The hair salon as museum
Tseng Chin-chwen describes barbershops as museums of daily life, with salons from different time periods preserving the tools of the trade of their eras. For example, different types of hair-washing basin from different eras, including the two-person sink, the drawer-type basin hidden inside a dressing table, and the movable reclining sink, can be found in different hair salons. They testify to how the basins have evolved into the reclining hair-washing chair and sink widely used today.
Tseng says that Taiwan’s unique history has given rise to a local hair-salon culture that combines Chinese, Japanese, and European elements. Barbers who came to Taiwan with the tide of Han Chinese immigration during the Qing Dynasty brought supplementary services including treatment of sore throats and eye washing. During the era of Japanese rule, Western equipment like barber’s chairs and dressing tables were introduced and it became customary for barbers to wear uniforms, marking the beginning of modernization of Taiwan’s hair salons. Meanwhile, Japanese elements such as the popular Yamamoto cut and curling-iron perms were adopted in imitation of popular trends in Japan.
We follow Tseng Chin-chwen on a visit to Zhao’an Hair Salon, which has particular expertise in ear cleaning. The boss, Huang Dexiang, is a barber who is also a sculptor, metalworker, and illustrator. He enjoys doing things by hand, and he even makes his ear cleaners himself, using various materials including gold, silver, bronze, and bamboo, to deal with the differently shaped ears of customers.
The nostalgic Huang has collected a lot of barbering memorabilia from the past. For example, the men’s pomade which he jokingly calls one of the top ten torture items of hair salons was a product used over 50 years ago to plaster down locks on the head. Why does he call it torture? Huang explains that it was made by mixing lime, hydrochloric acid, and red lead oxide, and was strongly caustic. When using it one needed to carefully calibrate where to apply it and for how much time. When properly used it could soften the hair and help in styling, but when applied for too long it could make the hair brittle and even injure the scalp. The proper application required skill and know-how.
Meanwhile, curling-iron perms, which were popular for a while in Taiwan, early on were done using metal tongs with bags of calcium carbide powder attached. The calcium carbide would be wetted, causing a hot chemical reaction that heated up the tongs, thereby perming the hair. Huang says humorously that when the whole head was covered with these tongs there was a lot of weight on there, making this procedure another a kind of torture. He then pulls out a pair of metal tongs more than 70 years old which look a little like modern curling tongs, but had to be heated over an open flame in a metal container. Huang relates that in the past hair stylists would judge the temperature of the tongs by their smell, and when used to perm hair they had an immediate curling effect. “In the past, people needed only the slightest curl in their hair to consider themselves to be fashionably coiffed and they walked the streets with pride,” says Huang with a laugh.
Father-and-son team Huang Dexiang (left) and Huang Jincheng (right) of the Zhao’an Hair Salon are working together to help traditional hair styling keep up with the times.
Huang Dexiang shows us a pair of old-fashioned curling tongs. Huang, who enjoys making things by hand, has created ear cleaners from various materials as well as barbershop figurines rich with a childlike sense of fun.