In 1991, Jeff Hafler was a 19-year-old beauty school student and history lover who indulged both passions by collecting vintage hairstyling tools and beauty products. Nearly 30 years later, the Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum stands on Highway 62 in downtown Joshua Tree, luring nostalgia lovers near and far. Soon, some of Hafler’s collection will be headed north. Reporter Heather Clisby has details…
In nearly 30 years of collecting, Jeff Hafler has amassed approximately 3,000 treasures for his Joshua Tree business, the Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum—antique blowdryers, forgotten face creams and even a permanent hair-waving machine from the 1920s.
“I have always thought about the idea of a roadside attraction beauty museum dedicated to the history of hair and beauty and so, there it is!”
Come December, 50 of those artifacts will be on display at San Francisco International Airport’s new Harvey Milk Terminal. SFO is the only airport museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. SFO’s museum program curator, Nicole Mullen, saw an article about the Beauty Bubble in Allure magazine and called Hafler immediately.
“Because she had wanted to do an exhibit on hair culture for many years but did not know of any sizable collections and when she read the article she then knew that’s where she was going to find the artifacts,” says Jeff.
The exhibition, which will also include six of Jeff’s original wig head sculptures, The Hair-sterical Gals, will be visible through August 2021 and free to all passing travelers.
The Beauty Bubble is not servicing hair clients at this time due to COVID-19 restrictions but is opening the gift shop and museum Thursday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm. The Beauty Bubble is located at 61855 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree.
“I’m just going to continue to carry on and do the best I can to keep the Beauty Bubble open,” says Jeff. “Hair’s to ya!”
