Sponsor (Nov 1947-Oct 1948)

Out of the Beauty Parlor into the Home Six neti%^ork and soiiio spot slioivs eilucate ii^omen that %%^aveN can be lioniemaile and good The field of beauty culture and cosmetology is losing the protection of its last mechanical operation. Its future financial health will depend upon its once again assuming the status of a profession. Shops are failing all over the nation (15,000, 20'; of all shops, in 1947). For over a decade associ' ations and unions in the field have realized that the majority of shop owners in the United States are neither professionals nor businesswomen. Widows, factory and office workers tired of their jobs, and other women without business training have borrowed money, taken short courses at beauty culture "academies," and become cosmetologists. With the aid of permanent wave machines (and later cold wave kits) and some luck they have made money. They slavishly follow hairstyles pictured and described in the industry's trade papers. Modern Beauty Shop, American Hairdresser, and Beauty Culture. They attend local or national beauty shows financed by manufacturers and jobbers at which they've found more fun than knowledge. In general beauty shop owners have played at being businesswomen. Today they're faced with the rude awakening. They're faced with the fact that permanent waving is no longer their exclusive province — even in states where, by law, "home beauty culture" is prohibited. In states like Florida, New York, and West Virginia it's against the law to give a pennanent wave without a license. In spite of these laws, home permanent waving is an established fact — with one firm, Toni, doing a business of $20,000,000 in 1946. According to a recent Fawcett Magazine survey today 16.7'^ c of respondents (readers of one or more of the Fawcett publications) use a home permanent wave kit. Ever since the "machineless permanent wave" entered the beauty field, industry authorities have forecast permanent waving's moving into the home. Before the war there were about 35 different brands of home permanent waves, none of which achieved much success. Nevertheless Charm-Kurl (Charm-Kurl Qjmpany, St. Paul); Crowning Glory (L. R. Kallman & Co., Chicago); and Portrait (H. H Tanner & Company, St. Paul) divided $2,750,000 annually in business during the last two prewar years. It wasn't until Toni, having eliminated product and merchandising bugs, poured millions into broadcast advertising that beauty shops began to feel the loss of business and women generally began to accept the fact that there was safety as well as utility and beauty in a home permanent. Toni spent $5,000,000 in advertising in 1947, of which $3,500,000 went into broadcast advertising. It has made no efl^orts to build great audiences through building new programs. Its current commitments indicate the thinking behind its radio advertising. It sponsors Give and Take (CBS), Ladies Be Seated (ABC), a typical daytime dramatic strip — This Is Nora Drake (NBC), and a 15-minute segment of the Breakfast Club (ABC). They're morning or afternoon programs and while none of them are up in the high Hooper or Nielsen ratings (low is Nora Drake with a 3.2 and high is Give and Take with a 5.6, January 2-6 Hooper report), according to special surveys conducted by Foote, Cone and Belding and Toni they all deliver audiences with a minimum of duplication. MARCH 1948 31