After almost 13 years in Williamsport, one woman moved her hair salon to Jersey Shore for more parking.
"I have lots of parking now," Shirley Reber, owner of Shirley Hair Shoppe, 564 S. Main St., said.
Off and on since 1980, Reber has owned her own hair salon, in four different locations.
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ALYSSA?MURPHY/Sun-Gazette
Shirley Reber, owner of Shirley Hair Shoppe, recently opened her shop in Jersey Shore. Over the years, she has seen many different trends in hair styling.
"I really love people, especially older people," she said. "I connect with them. I love the variety in the job. Every person that comes in is different."
She does not prefer any one hairstyle or treatment, but she said she enjoys seeing the finished product.
Growing up in a family of 11 is how she began learning how to cut hair.
Fact Box
Shirley Hair Shoppe
564 S. Main St.,
Jersey Shore
865-6339
By appt.
"I was the official hair cutter," she said.
She lived in Danville with a doctor's family, who encouraged her to go to Williamsport. She saw a beauty school there and decided to enroll on a whim.
When she was in beauty school, updos, like beehives and the Gibson Girl, were the hairstyles the women wanted.
"They were popular through the mid-80s," she said. "In the late 80s, they kind of faded out. Teasing was the big thing."
Despite the changes in hairstyling over the years, Reber often stays with the ways she learned in school, such as the roller setting to curl hair. For her customers who did not want to travel to Jersey Shore, she tried to find a local hairdresser who would do it.
"(The hairdressers now) mostly just do blow-drying," she said. "Some people prefer the roller set. That was the then-big thing."
Reber did not learn how to blow-dry hair until 1974 when a woman wanted her hair blown dry. For the first few times, the woman would blow her own hair until one day she said, "Uh uh, you're gonna do it." She taught Reber how until she became comfortable with it.
For years, Reber tried to keep up with the latest trends because she said if she saw a picture of something in a magazine, she would be able to style it correctly. With the newly popular haircuts that involve different lengths, she said it is harder to do.
"There's no rhyme or reason," Reber said. "We were taught patterns then. No 'cut here, cut there.' The layered cuts are harder to do."
One thing she has noticed is that over the years, some of the haircuts remain. Reber said they vary slightly, but are given a new name.
Reber offers family hair cuts, shampoos, roller sets, blow drying, highlights with a cap, regular manicures, hair colors, perms and facial waxes.
There are no set hours, but she is setting appointments for Thursdays, Fridays and every other Saturday.
For more information, call 865-6339.
