History of Hair Salons: A US Business & Culture Guide

A quick chronology

A timeline of hair salon history

Ancient world
Hair as identity
Wigs, barbering and elaborate styles reflect status, fashion and everyday care.
1600s–1800s
Professional stylists emerge
European fashion and specialized tools move hairdressing toward a public profession.
1888–1891
A replicable salon model
Harper opens a Rochester salon and establishes a franchise network.
Early 1900s
Beauty entrepreneurship expands
Malone, Walker and many others create products, schools and opportunities.
1920s–1960s
Modern hair fashion takes shape
Bobs, permanent waves and precision cutting transform salon services.
Today
Local craft, digital discovery
Professional services remain personal, even as customers discover salons online.

The ancient world

Egyptian wigs, Roman barbers and household specialists

Long before salon storefronts existed, people invested time and skill in caring for their hair. In ancient Egypt, surviving human-hair wigs show the sophistication of grooming traditions thousands of years ago.¹⁵ These traditions should not be confused with the services or business structures of today's salons.

In ancient Rome, tonsores offered public barbering, and their shops also served as meeting places. At the same time, wealthy households employed people who specialized in women's hairstyles, including ornatrices. Evidence recorded by the Vatican Museums and scholarship on Roman barbershops shows that both public and private hairdressing existed—rather than all styling taking place at home.¹²

Roman hairstyles could involve pins, elaborate arrangements and accessories. What changed over the centuries was not the basic desire for grooming, but who provided the service, where it happened and how stylists were paid.

From private service to professional craft

European fashion and the rise of specialized tools

European courts helped make hairdressing a visible profession. By the 17th and 18th centuries, fashionable clients increasingly relied on specialist coiffeurs and elaborate styling. The transformation was gradual: household servants, independent professionals and fashionable businesses often existed at the same time.

In the 19th century, heated metal tools enabled more repeatable curls and waves. French hairdresser Marcel Grateau is associated with the Marcel wave and curling-tong innovations around the 1870s. An 1852 date sometimes repeated online refers to Grateau's birth year, not the documented introduction of his curling tool.⁴

New equipment did not single-handedly invent the salon. It did, however, create new reasons to seek out trained professionals and specialized spaces, alongside growing urban retail culture.

Entrepreneurship in America

How the United States built a salon industry

Martha Matilda Harper and the franchise model

In 1888, Canadian-born entrepreneur Martha Matilda Harper opened her Harper Method Shop in Rochester, New York. Her salon emphasized washing, client comfort and a consistent method of service. Beginning in 1891, she franchised the concept to independently operated shops, using training, products and standardized practices. The network ultimately grew to more than 500 locations worldwide. She is widely recognized as an early pioneer of retail franchising, not necessarily the sole inventor of every type of franchise.⁵⁶

Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C. J. Walker

The story of American salons also depends on the entrepreneurs who created professional products and economic opportunities for Black women. Annie Turnbo Malone established an influential haircare business and educational network. Madam C. J. Walker, who initially worked with Malone, later built her own national brand and trained thousands of beauty professionals and agents. Their businesses enabled women to pursue work and ownership amid racial and gender discrimination.⁷¹⁴

Marjorie Stewart Joyner, an important figure in the Walker business, advanced beautician training and received a patent in 1928 for a permanent-waving machine, a reminder that salon history is also a history of invention.⁸

The 1920s: the bob and changing routines

The short bob became an enduring symbol of 1920s fashion. Along with the growing popularity of permanent waves, hairpins and new haircare products, it changed the work salons performed and the frequency of visits for many clients. The Smithsonian documents these transformations, although precise claims that a specific number of salons opened during the decade are not consistently substantiated.³

Style becomes a signature

Hollywood, precision cutting and famous stylists

As cinema spread hairstyles to enormous audiences, some stylists became public creative figures rather than anonymous workers. Sydney Guilaroff, the influential MGM hairstylist, is widely identified as the first hairdresser to receive on-screen credit for his work.⁹

In the 1960s, Vidal Sassoon helped popularize geometric, precision-led cutting that offered an alternative to elaborate set hairstyles. The shift connected salon work with modern design and made the haircut itself a recognizable creative product.

Stylist Paul Mitchell and entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria founded their professional haircare company in 1980. Their story illustrates how a stylist's approach can extend into products, education and international business.¹⁰

Unexpected career beginnings

Famous people who worked as hairdressers

Robert Greenberg

Before building footwear businesses including Skechers, Greenberg worked as a hairdresser. His early career is documented in a 1993 Los Angeles Times business profile.¹¹

Danny DeVito

Before becoming an actor, DeVito worked in his sister's beauty parlor, trained in cosmetology and later spoke about that experience to the Television Academy.¹²

Henry Golding

Years before his film career, Golding worked professionally as a hairstylist in London, later moving into television presenting.¹³

Modern business, personal service

What hair salons are today

Today's salons combine craft, consultation, client relationships and specialized equipment. Services may include cutting, coloring, styling, hair and scalp treatments, and other offerings depending on staff qualifications and local licensing rules.

Where earlier clients might have learned of a stylist through family or neighborhood recommendations, many now encounter salons through maps, websites, social platforms and other online tools. Clear business information—services, hours, location, genuine expertise and straightforward ways to contact or book—helps people make informed choices.

Frequently asked questions

Questions about hair salon history

Did ancient civilizations have hair salons?

Ancient people practiced complex hairstyling, but they did not generally use the same business model as a modern salon. Roman barbershops were public gathering places, while wealthy Roman households also employed specialist hairdressers known as ornatrices.

Who pioneered hair salon franchising in the United States?

Martha Matilda Harper opened a salon in Rochester, New York, in 1888 and began franchising her Harper Method shops in 1891. At its peak, the network grew beyond 500 salons worldwide.

Why were short hairstyles important in the 1920s?

The bob became an influential fashion statement. Short styles, permanent waves and new styling products helped reshape beauty services and encouraged more women to seek professional hair care.

Who helped expand the African American beauty industry?

Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C. J. Walker built influential hair care enterprises that offered products, education, and business opportunities to Black women. Marjorie Stewart Joyner also advanced professional training and permanent-waving technology.

Did Danny DeVito work in a hair salon?

Yes. Before acting, Danny DeVito worked in his sister’s beauty parlor and trained as a hairdresser. He described the experience in an interview with the Television Academy.

Did the founder of Skechers work as a hairdresser?

Yes. Businessman Robert Greenberg, who founded Skechers, worked as a hairdresser before entering the apparel and footwear industries.

Does BestHairSalon.in book salon appointments?

No. BestHairSalon.in publishes general information and provides city-specific advertising links. An active city link sends visitors to the independent salon website selected by the URL lessee.

References and editorial method

Sources and further reading

We favor museums, universities, original interviews and established historical publications. The dates and business claims in this article are supported by the linked materials below; historical descriptions are summaries rather than quotations. This overview is educational, not a ranking of salons.

For corrections or source suggestions, email julio@campmercury.com.

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