Buffalo in the 70’s: “Squeaky clean hair is ridiculous,” Shampoo is marketing not hygiene

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Calling America’s daily shampoo regimen “more a matter of marketing than hygiene,” a longtime Hotel Statler beautician said that most people just need hot water and a towel for their daily hair rinse.

The 67-year-old Albert Shelby told The News 40 years ago this week that his wife hadn’t shampooed her hair in 20 years.

Sept. 3, 1975. Buffalo Evening News. (Buffalo Stories archives)

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.