Myrtle Giving Haircut
Myrtle Phenice Bucklin giving haircut to sister-in-law Irma Hetzel Phenice circa 1939
I’ve always liked this photo. Mainly because it is a photo that includes my Grandma Bucklin in it. The photo source was not a very high quality. I think it was a scan of a Xerox of a photo. There were lots of stripes and graininess in the photo, so I doctored it the best I could. I like the way it looks, though I wonder what a scan of a good photo would look like. Maybe one will come my way now that I’m putting this one out there.
Myrtle Sylvia Phenice was born Dec. 19, 1906, somewhere around Hathaway, Louisiana. She was married to Fred Bucklin on March 12, 1930, at the Raymond Methodist Church in Raymond, Louisiana. They had five children together, including my mom Betty Lou who was born in 1933. You can tell from the title that my grandmother is the one giving the haircut. But you don’t know whose hair she is cutting. That would be Irma Hetzel Phenice.
At least I think she was a Phenice at the time. I estimated that date on the photo. Irma married Myrtle’s younger brother Henry in 1934. Yes, I think the date is close enough to be sure that Irma is her sister-in-law at the time of the photo. It seems like homemade haircuts are very common with my family. I have photos of my other grandmother cutting a grandchild’s hair. I also have a photo of my dad cutting his brother’s hair. When we were young, my mom cut our hair most of the time. I cut my own hair. It’s a family thing.
But I think it might be a bit more popular now that the coronavirus is keeping people in their houses, and salons & barbershops aren’t open. I’m here to tell you that you will survive a homemade cutting. But I’m not trying to “educate” you or convince you to participate. I just wanted to share an old photo that I like.
I hope you enjoyed it. (If you can see it through that mop of overgrown hair that you have by now!)
July 6, 2020 – Here is the photo enhanced.
Sept. 20, 2020 Addendum – Van Giving Haircut
I finally participated in the Caronavirus Pandemic Home Haircutting Extravaganza! Cousin Mary came over with her mom Maggie and her children Aiden and Violet. If you had seen Aiden’s hair, you would think I was talking about him when I wrote the last line of the blog post. With a lot of coaxing from Mary, he finally decided to trust me and my scissors. Like I said before, I’m sure he will survive the homemade haircut!
