The Spirit of Community in Delano is defined by the
Creativity, Resilience, and Community Investment of its people.
Beauty Shops
Delano’s beauty shops emerged in the late 1920s as changing fashions, especially women “bobbing” their hair, created a new demand for professional hairstyling. Martha Lindsley advertised a beauty shop in her home in 1926, and by the 1930s more Delano women were independently owning and operating their own shops. Over the decades, businesses such as the Mella-Dor Beauty Box, Kitty’s Beauty Shop, the Bridge Corner Barber and Beauty Shop, and others became fixtures of the community. Margaret “Kitty” Kittock’s business survived the 1971 Delano Theater fire and eventually became the Downtown Beauty Shop, which Pat Schroeder operated until her retirement in 2025. Together, these shops and the women who operated them reflect nearly a century of changing hairstyles, entrepreneurship, and small-town life in Delano.
Although there were barber shops in Delano almost from the beginning of the village, beauty shops for women did not appear until the late 1920’s, when women began cutting or “bobbing” their hair. The first ads in the Delano Eagle were from Armand Stein’s barber shop, in 1926.
That same year Martha Lindsley advertised Martha’s Beauty Shop, located in her home on 3rd Street.
The Lindsley Family Barber Shop was advertised in 1927 on River Street, and in 1929 it was called Lindsley’s Barber Shop and Mertha’s Beauty Shop, Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Lindsley, proprietors.
More women began to individually own and operate beauty shops in Delano. In the 1930’s.
Angie’s Beauty Shoppe was in the Brick Block Building in 1941, but 1943 it became the Mella-Dor Beauty Box. The name of the shop was a combination of the end of Armella Simm’s first name, and the beginning of Dorothy Westmark’s first name, the proprietors.
The Bock Brothers moved their barber shop to the building on the corner of Bridge and River Street in 1907. By the 1930’s Edward Bock and his wife Luverne were operating the Bridge Corner Barber and Beauty Shop. They sold to Leslie and Rose Krumm in 1941.
Rose was a graduate of the Brady-Rogers Beauty School in Minneapolis. Expert hair styling to suit the individual won Mrs. Krumm a large following from Delano and the surrounding area.
Adeline’s Beauty Shop opened in the same location in 1948.
Sharon (Hanseman) Gonsior advertised Sharon’s Beauty Shop in the 1957.
Margaret Kittock purchased the shop in 1946, and in 1948 moved it next to Armand’s Barber Shop on River Street.
When the Delano Theater burned in 1971, Kitty’s Beauty Shop was in the building, and destroyed.
A few months later Kitty announced that she would be reopening in the former furniture building
Pat Schroeder began working for Kitty in 1984 and took over the shop in 1989. Known for years as the Downtown Beauty Shop, Pat remained in business here until she retired in 2025.
Many beauticians have served the community over the years. Doreen Schrode, Sue Gallus and many others.
The content of this page is brought to you by the Delano Spirit of Community Trail Committee in honor of Delano's 150th Anniversary.