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3 Unforgettable Memories: Nany's Beauty Shop, Pizza Hut, and More!

My grandparents Mac & Bessie Rabalais.

It's funny what can trigger a memory...


I was cleaning out a cabinet and came across a Pizza Hut glass I bought years ago. I didn’t buy the glass because its a collectable or because I particularly like the glass. I bought it because it brought back a flood of memories and it was a cute toothbrush holder for Nicholas.


Humor me with this rather long memory... I’ve mentioned Nany’s beauty shop before but let me formally introduce you to Bessie’s Beauty Shop.


It’s 1978 in Cottonport, Louisiana and I’m visiting Nany and Papa for a week on my Summer break. Nany is working in her beauty shop and Papa is piddling in his garden or workshop.


A sign in Cottonport recognizing Bessie's Beauty Shop for 41 years of service.

Bessie’s Beauty Shop is a rather small building but large in character. It is painted Pepto Bismol Pink everywhere.--doors, walls, molding --EVERYWHERE. In the middle of the shop sits the chair where her ladies have their hair transformed into a work of hairspray and brush roller artistry. Her tools are a teasing comb and hairspray. Sitting next to her counter is a metal cart {that I now see at thrift stores for a pretty penny} with baskets of brush rollers in any size imaginable for all of your hairstyle needs. On the counter is a little white porcelain container with pink roses that keeps a good supply of {pink} roller picks, and a Barbasol jar for her many combs {I now use this to house my wine corks}.


Of course there are various scissors and brushes and the hairspray shield: the ladies hold this in front of their face while Nany shellacks their perfectly coiffed hair do. This little shield could probably stop a bullet with the many many layers of hairspray that have accumulated on it over the years. Can you guess where my love of hairspray started?


Across from this counter is a desk that sits just below the phone on the wall. On this desk is “the book” where Nany keeps all of her appointments. I would be willing to bet the ink pen she uses is from Cottonport State Bank and the calendar on the desk is from Escude’s Funeral Home.


The hair washing sink is black and as you lean back to have Nany wash your hair you can smell the solution from the perm rollers in the sink. There are also 2 chairs where you sit to have your hair dried before it is transformed into a masterpiece that will last until next week’s appointment.


As I think back to Bessie’s Beauty Shop I’m pretty sure Papa built just about all of the furniture in there. In fact, he even built the beauty shop. It’s sad to think that it’s all gone now but my memories will last forever.


That was Bessie’s Beauty Shop; the epicenter of business in Cottonport, LA. Alot of problems were gossiped about, I mean discussed, here. When topics got, shall we say interesting, they spoke in French. There was A LOT of French spoken!


So what does my Pizza Hut glass have to do with any of this? I’m getting there.


On Friday night, when the last shampoo and set has left the shop with the most perfectly coiffed, shellacked hair do Nany shuts off the lights and we head to Pizza Hut in Marksville {If i’m lucky we make a stop at TG&Y}. Papa never joined us; I never thought much of it. He probably took the time to enjoy sitting in his recliner watching Archie Bunker in peace and quiet.

Pizza Hut was part of my childhood memories.

I can remember walking into that Pizza Hut like it was yesterday. Remember when Pizza Hut really looked like a hut? It was dark inside. There was carpet because this is a fancy pizza experience. The tables had plastic red and white table clothes and each table had jars of parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes on them. Your drinks came in huge red translucent plastic cups. Do you remember?


The juke box was near the door and provided a glowing light that made you feel fancy. OR as fancy as an 8 year old little girl in a small town can feel on a Friday night in Central Louisiana. And it never failed that every time we went to the Pizza Hut Freddy Fender’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” was playing on that jukebox. I swear every time I hear that song I think about Pizza Hut with Nany in Marksville.


I drove through Marksville a few weeks ago and the Pizza Hut is still there. I need to stop in one day. I bet if they have that jukebox Freddy Fender’s Wasted Days and Wasted Nights is still playing.


Funny how one little Pizza Hut glass I found in a dusty flea market can bring back a flood of memories...


Why should I keep loving you, when I know that you’re not true? And why should I call your name, when you’re to blame for making me so blue….


With humor & hot flashes,

Janet

1 Comment


kimglenn72
Jan 17

Friday night, after every Springdale High School football game, we would gather at the Pizza Hut! By the time I graduated, there were 2 Pizza Huts in town. It was a great night when you went to both and saw all the friends!

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