Historical Context: Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering

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The Historical Context for the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering has been posted from the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) approved by the State Records Commission on April 16, 2025. The RDA establishes disposition requirements by designating records as either temporary records which may be destroyed after a specified retention period, or permanent records, which must be preserved in perpetuity. The complete RDAs for close to 175 agencies can be found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website.

The regulation of cosmetology, barbering, and related fields in Alabama reflects evolving professional, cultural, and public health concerns. This note briefly traces the history of these professions—from their ancient roots to modern regulation under a unified board—and highlights their unique legislative and social developments in Alabama.

Cosmetology and barbering as practices date back to the ancient world. Though both concern the grooming and styling of hair, their development followed different trajectories. Cosmetology descended and coalesced from practices centered on holistic beautification and aesthetic enhancements. As early as 200 BCE, Romans employed cosmetics as parts of regimens that included grooming and skin health.[1] Conversely, modern barbering descends from medieval barber-surgeons who not only cut and shaved hair, but also performed medical operations, like blood-letting and dentistry.[2] Aspects of these traditions remain evident even today. For instance, the barber pole’s symbolic red-stripe harkens back to the profession’s blood-letting traditions, and the modern cosmetologist’s expertise echoes the skillsets required to formulate the skincare treatments described in Ovid’s Medicamina Faciei Femineae.[3]

In addition to their different developmental paths, gender also played into the distinctions between barbering and cosmetology. Barbering traditionally caters to men, emphasizing facial hair grooming and short hairstyles. Cosmetology addresses broader aspects of beautification and is culturally associated with women. These gendered distinctions extended to their places of practice—the “masculine” barber shop and the “feminine” salon.[4]

Historic Regulation

Regulation of barbering and cosmetology became necessary as these professions grew in prominence and complexity. Guilds regulated the practice of barbery and surgery as early as 1308.[5] This close association between barbers and surgeons may seem odd today, but during the Middle Ages, acts of surgery were considered below the dignity of physicians, who practiced less-invasive medicine.[6] This meant that surgical procedures like bloodletting, lancing, and tooth extractions fell within the domains of pragmatic barbers, whose grooming toolkits already included razors.[7] While guilds long predate the regulation of barbering in Alabama, they illustrate the enduring need to ensure a certain level of skill and professionalization among  barbers.

While early barbering regulations focused mostly on barbers’ skills, early cosmetology regulation was shaped by safety standards for cosmetic industries as well as practitioner skills because modern cosmetologists are characterized by their mastery of cosmetic products’ safe use and styling applications. In fact, the distinction between a traditional barber or hair stylist and a cosmetologist is the latter’s cosmetic expertise and broader skillset, which extend not only to hair, but also to skin and nail care.[8]

As a result of its interrelated regulation with cosmetics, cosmetology as a profession has a much more modern regulatory history than barbering. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 serves as a cornerstone of modern cosmetic safety standards in the United States. The Act defines cosmetics as “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance.” This Act prohibited cosmetics from adulteration and misleading branding and required they be safe for consumer use.[9] The definition of “cosmetic” under the act includes, but is not limited to, hair dyes, chemical hair treatments, makeup, and nail polish. With the tools of their trade regulated and increasingly reliable, twentieth-century cosmetologists could focus on sharpening their skillsets regarding the best use of those tools.

While the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act strengthened product safety standards, the entertainment industry increased consumer demand for cosmetics. From the emphatic eye shadow of 1920s flapper fashions to the glamourous photoshoots of Hollywood starlets, the entertainment industry’s growing influence within American society contributed to an increased market for cosmetological practitioners’ skillsets.[10]

New cosmetology schools opened across the country to train this influx of aspiring cosmetologists. While these schools provided one avenue for training, many cosmetologists, like their barber colleagues, continued to procure their training through hands-on apprenticeships.[11] Recognized best practices and standards developed alongside the growth of cosmetology schools and the establishment of professional organizations like the National Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association founded in 1921.[12]

Alabama-Specific Regulation

The earliest regulation of barbering and cosmetology in Alabama stems from the development of public health as a governmental concern. In 1875, the Legislature created the State Board of Health to license medical practitioners and advise lawmakers on public health topics. Subsequently, Alabama Act 1919-658 updated the authority and scope of the State Board of Health, chiefly with respect to the board’s role in the prevention and investigation of communicable diseases. This expanded role included monitoring infectious disease vectors – for instance, shops using unsanitized razors, towels, or combs. As a result of Alabama Act 1919-658, barber shop owners had to register their businesses with county health officials reporting to the State Board of Health. Yet, while the Act stipulated that no owner or manager of a shop, “shall permit any person suffering from a communicable skin disease or from a venereal disease to act as a barber,” it did not otherwise authorize, regulate, or license barbers.

Alabama Act 1931-508 introduced the first licensure mandate for Alabama barbers. It sought to, “define, regulate and license barbers and barber colleges, and other like businesses in counties … having a population of three hundred thousand or over.” While this act reinforced the public health and safety mandate of the State Board of Health, it also provided a source of income for local governments. The Act did so by creating county-level Barbers’ Commissions. These commissions would oversee the regulation and licensure process for barbers while continuing to report sanitation issues to county health officials.

This notwithstanding, counties did not begin forming barber commissions in earnest until another legislative measure – Alabama Act 1951-661. This Act echoed much of its 1931 predecessor but granted much stronger enforcement authority to the commissions. Additionally, the act excludes barbering licensure for persons, “engaged in the practice of …beauty culture (working on female persons only).” Here the act reinforced the association of “barbering” with “masculine grooming.”

Despite these measures, Act 1951-661 still limited the formation of Barbers’ Commissions to counties with sufficient population, leaving smaller counties without regulatory oversight. Moreover, county-level licensure meant that barbers wishing to work in more than one county had to navigate the licensing process multiple times. This decentralized approach persisted until 1971 when the Legislature created the Alabama Board of Barber Examiners to regulate barbering for counties which did not possess their own Barbers’ Commission.[13] This board was dissolved in 1982, however, due to a lack of funding.

Like barbers, cosmetologists were also first regulated in Alabama at the county level. Alabama Act 1931-558 prescribed a template for county-level registration, regulation, and licensure of cosmetologists. These county-level Boards of Cosmetological Examiners regulated the practice of cosmetology in Alabama until the 1950s.

In 1957, the Legislature created the first State Board of Cosmetology under Act 1957-653. This board was quickly replaced by similar bodies under Acts 1959-633 and 1961-78, which clarified its structure and responsibilities rather than altering the scope of regulation. The State Board of Cosmetology oversaw examining, licensing, and supervising cosmetologists and associated professions—except barbering—until the twenty-first century.

Following the 1980 dissolution of the Alabama Board of Barber Examiners, barbering remained regulated only in counties where barbers’ commissions still operated. In areas without such commissions, barbering was effectively deregulated. By contrast, the State Board of Cosmetology maintained continuous oversight of its industry. Recognizing the regulatory gap for barbers and the similarities between the two professions, Alabama legislators consolidated oversight in 2013. Alabama Act 2013-371 established the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, uniting the governance of both fields under one body.

Today, the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering embodies the convergence of two professions with distinct yet intertwined histories. From ancient practices to modern regulation, barbering and cosmetology have adapted to changing cultural, medical, and public health landscapes. The unified oversight of these professions ensures that Alabama remains committed to upholding the highest standards of safety, hygiene, and professionalism in personal care services.

[1] Kelly Olson, “Cosmetics in Roman Antiquity: Substance, Remedy, Poison,” The Classical World 102, no. 3 (2009): 293.

[2] Gerry Greenstone, MD, “The History of Bloodletting,” British Columbia Medical Journal V.52, no. No. 1 (2010): 12–14; Elizabeth Roberts, “From Haircuts to Hangnails – The Barber-Surgeon,” May 6, 2011, https://brainblogger.com/2011/05/06/from-haircuts-to-hangnails-the-barber-surgeon/.

[3] Peter Green, “Ars Gratia Cultus: Ovid as Beautician,” The American Journal of Philology 100, no. 3 (1979): 381, https://doi.org/10.2307/293934.

[4] Hannah Bawden, “Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering Ledgers,” For the Record (blog), December 6, 2022, https://fortherecordalabama.blog/2022/12/06/cosmetology-and-barbering-ledgers/.

[5] William Andrews, At the Sign of the Barber’s Pole: Studies in Hirsute History (J.R. Tutin, 1904), 26.

[6] Mabelle S. Welsh, “‘Cups for Colds’: The Barber, the Surgeon and the Nurse,” The American Journal of Nursing 19, no. 10 (1919): 764–65, https://doi.org/10.2307/3405634.

[7] Erwin H. Ackerknecht, “From Barber-Surgeon to Modern Doctor,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 58, no. 4 (1984): 546–47.

[8] “Cosmetologist vs Hairstylist: Know the Difference!,” Aveda Institute Maryland, April 28, 2022, https://avedainstitutemd.edu/cosmetologist-vs-hairstylist-know-the-difference/.

[9] Vanessa Burrows, “A Century of Ensuring Safe Foods and Cosmetics,” FDA Consumer Magazine, 2006.

[10] Ellen Terrell, “Business of Beauty: A Resource Guide: History of the Beauty Business,” 2025, https://guides.loc.gov/business-of-beauty/history.

[11] Hollywood Institute, “History of Cosmetology Schools,” Hollywood Institute, February 13, 2019, https://www.hi.edu/blog/history-of-cosmetology-schools/; “The History of Cosmetology School: A Look Back,” TSPA Evansville Beauty School, May 30, 2023, https://www.tspaevansville.com/the-history-of-cosmetology-school-a-look-back/.

[12] Ellen Terrell, “Business of Beauty: A Resource Guide: Print & Electronic Resources,” research guide, accessed January 3, 2025, https://guides.loc.gov/business-of-beauty/today-resources.

[13] “Alabama State Board of Barber Examiners Administrative Files” (1971-1982), Alabama Department of Archives and History.

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