Posted on 05/04/2015 8:14:53 AM PDT by keat
When actress Tippi Hedren visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in California 40 years ago, the Hollywood star's long, polished fingernails dazzled the women there.
Hedren flew in her personal manicurist to teach a group of 20 refugees the art of manicures. Those 20 women - mainly the wives of high-ranking military officers and at least one woman who worked in military intelligence - went on to transform the industry, which is now worth about $8bn (£5.2bn) and is dominated by Vietnamese Americans.
"We were trying to find vocations for them," says Hedren, who is perhaps best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and for running a wildcat sanctuary at her home in Southern California.
"I brought in seamstresses and typists - any way for them to learn something. And they loved my fingernails."
Hope Village, the refugee camp, was in Northern California near Sacramento. Aside from flying in her personal manicurist, Hedren recruited a local beauty school to help teach the women. When they graduated, Hedren helped get them jobs all over Southern California.
"I loved these women so much that I wanted something good to happen for them after losing literally everything," Hedren told the BBC from a museum she is building next to her home. The museum includes Hollywood memorabilia, a few photos of the women at Camp Hope and awards she's won from the nail care industry.
"Some of them lost their entire family and everything they had in Vietnam: their homes; their jobs; their friends - everything was gone. They lost even their own country."
The Vietnamese gave the nail salon business a radical makeover.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
So, Capitalism works? Who knew?
Tippi nailed it....
I go to a Vietnamese salon. They do an awesome job and have an incredible work ethic. Very pro-American as well
Ouch!
When you hear a story like this, doesn’t it make you wonder how people who came to this country with nothing were able to survive and prosper? And could we do the same process with other people and achieve good results?
For example, with the attention on inner city Baltimore and the masses of people who are grappling with poverty, could we somehow recruit people there to perform some sort of jobs? Not necessarily to be able to dominate a field such as manny/peddy the way Asian women dominate that field, but just to be able to do something productive with their lives??
Sorry to ramble, but I’m often struck how refugees from Vietnam or Cuba escaped communism, came to this country with nothing in many cases, and were able to build strong lives.
But then contrast that with people in our big city ghettos, who don’t have nearly the same hardships to overcome, yet whose lives are so depressing and unproductive.
and they honored her by naming a popular nail design for her, the “French Tippi”
and they honored her by naming a popular nail design for her, the “French Tippi”
Awesome performance in The Birds.
The acupressure salons are far more exciting than the nail salons.
Wifey is a licensed, but non practicing, cosmetologist...she’ll tell you that many of these places are a bit sketchy in regards to the hygiene practices.
It’s not just in the USA; here in the Czech Republic, Vietnamese also dominate the nail salon industry. They came over here back during the Communist era - you know, “socialist solidarity” and all that jazz - and many of them simply stayed after the 1989 Revolution.
They also pretty much dominate in late-hours convenience stores (more stores close up here at 6 pm or so, except for the really big chain stores).
I’ve heard that those acupressure salons are giving massages in certain spots, if you know what I mean.
So who taught the Cambodians to make donuts?
>> When you hear a story like this, doesn’t it make you wonder <<
Yes, and in all seriousness, I also wonder (among other immigrant-related puzzles) about the following:
1. Why Cambodians dominate the donut trade in SoCal?
2. Why Ethiopians manage all the parking lots in Wash DC?
3. Why Indians from India own almost all the small motels in the USA?
Definitely.
Also, she runs a large sanctuary for big cats called Shambala.
It's really pretty interesting to read up on the Patel clan and it's tentacles.....they'll start out with a Super 8 in Nowheresville and get "promoted" up to maybe a Holiday Inn Express -- with really no end in sight.
Gorgeous woman!
All the nail salons around here are either Vietnamese or Korean. Nice people. And, yes, you have to make sure the instruments are clean. But they are true artists those men and women.
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