Butler's (Madam Butler Beauty Salon)
The Madam Butler Beauty Salon was located at 31 S. Market Street in Asheville. It was listed in the Green Book as “Butler’s — Eagle & Market Sts.” under “Beauty Parlors” in 1940 and 1947 and as “Butler’s Eagle & Market St.” under “Beauty Schools” from 1948-1950.1
The Madame Butler Beauty Salon opened at 31 Market Street around 1937, in the same building as the Chapman Hotel (later the Savoy Hotel, another Green Book business). It was owned by Lucille G. Butler. Butler was the President of the Asheville Union Local No. 5, a union for beauticians. Butler’s husband, James Fletcher Butler, was a well-known barber who worked in Asheville for over 50 years.2
In advertisements, the salon’s patrons were invited to help themselves “to more youthful beauty.” Mottos used by the salon included “Quality Plus is Our Motto” and “Exclusive but not Expensive.” Beauticians, called “operators,” who worked at the salon included Julia F. Hall, L. Means, M. Haynes, E. Long, E. Jones, Ruth Powell, and Irma Mills.3
Butler operated the business at 31 Market Street until the death of her husband in 1948; she continued to work as a beautician from her home at 43 Clemmons Street for many years.4
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 61; Green, 1949 Green Book, 55; Green, 1950 Green Book, 61.
2. Miller’s 1937 Asheville City Directory, 794 (classified listing); Miller’s 1940 Asheville City Directory, 99, 615, 713; “N.C. Beauticians to Convene Sept.13-15 in Asheville,” The Carolinian, September 11, 1943, p. 1, North Carolina Newspapers/Digital NC, digitalnc.org, accessed February 27, 2020; “James Fletcher Butler, Barber, Taken By Death," Asheville Citizen-Times, December 4, 1948, p. 5, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
3. “$5000 Needed for Boy’s Camp,” The Southern News (Asheville, NC), July 30, 1938, p. 2, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “Advertisement for Madam Butler Beauty Salon,” The Asheville District Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2, Macedonia Church of God in Christ (Undated), YMI Cultural Center Archives; “The Madam Butler Beauty Salon” (advertisement), The Church Advocate (Asheville, NC), August 19, 1943, p. 5, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Miller’s 1940 Asheville City Directory, 215 (alphabetical listing); “Advertisement for Madam Butler Beauty Salon,” The Asheville District Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2, Macedonia Church of God in Christ (Undated), YMI Cultural Center Archives; “The Madam Butler Beauty Salon” (advertisement), The Church Advocate (Asheville, NC), August 19, 1943, p. 5, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
4. James Fletcher Butler was a barber (James Fletcher Barber, December 1948, Buncombe County, North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Miller’s 1951 Asheville City Directory, 506 (classified listing); Miller’s 1950 Asheville City Directory, 579 (classified listing); Miller’s 1956 Asheville City Directory, 11 (classified listing).
Did you know?
- In 1940 and 1947, this entry was listed as “Butler’s--Eagle & Market Sts.” under the “Beauty Parlors” category with no specific street number listed with the address. From 1948-1950, Butler’s was simply listed as a beauty school at the intersection of Eagle & Market St.
