Sales Beauty Parlor

Green Book Entry/Entries
Sales---222. S. Tarboro St
Green Book Category
Beauty Shops/Parlors
Years Listed
1947-1955
Region
Piedmont North
County
Wake

Sales Beauty Parlor was listed as “Sales—222 S. Tarboro St.” under “Beauty Shops” in Raleigh from 1947-1955. 1

Sales Beauty Parlor was owned by Lillian “Lillie” Mae Sales and was located inside of her home at 222 Tarboro Street. She and her husband, Lester Sales, also housed lodgers. In addition to running the beauty parlor, Sales was a beauty school instructor and the owner of Sales Beauty College, located at 1101 Atlantic Avenue in Wilson, North Carolina.2

Lillie Sales was born in South Carolina in 1908. She and Lester Sales moved to Raleigh between 1942 and 1943. While Lillie taught beauty school and operated her beauty shop, Lester worked a variety of jobs, including as a laborer, janitor, and construction worker. He also worked at North Carolina Central University (then North Carolina State College) and at Duke Hospital. By 1956, Lillie Sales had a second residence at 1103 Atlantic Avenue in Wilson, NC, next to her beauty college. Lillie and Lester moved to 617 E. Cabarrus Street in Raleigh around 1958.3

Lillian Sales left Raleigh following her husband’s death in 1958 but returned to her home at 617 E. Cabarrus Street prior to her death in 1972.4

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2024

Notes

  1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 54; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54.
  2. “Lillie Mae Sales Death Certificate,” FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P2-1H6N-9?i=843; “Lillie M. Sales,” 222 Tarboro Street, Raleigh, NC, 1950 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Madame L.M. Sales” (advertisement), The Carolinian, July 13, 1957, p. 20, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org.
  3. Hill’s Raleigh City Directory, 1942-1943, 1945, and 1950-1959, alphabetical, street, and classified listings; “Lillie M. Sales,” 222 Tarboro Street, Raleigh, NC, 1950 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Mrs. Lillie M. Sales” (obituary), The News and Observer, August 26, 1972, p. 7, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Lillie Mae Sales Death Certificate,” FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P2-1H6N-9?i=843;  “Lester Sales Death Certificate,” FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PL-89R7-Z?i=587; Bowers, Katherine, Derek Huss, and Rachel Jacobson, “The Green Book Assignment, North Carolina, Durham, Wake, Halifax, Vance: Historical Structure Report for the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office,” HI 587: Cultural Resource Management, North Carolina State University, Spring 2016, 40. 
  4. “Mrs. Lillie M. Sales” (obituary), The News and Observer, August 26, 1972, p. 7, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Lillie Mae Sales Death Certificate,” FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P2-1H6N-9?i=843;  “Lester Sales Death Certificate,” FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PL-89R7-Z?i=587.