Who invented the salon

Luisa Capetillo In , this rowdy Puerto Rican activist was arrested for wearing pants in public. It wouldn't be the last time she wore pants, or got arrested. Mkabayi kaJama One of the most powerful women in Zulu history, this cursed princess did what was necessary to protect the realm.

Timoclea When a soldier raped her, this woman tossed him in a well and threw rocks at him until he died. Vitka Kempner Spy, smuggler, saboteur, partisan: this Jewish woman refused to go like a lamb to the slaughter, and fought the Nazis tooth and nail Harper set her sights on the Powers Building, a nine-story structure that housed some of the finest businesses in Rochester.

At first, her application was denied. But with the help of a local attorney, she was granted a month-to-month lease. To market these services, Harper used images of her own enviable head of hair — a chestnut mane so long that PT Barnum once tried to recruit her to the circus. Harper would later use her legendary mane of hair as a marketing tool to drum up business for her salon Rochester Museum and Science Center. In the beginning, business was slow.

Her high-end clientele — still insistent on home visits — were opposed to the idea of going to a public salon. When a music teacher next door to her business mentioned he had no waiting room, Harper offered up her salon. Women began to wander in to get hair treatments while waiting for their children to finish their piano lessons.

In short order, the 3-chair shop was bustling with prominent women from other cities, too. Though Harper received requests to open up salons in other cities, she refused to expand until a certain number of women in that community signed a petition. A shrewd operator, she was keenly aware of market testing. Harper knew that she had to maintain strict control over her brand and the quality of her service.

She also knew she had to find operators she could trust. She set out to hire women who came from a similar background as her: lower-class servants and housemaids who had the ambition and discipline to run a business but lacked the capital. To own her own franchise, a Harperite would pay a fee paid back as a loan over time , and agree to only stock Harper products — brushes, tonics, chairs, sinks.

Harper chose each location and controlled signage and advertisements. In , Harper launched a second location — considered to be the first retail franchise in the US — in Buffalo, New York. The business model was so successful and scalable that by , Harper had opened franchises in cities across the US, Canada, and Europe. It was enough to earn Harper a spot as the only female member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce.

Harper, by then a wealthy woman, even bailed out the woman she once served: When Ms. In , at age 63, Harper married Robert A. MacBain, a year-old army colonel.

With her companion, she set her sights even higher. The cultural revolution of the s brought with it a tremendous shift in the beauty industry.

Flappers suddenly favored makeup, lipstick, and new inventions like the curling iron and hair dyes. Through it all, Harper maintained a focus on natural products. She doubled down on the production of her tonic and natural shampoos, expanding from shops to shops in the span of one year She expanded her services to men and introduced her products to department stores. During the Depression, and an age of massive discounting, she stuck with her premium prices and kept the focus on exceptional quality and customer service.

In classic Salon fashion, the exhibition displays a wall-to-wall assortment of works that captures the artistic spirit of the moment. The Summer Exhibition continues annually, sparing little of its inaugural charm. The style is perfect for art lovers who are looking to display large collections while utilizing the most of their space. Head here for placement ideas, and browse this specially curated selection of works that work perfect on a single wall.

Love reading about all things art? You can have articles from Canvas, curated collections and stories about emerging artists delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for the Saatchi Art Newsletter. Chelsea is the Marketing Associate at Saatchi Art. The earliest salons date back to the early s, to a literary circle hosted by the Marquess de Rambouillet, an Italian-born French aristocrat.

These early salons were more informal than later gatherings. The salons of Early Modern Revolutionary France played an integral role in the cultural and intellectual development of France. The salons were seen by contemporary writers as a cultural hub, for the upper middle class and aristocracy, responsible for the dissemination of good manners and sociability. The French salon, a product of The Enlightenment in the early 18th century, was a key institution in which women played a central role.

Salons provided a place for women and men to congregate for intellectual discourse. Christine Sophie Holstein and Charlotte Schimmelman were the most notable hostesses, in the beginning and in the end of the 18th century respectively, both of whom were credited with political influence. The salons and coffeehouses of 18th century Paris provided a place for intellectual discourse where philosophes birthed the so-called Age of Enlightenment. The word salon first appeared in France in from the Italian word salone, itself from sala, the large reception hall of Italian mansions.

There were two distinct lines of Enlightenment thought: the radical enlightenment, advocating democracy, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and eradication of religious authority.