope you come visit us in the near future. We would love to share our history with all of you reading this.
