Master Hairdresser

Ann In the UK · Post by **Ann In the UK** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:01 am

In the days before the medical profession got organised, it'd be "Barber and surgeon". No kidding. (the barber was often the only one who owned the instruments for surgery - starting with the "cut throat razor"....

You can just imagine them saying, "oh old Sweeny's got a sharp knife, he'll get that out for you......"

What's the expression, Jack of all trades, master of none....?

Ann

carlineric · Post by **carlineric** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:17 am

Looking at A Dictionary of Occupational Terms which was compiled from the 1922 Census the meaning depends on whether it is one word or two. Hairdreser (one word) refers to a barber and hair dresser (two words) refers to either brush making (preparing hog or badger hair or walrus whiskers) or preparing horse hair.

Eric

Post by **SarahND** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:04 pm

Brilliant, Eric!
Of course! It's like black bird and blackbird, or here in the U.S.: red neck or redneck-- quite different things! Makes sense that a hair dresser would be someone who dresses all sorts of hair for all sorts of uses and that the single word version would be specialized, restricted to one sort of hair dresser.

But were the census enumerators consistent? I would somehow doubt this... Were they, Annette?

All the best,
Sarah

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:43 pm

SarahND wrote:Brilliant, Eric!
Of course! It's like black bird and blackbird, or here in the U.S.: red neck or redneck-- quite different things! Makes sense that a hair dresser would be someone who dresses all sorts of hair for all sorts of uses and that the single word version would be specialized, restricted to one sort of hair dresser.

But were the census enumerators consistent? I would somehow doubt this... Were they, Annette?

All the best,
Sarah

I had already thought of that aspect (plus the fact that either could be written as one word or two) and there were 41 Hair Dressers in the whole of Angus in 1891. So all in all, whether it wis fur yer heid or yer flair it was pretty specialised.

My gut is telling me he didn't dress ladies' hair but...................... there was a hairdresser's shop round the corner from his wife's family home and adjoining her uncle's shop, run by somebody his own age!!!:x

Name: Joseph Ridgway
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1870
Relationship: Son
Father's Name: Joseph
Mother's Name: Ann
Gender: Male
Where born: England
Registration Number: 282/1
Registration district: St Peter
Civil parish: Liff and Benvie
Occupation: Hairdresser