The nostalgia of Soviet barbershops (PHOTOS)

It’s not like the Soviet people had nothing better to do than fuss over their hair - there was maintaining your household, caring for the family, the “five-year plans” at work. The hair sort of took a backseat, frequently concealed beneath all manner of headdress, or simply with a modest headscarf. Not many had the money for salon treatments. But there was a solution. Perms! They held true for long periods, often sustained by hair curlers for prolonged effect.

However, on rare special occasions when the situation demanded it, the “workers and kolkhozniks” of the time made the effort and ritualistically sprung for a new hairstyle at a proper hairdressers. Documentary photographers sometimes happened to be nearby (for some reason), and he or she would document the whole process for us to marvel at decades later.

READ MORE: Soviet life in AMAZING photos by Anatoly Boldin