If anyone can make metaphysics out of cosmetology, it’s the Rev. Jean Wittlin, of the Oak Park Church of Religious Science. Wittlin emerged elegantly coiffed out of Mario’s Hair-Em, 1042 Chicago Ave., for perhaps the last time on the afternoon of Aug. 27.
The place officially closed last weekend after more than 50 years of laughs, provided gratis, by the salon’s naturally funny owner, Mario Giordano.
“I feel sad,” Wittlin said, before recalling the first time she stepped into Mario’s more than 10 years ago.
“I was so impressed by how they treated the older people,” Wittlin said. “People in there had walkers and canes and they were so gentle, so kind. They sat them down, got them coffee, nobody rushed them. They just let them be. And I thought, what a wonderful place. Giordano was doing such wonderful work for mankind.”
Giordano (no relation to the pizza restaurant across the street) said he’s retiring because it’s time. He wants to remodel his Oak Brook home, do some traveling and watch late night movies.
“It would be nice to wake up when I want to,” he said.
“I don’t want to be carried out of here. I’m still in good health. Most people retire at 65. I’m way beyond that,” Giordano added, while removing rollers from the hair of his wife, Marie, 80, who is still a brunette and laughs when her slightly younger husband calls her a “cougar.” The two will have been married 58 years on Sept. 14.
Giordano started doing hair in 1956 at Bramson Department Store on Lake Street. A few years later, he moved into this place on Chicago Avenue, where he’s stayed ever since — most of that time, working a few feet away from his brother-in-law, 73-year-old Nick Mariano, no relation to the grocery store chain.
“The hair industry really collapsed, because today, when you’re looking at television and snapshots of models, you don’t know if they just got out of bed or just came home from a hairdresser,” Giordano said, before indulging in a brief, sharp-witted retrospective of his half-century in the business.
“I come from an era that was all high fashion,” Giordano said. “Now, you can be a bad haircutter and you think you’re great, you know? And every girl looks the same. One time, I went to a hockey game and every girl looked like she bought her clothes from the same store — tight black pants, boots, a short top with a white blouse. There’s no creativity anymore. There are a few shops that are right on the money. But those you have to pay more than $300 for a haircut.”
Giordano said the hair industry hasn’t managed to create its own demand like the automotive or technology industries. He said the development of mass hair care products and treatments have worked against the professionals.
“You have to have so many customers to make a living today, because they don’t come back for six months. In the old days, they came back every weekend,” he said.
Speaking of the old days, what was the perception of male hairstylists back then?
“When I entered the business, they thought that by doing hair you could become gay. That’s how ignorant people were, because the only people in the business back then were gay,” Giordano said, before offering a counterintuitive explanation of what it is a hairstylist does.
“This is really engineering. When you look at the quality of hair, the type of hair, it’s an engineering job,” Giordano said. “There’s a lot of thought that goes behind it. You have to envision a finished product before you even start working — just like any architect.”
When asked how she feels knowing that the architect of her appearance is also her husband, Marie Giordano deadpanned, “I hope he isn’t as messy with his clients!”
When Mario’s Hair-Em empties, the majority of his clientele will follow Mariano down the street to Pizzazz Hair Salon, 1138 Chicago Ave.
Giordano noted when the hair dryers and receptionist’s desk and styling booths are moved out of the space, a dog grooming business will move in.
