Gigi Bierbaum
Postmortem Hair Dresser

 

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The Poca River Postal Authority is pleased to issue a stamp honoring Miss Gigi Bierbaum.

Miss Bierbaum was born in Pliny-on-the-Poca in 1886.  In 1904 Miss Bierbaum entered studies in Charleston, West Virginia to become a hairdresser.  In 1906 she returned to the Poca River Basin to ply her trade.  She was employed by several hair salons, but her employment was always of short duration.  

It seems that Miss Bierbaum was a very reticent sort:  hardly ever speaking a word.  Her customers, accustomed to more loquacious types, took her silence for unfriendliness.  As a result, they would avoid her otherwise highly developed skills.  After losing several positions, she was at wit's end until Mr. Rick Ratcliff, the Pliny mortician, suggested that she could fill a need by fixing the hair of the dearly departed.  She gave up all hope of earning tips and accepted this position at Ratcliff's Funeral Home. This situation suited her so well that she spent the rest of her life working in contented silence.

It is noteworthy that every one who ever saw a corpse who had been the object of Miss Bierbaum's talents always mentioned how good the deceased's hair looked.  This, of course, caused a substantial increase in Mr. Ratcliff's business.  As a result, he was able to expand his holdings by purchasing the business next door to the mortuary.  This enterprise was known for many years as Ratcliff's Funeral Home and Feed Store.

Gigi Bierbaum passed away in August of  1958.  Her hair was not as attractive as were previous customers of Ratcliff's Funeral Home and Feed Store.

The stamp was issued in a plate of 20 stamps in the denomination of 19pu.  The date of issue was 17 July, 2001.

 


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