Located at 761 Edgewood Avenue in Akron, Curley Top Beauty Shoppe (sometimes spelled Curly Top) was operated by Mrs. Sarah Lacy, a member of the Ohio Association of Beauticians. Advertisements for the beauty shop appeared from May through December 1937 in the Call and Post. An ad for Curley Top Beauty Shoppe also appeared in the 1940 Akron Negro Directory, under Beauty Shoppes (spelled Curly Top). Listings for the shop appeared in the Akron City Directory in the 1938-1939, 1940, and 1941 editions (sometimes spelled Curly Top), under the business section and Mrs. Lacy’s personal entry. Her home was listed in Canton in the 1938-1939 Akron City Directory and then at 786 Douglas in Akron in the subsequent editions of 1940 and 1941, with no other family members in the household. Neither Mrs. Lacy nor the business appeared in the 1943 or 1946 listings. It appears (though it has not been verified) that Sarah Lacy remarried James Austin, who is listed with wife Sarah in the 1948-1949 Akron City Directory through the 1968-1969 edition at the 786 Douglas address. As of the 1950-1951 Akron City Directory edition, the shop is again listed, as Curly Top Salon, at the 786 Douglas address. Curly Top Salon at 786 Douglas (sometimes spelled Curley Top) continues to appear in the business listings of the Akron City Directory through 1968-1969. The 761 Edgewood location appears to have been replaced by a different beauty shop by 1950.
No U.S. census data was located for Sarah Lacy in the 1940 U.S. census in Akron or Canton, Ohio. There is an entry in the 1930 U.S. census for a Mrs. Sarah Lacy in Canton, Ohio. Born in approximately 1898 in Georgia, and married to Lewis Lacy, this is possibly the Curley Top Beauty Shoppe owner, which closely matches an entry for Sarah Austin in the 1950 U.S. census.
Resources
- Akron City Directory, 1935-1969.
- “Beauticians to Hold Pre-Convention Meet Sunday,” Call and Post, February 17, 1938.
- Curly Top Beauty Shoppe Advertisements. Call and Post, May 20 and December 16, 1937.
- Kingsbury, A., ed. Akron Negro Directory. Akron, Ohio. 1940.
- Obituary for James Austin. Akron Beacon Journal, February 24, 1973.
- Obituary for Sarah Austin. Akron Beacon Journal, October 31, 1983.
- Sannie’s Beauty Bar Advertisement, Akron Beacon Journal, May 12, 1950.
- 1930 United States Federal Census for Sarah Lacy, Canton, Stark, Ohio; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 2341604, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
- 1950 United States Federal Census for Sarah Austin, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Census Place: Akron, Summit, Ohio; Roll: 728; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 89-144, [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.