Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Summer/105/Section 06/Lettie Mason

Lettie Mason

Overview

Lettie Mason was a white beautician from North Carolina. She was interviewed by the Federal Writers Project on February 1-4, 1939.

Biography

Early Life and Work

Lettie Mason was born in 1885 on a farm in Wake County, North Carolina. Her parents, Wesley and Mary Mason had nine children. When she was four, Mason went to live with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Livingston. The Livingstons owned a farm near the Masons and had no children of their own.

Mason attended a country school for six years before deciding she did not want to further her education. She wanted to move to the city, away from farm life. In her interview with the Federal Writers' Project, she explained that "while all of my [Mason's] people were reared on farms, I always detested the loneliness and the hard work of farm life...I made up my mind that I was going to escape this drudgery as soon as I got old enough to go it alone in the city, and that is exactly what I did."

When Mason was sixteen, she moved to Raleigh to work at Melrose Knitting Mill. She made enough to support herself until she became an experienced hosiery worker. She found a new job at the Durham Hosiery Mills, where she made significantly more money. With this, she sent money home to her mother and clothes to her sisters.

Beauty Career

Accompanied by her good friend Clara O'Brient, Mason began a correspondence course on becoming a beauty specialist, an "up-and-coming profession." Once she was a trained manicurist, she began moving around the south, working in cities such as Richmond, Norfolk, and Washington D.C. until she returned to Raleigh to work at one of the only beauty salons in the area, Madame Gurley's Manicure Shop. There, she learned about the beauty business and culture. On the verge of opening her salon, she was offered a job with a man to tour the country and model electric belts. Wanting to see the rest of the country, she accepted and traveled to every large city. Eventually, she grew tired of traveling and returned to North Carolina.

Upon arriving in Raleigh, Mason opened up her own beauty salon, which she described as "one of the most modern beauty salons that Raleigh had seen up to that time." She ran her own shop for over twenty-five years.

Later Life

Mason lived at 217 South East Street in Raleigh, a house left to her by Sallie Boone Pope, a woman she had lived with for years prior. Mason allowed many homeless women to live with her for free, including Anna Inman. Inman was a patient at the State Hospital for the insane at Raleigh but moved in with Mason after she was released, her husband having abandoned her. Mason also owned a small, three-room cottage which she rented out. In addition to helping women in need, Mason provided money and resources to the children of her deceased siblings.

Social Topics

Women in the Workforce

Working was not common for women in the early twentieth century, "20 percent of all women were “gainful workers,” as the Census Bureau then categorized labor force participation outside the home" They were expected to marry and stay home to care for children. "Women only owned businesses if they were in poverty-stricken situations – those without husbands and did not want to become social pariahs. These businesses mostly included brothels, taverns, and alehouses”. Many worked in factories. Factory life was dangerous in the twentieth century, resulting in thousands of accidents per year. Women also faced abuse from their male counterparts and bosses. However, many fought for "safer and improved working conditions, better wages, as well as the right to unionize and an end to sexual harassment and sexual violence."

Advertisement for a late 19th-century hosiery firm that depicts its factory floor with workers using knitting machines. Published 1886.

The Beauty Industry

Salons looked different during the early 20th century. Manicurists had primarily male customers and later gained female ones when the manicure gained popularity. During that time, the idea of beauty was centered around hygiene. Because of this, "the look of unstained hands with white and natural-looking nails became the dominant aesthetic, linked to perceptions of wealth and moral purity." Hygiene was so important during this era, that people said "Cleanliness was next to godliness" The Beauty industry was, for the most part, tailored to white people. Advertisements featured white women, and many products were harmful to women of color. Most black women in the industry worked for white women. However, some succeeded on their own. For example, Madam C.J. Walker, a black woman who created her own hair products and opened salons across the country. "In the early 1910s, Walker’s sales reached $250,000 — the equivalent of more than $6 million by today’s standards."

An advertisement for Max Factor's 'Creme Puff' face powder from 1954