All the buzz and rage seems to be that our industry is the only one that feels the effects of technology. I hear it all the time, we are the only ones that new inventions are engineered and available to anyone to compete against us.
Well, this simply isn’t true! There isn’t any single industry exempt from technology changes that give the competitor an advantage, regardless of if they are long known competitors, start-ups or simply the DIY {Do It Yourself} person. Technology advances, new competition, and a passionate desire has existed since the beginning of humankind, it will never change.
Dating back to 1844 to hang your shingle as a daguerrotypist it was as simple as a small investment, and a little bit of instruction. Does this all sound familiar? For the sum of $60 George Reed purchased his camera in February from Anson Clark, took some instruction from him and in less than a month he’d cleared his investment and was in business by March. Advertisements were abundant in the New York Herald for learning the art of daguerreotyping for just $50, students flocked from all walks of life seeing this as their way to wealth. However, not all stuck around, from 1840 to 1861 the Boston directories listed 180 names as Daguerrotype Minatures, 77 were listed for one year only, and only 7 lasted 10 years or more. Frank Gage wrote “Today you will find the Yankee taking daguerreotypes; tomorrow he has turned painter; the third day he is tending grocery, dealing out candy to the babies for one cent a stick.” { info from The Daguerreotype in America, Third Revised Edition, Beaumont Newhall, letter from Frank Gage, unpublished letter, A.E. Osborn to Southworth & Hawes, May 8, 1848. GEH}
In researching I found it interesting that as far back as the daguerreotype days, the daguerrotypist would only refer to the ambrotypists as mere photographers, daguerreotype craftsmen felt they were a step above the others, and ambrotype was just a fad, a filthy one at that. With every new generation there is always something to complain about, however rather than complain innovators simply adapt, and push themselves to new levels accepting the challenge. The ambrotypers even got a bad rap as the tintype took over, a few years later eventually seeing the daguerreotype, and ambrotype fade away.
Hairstylists have long been challenged in this way, growing up in a salon with my mother, I learned at an early age its the service she provides, combined with the best products, not the tools that made her and many other stylists successful. Since the advent of the Toni home perm in the early 40’s and Ms. Clarol home coloring just prior there has always been an option for the DIY to do their hair at home.
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