Poro Beauty Parlor

Poro Beauty Parlor, sometimes referred to as Poro Beauty Shoppe (one of at least three Poro shops in Akron), was located at 48 N. Howard Street and managed by Mrs. Frances Samples. Poro was—along with Madame C. J. Walker, Murray’s Superior Products, and Apex—one of the four leading Black-owned beauty product companies in the 1930s. See the narrative on Poro Beauty Shoppe for a more robust description of the Poro product line and its importance in the lives of Black women.

An exact opening date was not determined, but an ad for Poro Rosebud Beauty Parlor at 48 N. Howard appears in the July 30, 1936, Call and Post, which is the earliest mention at this address to be located.  Poro Beauty Parlor at 48 N. Howard first appears in the Akron City Directory in 1937. Ads for it in the Call and Post ran in 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, and 1943 (sometimes under Poro Beauty Shoppe), noting Frances Samples as manager and Mrs. Jeanette Powers, Mrs. Dixson, Georgia Lofton and Mrs. Geneva (Samples) Goins as operators at various times. Help wanted ads for the shop ran in 1941 and 1944. The Akron Beacon Journal of May 4, 1939, notes that Celestine Horton has joined the staff, coming from Bezan Beauty. An ad also appeared in the 1940 Akron Negro Directory for Poro Beauty Shoppe at the 48 N. Howard address under the “Beauty Shoppes” heading. Besides advertisements, there is also a report in the Call and Post of April 15, 1937, of the Poro Beauty Shop at 48 N. Howard participating in the Wilkins Beauty School Style Show in Cleveland. Mentions in other articles of beauticians’ conventions and club meetings, as well as testimony on legislation given by Poro Beauty staff members shows that the staff at this beauty shop were engaged in their industry.

Poro Beauty Parlor seems likely to be connected to the Poro Beauty Shoppe at 8 South High, as Frances Samples and Geneva Samples (later Goins), are listed as operators for the 8 South High shop, and also managed and operated the 48 N. Howard location, but no direct connection has been established thus far.

Poro Beauty Parlor (sometimes Shop) entries at 48 N. Howard appear in the Akron City Directory through 1946. In the 1948-1949 and 1950-1951 editions, however, the name Poro does not appear. The entry for the beauty shop at 48 N. Howard appears as Samples, Mrs. Frances, beauty shop and by the time of the 1952-1953 edition, 48 N. Howard is listed as a vacant storefront. Mrs. Samples is still listed as maintaining a beauty shop at 20 N. Howard, but the connection to Poro seems to have been severed. According to the city directories, Mrs. Samples operated the beauty shop at 20 N. Howard until the 1958-1959 edition which shows 20 N. Howard as Nu Art Beauty Salon, managed by Mildred Suddeth.

Francis Samples, born around 1892-1894 in Georgia according to U.S. census data, but Alabama according to her obituary, was a long-time Akron resident and participant in the beauty industry. After her husband Lucius passed away in 1944, she was noted as head of household in the 1950 U.S. census, as a cosmetologist in the Beauty Salon industry. She was a member of the Ohio Association of Beauticians Akron Chapter according to the Call and Post and was given an Outstanding Citizen Award by that association in July of 1961, with the special distinction of “Akron’s oldest beautician” (Call and Post July 29, 1961). She passed away in 1973 at the age of 80.

Green Book Details

Poro Beauty Parlor appears as “Poro” in the 1947 Green Book at 48 N. Howard St. (erroneously listed in Cleveland) under the category Beauty Parlors.

Resources

• Advertisement for Poro Rosebud Beauty Parlor. Call & Post. July 30, 1936.
• Advertisements for Poro Beauty Parlor/Shoppe. Call & Post. July 1, July 8, 1937, October 12, 19, and November 2, 1939, August 31, 1940, December 27, 1941, and December 25, 1943.
• Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls Official City Directory, v. 52-55. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1935-1940.
• Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls Official City Directory, v. 64-69. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1958-1959 through 1968-1969.
• Akron, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls and Portage Lakes Official City Directory, v. 61-63. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1952-1957.
• “Akron Beauticians Club.” Call & Post. April 1, 1944.
• “Akron Beauticians Present Models in Cleve. Style Show.” Call & Post. April 15, 1937.
• Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton Official City Directory, v. 51. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1933.
• Akron, Portage Lakes, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls Official City Directory, v. 56. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1941.
• Akron, Tallmadge, Portage Lakes, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls Official City Directory, v. 57-60. Burch Directory Company, Akron, Ohio, 1943-1951.
• “Beauticians Push New Organization.” Call & Post. March 17, 1938.
• “Bertha Ervin Re-elected President of Ohio Association of Beauticians” Call & Post. July 29, 1961.
• “Help Wanted” Call & Post. August 9, October 18, 1941 and February 26, 1944.
• Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photograph Collection, Box 7, Folder 148A, University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.
• Kingsberry, A., ed. Akron Negro Directory. Akron, OH: Kingsberry, 1940.
• “Miss Celestine Horton…” Akron Beacon Journal. May 4, 1939.
• “Modesty, Cash Lost to Beauty Salon Bandit.” Akron Beacon Journal. November 23, 1950.
• “Mrs. Frances Samples.” Call & Post. August 2, 1941.
• “Mrs. Sherrill Makes Impassioned Plea for Negro Beauty Operators at Final Hearings on Ohio Wage-Hour Ruling.” Call & Post. March 29, 1941.
• Obituary for Lucius Samples. Akron Beacon Journal. April 18, 1944.
• Obituary for Mrs. Frances Samples. Akron Beacon Journal. March 8, 1973.
• “Poro College.” Annie Malone Historical Society. www.anniemalonehistoricalsociety.org/poro-college.html.
• Walker, Susannah. Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007.
• 1930 United States Federal Census for Frances Samples, Akron, Summit, Ohio; Page: 25A; Enumeration District: 0136; FHL microfilm: 2341614, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
• 1940 United States Federal Census for Frances Samples, Akron, Summit, Ohio; Roll: m-t0627-03175; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 89-57, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
• 1940 United States Federal Census for Lucius Samples, Akron, Summit, Ohio; Roll: m-t0627-03175; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 89-57, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
• 1950 United States Federal Census for Frances Samples, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Akron, Summit, Ohio; Roll: 727; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 89-105, [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.

---

1947 Green Book