This morning I took Mama to an early hair appointment. It was time for a perm. She has been going to the same place for several years. It was recommended to her by an old friend from church.
As the photo reveals, the shop is called Peyton Place. I do not know why. It is located on North First Street in Trenton, so it has nothing to do with location. I certainly need to ask Evelyn Porter, the kind, petite owner of this hometown business. Evelyn has a sweet smile and a slight southern twang, which is, of course, endearing. She has run her business from this location for nearly 32 years. It is ‘literally’ a part of her home, as a remodel/addition was done to create the salon.
Salon is a word that connotes white, terry robes, subdued lighting, candle-infused aromas and mellow music. That is not the case here. Peyton Place should call itself exactly what it is ~ a beauty shop. It is small, but comfortable. It smells of perm solution, laundry soap and fresh brewed coffee in a pot, no Keurig here.
The shop is not built for speed, it is built for relationship. I always count on a two-and-a-half hour wait. It actually can be kind of nice to be stuck for a chunk of time. I bring my coffee and I dig into the stack of Prevention magazines always sitting on the bookshelf.
Evelyn always hugs my mama when we arrive. She treats her gently and with respect. The icing on the cake is that she does a wonderful job on Mama’s hair. It is always a great perm. For $50 (she just raised her price after many years at $40), Mama gets a wash and perm and cut and set, plus 2.5 hours of beauty shop talk. It’s a steal.
Anyone my age or older remembers the soap opera Peyton Place. I never saw one episode but I know it was highly popular. The TV show was based on the 1957 movie of same name. It is disturbing when something everyone thinks of as “so old” happened in your birth year. Oh well.
Peyton Place was an American drama film that starred Lana Turner and Hope Lange. It was an exposé of the residents of a small fictional New England mill town in the years surrounding World War II. It was complete with scandal, homicide, suicide, incest and moral hypocrisy, hiding behind a tranquil facade. Wow, that movie would fit right in with small town, Ohio 2018.
Which brings me back to Peyton Place, the beauty shop. It could not be further from the movie plot. It is run by a lovely Christian woman who has a great family. She works hard and treats every customer like a jewel.
Perhaps it is so-named to draw in people who feel like their life is a soap opera. I am not so naive to believe that every person who walks through that door is Aunt Bea, though it certainly appears and feels that way.
If you are considering an appointment, leave your credit card and debit card at home. She does not utilize that technology. No iZettle, Clover Go, Inner Fence, Intuit, Venmo or even Square attached to her iPhone. Nope. She will take cash or an old-fashioned check. You don’t even have to show your driver’s license, which is good because most people coming in should probably not be driving.