I walked at the mall this morning. The Piercing Pagoda (kiosk that pierces ears and sells jewelry) has been closed since March. It triggered a long ago memory of my Mom.
I had my ears pieced when I was in my late teens. It was trendy then and everyone was doing it. You had to go to a doctor to get it done unless you trusted your girlfriend with a fat needle and an ice cube. I didn’t.
My doc didn’t pierce ears. I don’t know if he hadn’t invested in the punch equipment or he was opposed to it. Didn’t matter to me. I found another doc to do it. It’s a pinch when it happens but I wouldn’t call it particularly painful. I had more soreness when I bumped it while curling my hair afterward.
My mother never had her ears pierced. After I did my ears, she always admired my earrings. She didn’t like the clips because they hurt. For her birthday I took her to get her ears pierced. She was in her 50s.
We went to a jewelry place at our local mall. It was a Saturday afternoon and it was busy. There was one child around 6 ahead of her. The piercing was done out in the open. You sat in a chair and they used a gun to insert “starter” earrings in. Easy peasy. They used a numbing cream.
The little girl was so excited. It was wonderful to watch. She thought this transformed her into a “big” girl. I remember that feeling. I had it when I got my first baby “high” heel shoes. Oh yes, there was a crinoline petticoat that sent me over the moon too.
Then it was my mom’s turn. I saw her wince. It was a big wince. I had assured her that it didn’t hurt much. More like a pinch. She said it wasn’t a pinch. She was sure they were ripping her ear off. The worst part was she couldn’t yell. After that little girl took it so well my mom thought she’d look like a big baby if she wailed.
She picked out an expensive pair of earrings as her gift and muttered all the way home. After that whenever I asked if something hurt, she’d say, “just a pinch” with a twinkle in her eye.
I remember pierced ears being in vogue in high school but I resisted and would never have gotten mine done if my sister hadn’t bought me a pair of pierced earrings as a graduation present. Then she dragged me to a jewelry store which did the piercing with starters. It hurt a bit as I recall. I used to wear earrings every day, to match every outfit in the 80’s but haven’t for decades and thought that one hole had closed over. Last summer when I attended a Woodstock party, I wanted to wear dangling hippy earrings to go with my costume and managed to slip a pair through the closed hole without too much pain! Ah the things we do for fashion…..
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I loved them and still do. I never had much luck with the clip ons. When I worked women (and men) dressed up so I had a lot of earrings to match outfits. My second pair of holes are rarely used but I can still get an earring through with patience.
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My mother and I decided to get our ears pierced together… I believe I was in my 30s which means she was in her 60s. We sat at the jewelry counter at the May Co and I still remember that pinch. The May Co became Macy’s… now Macy’s is gone along with the mall itself… eaten up by 600,000 sq ft of Google office space. I wonder now if mothers and daughters get tattoos together… ear piercing seems too tame…
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My mother wouldn’t do tattoos. Back in the day there was a stigma attached to it for women.
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I may or may not have pierced my friend’s ear with a needle and ice cube. 🙂 During college, I worked in a jewelry store and had to do a couple piercings. It always made me nervous!
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That is a nice memory of your mom Kate. I never let friends pierce my ears either – I went to a similar place in the mall with the “gun-type machine” and “starter earrings” and did it with my mom. We could both hardly wait to get out of the “starter earrings” and into regular earrings.
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I can’t remember but it was a week or two of the square plugs but at least they weren’t ugly.
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Is it okay that I laughed at this? I hope so! I can’t imagine how you felt afterwards!
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We laughed at it for years so you’re good.
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😅
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Ahh yes, another rite of passage from the late 60’s/early 70’s. My best friend was in nursing school and ‘offered’ to do mine. We…well, mostly she…giggled because I kept whining about the pain-this back in the days of fat needles & ice cubes). The ice cube kept melting and dribbling down my neck and it took us all afternoon long to do one ear. That was enough for me. It was probably another year or so before I eventually did the other one by myself after constantly being shamed for just having one ear pierced. That crunching sound of going through the cartilage or whatever tissue it was was the worst part. With the panDAMNic, I haven’t worn earrings in months. The mask makes it too much trouble. 😑
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During this lockdown I have rarely worn them because what’s the point? In “normal times” which we may never see again, I’d wear them once a month or whenever we went out for dinner. I have friends who wear them daily. I think that’s wonderful but I don’t seem to remember or I’m doing something like gardening and don’t want them on.
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You sure have some wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing them, I had a smile on my face, the whole time I read the post.
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A smile is good. We need more of those.
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Love this twinkle eyed memory! Thanks for the smile Kate 💛
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Humans are definitely weird. You don’t see animals walking around wanting to puncture holes in their bodies just to dangle objects off of. But, my human did it too. When she was about 5 her mum took a needle, an ice cube, and a potato to do the job. Worked well and they are still pierced today. But I still think it’s a tad odd to self puncture your body. Your mom must be brave.
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She was brave. We are an odd lot.
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That is funny! What a neat thing to do together, and so cute that she didn’t want to be outbraved by a little one 🙂
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She had a lot of pride. When she was older and walking at the mall was tiring, she refused to use a wheelchair because “what would people think.” I have a little of that too although I hope I would do what made sense.
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🙂
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What a nice memory. 🙂 Just the topic made me cringe though because when I had it done the doctor used a needle and just stuck it in and pulled surgical thread through. I thought I was going to die. He just looked at me and said ‘well, do you want the other one done or just walk around with one.’ I had the other one done, but it sure hurt and not a ‘pinch.’ 🙂
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Just hearing that made me wince!
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Oh Kate, I loved this story. There is no pressure like trying to follow a 6-year-old at anything 😆
Your mom sounds like she had a bit of an adventurous side. Good for her!!
I was about 7 or 8 when my mom pierced my ears – with a fat needle and an ice cube. I can’t say it was particularly pleasant (the ice cube was the worst! … especially the second time around), but she did a great job 🙂
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When I was in grammar school, the daughter of immigrant parents had her ears pierced like that. My mom’s family didn’t do it but it was common to pierce them when a child was very young, maybe even under one.
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That is a sweet memory. I have been trying to get my mom to get her ears pierced for years, but at 78, I don’t think it will happen.
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I’d give up on that one.
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My mother never got her ears pierced and wasn’t keen on the idea of me having mine done. I finally got mine done when I went off to college and didn’t tell her until it was a done deal (yes, I was a rebel way back then 🙂 ). My holes have since closed up and I seldom wear clips because they are uncomfortable. My life is changing to be more about comfort than glamour.
Just a pinch? That’s what my dentist used to say before sticking a big needle into my gums. Yikes!
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I needed a lidocaine shot for a procedure this week and that’s what they said. Very painful!
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Just a pinch! The best part is that the just a pinch did not last long. But, I had to have it done twice! As it turns out, the first time I had it done I was allergic (did not know til then) to the white gold earring. Oh what a mess…but 58 years later…I’m glad it was done!!!! Actually a nice memory of your Mom.
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Thanks. She did like having pierced ears and there were no issues afterward (or I never would have heard the end of it!).
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I had mine done when I was 19, and everything was fine until I had to turn them the first time, then I felt sick! I can only wear gold though and a pair of beautiful jade earrings I bought in NZ are in the box because they are not on gold stems as I thought and made my ears so sore the only time I wore them..
I have fond memories of my Mum buying earrings for me. We picked out four or five pairs around the same price, then I walked away so that she could choose, knowing I’d like them, but still get a surprise because I wouldn’t know which ones.
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You could have a gold post put on the jade earrings. I can wear tin cans. My ears aren’t sensitive.
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I thought about it, but didn’t look into it. Maybe I will when I have some spare money.
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What a great story.
Clip-ons were a real annoyance. I have a bunch from high school and a few of my mom’s still.
Pierced ears were late thing for me, but it is so much easier and I don’t have to worry about losing the Navaho earrings I love….or did just seems silly to wear lovely earings in the backyard these days – but I do put them on every often just to make sure they will still work when there’s someplace to wear them
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I went through high school without pierced ears too. I wear them often enough that my holes don’t grow shut but not really very often. I could wear them to the grocery store.
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I’ve let my pierced ears close up over the years, and now I wish I hadn’t. May have to find someplace to get them re-pierced.
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Have you tried? I rarely wear earrings but I still can get through.
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I did try a year or two ago…need to have them redone. After no earrings for a couple decades there’s not much hole there.
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Decades is a long time. I wear earrings maybe once a month.
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Your sweet memory sparked my nightmarish ear piercing ordeal. I may have to blog about it one day. Love the photo!
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I was lucky but one of my friends got infected.
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Oh, what a beautiful memory! Thank you for sharing it! ❤
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My mother was a hoot. Fortunately she had her pride and was not going to yell!
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I’m totally with your Mom on this one. I had my ears pierced when I was 11. Even though it was done by a doctor; it hurt like hell. Definitely more than a pinch!
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I don’t have much memory of my piercing but he used a numbing cream and maybe that helped. I don’t think it was completely painless. I had a second set done about 10 years later and don’t remember much about that. Maybe I lose brain cells when it’s done.
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I never had my ears pierced. Fear of pain and my Mom saying it was a barbaric custom stopped me. Of course this was way before your time. I have always admired the fine jewelry earrings though and that you don’t have to worry about losing them.
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You can still lose earrings. Sometimes the back comes off and you don’t know it.
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What a great story! My mom didn’t have pierced ears, either. She took me to the mall for piercing for my 10th birthday (greatest birthday ever, since I also got a cat). I did fine. She passed out.
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That is funny!
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Good for your mom! Both getting her ears pierced at the “advanced age” of 50. Ha! And for the “just a pinch” running joke with you.
I have large earlobes with a GENEROUS blood supply. After getting my ears pierced at a jewelry store (age 13), I headed down the street for lunch with my mom when I realized that the whole side of my neck was a sticky bloody mess. Eww! I hadn’t seen that coming.
We retraced our steps to the jewelry store and they cleaned me up.
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I never heard of that happening. There usually isn’t much blood at all.
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I don’t think its a common problem. But in the years since, no major issues so I’m glad I got them pierced.
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Maybe they hit your one blood vessel!
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Cute story. I wonder if it hurts more when you’re older? Do you get your sense of humor from Mom? 😆
I had it done at the doctor’s office with the punch gun when I was eleven.
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I’m much more irreverent and snarky than my mom but she had a good sense of humor too.
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I took my Mother for earrings as a gift. She was so proud. I would consider it more than a pinch.
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Well, maybe it was more than a pinch. I had a simple skin biopsy this week. The PA said it will be just a pinch and it hurt like hell!
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I love your mother’s attitude. I was in my 30’s when I had my ears pierced in the mall. It was more than a pinch, but I kept telling myself it was no worse than wearing clip-ons. I’ve enjoyed earrings ever since.
I loved reading your tale of giving your mom pierced ears. What a marvelous gift! I’ll bet she was grateful the rest of her life. Thanks for including her photo.
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She did love pierced earrings. Clip-ons aren’t comfortable. Maybe it’s our ears but even with those little cushions, they still hurt after an hour or two. When I had mine done, the doc injected with a little lidocaine. I swear that hurt more than any quick punch.
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That’s funny. My earlobes ached several hours after being assaulted, but that was the end of the pain forever. Worth it!!
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I agree. So worth it!
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Oh, this story reminded me of my own piercing story…my mom wanted her ears pierced and had me get mine done first, as the family guinea pig! Since I survived, she was happy to go next. Yep, Mom loved me but after this I wondered if she would step in front of a speeding car for me or hold me in front of her to soften the blow🤔🤣🤣🤣.
Deb
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I had her pick out the earrings and I paid for them before the piercing. I was afraid she’d back out. I knew if money had exchanged hands her thrifty nature would kick in. Love your mom. If I had kids, I might be like that.
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I waited until my 20s to get mine pierced although I wanted them done earlier. When I finally got my “spurt of courage” I went to a jewelry store and they assigned THE GUN to a novice – someone “learning”. The gun got STUCK in my ear. The needle was through my ear and they couldn’t get it OUT. I sat there while the procession of other employees tried to get me UNSTUCK. Finally the manager did it. That ear was NEVER the same. The hole wasn’t straight either (I suppose that’s no biggie but it was a downward hole which was forever a pain when I put earrings on). I survived (obviously) but in the last few years I quit wearing earrings and the holes are now closed. Thinking of leaving them that way but I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many pretty earrings!!! Decisions – decisions………………
Hugs, Pam
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Since retirement I rarely wear earrings but my holes are still there. Sometimes it takes me a bit longer to work them through but they are still there. I also have a second set that I had done later and those are still open but even harder to thread through. I have a beautiful pair of clip-ons but I just can’t wear them.
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My daughter is the first generation in our family to get her ears pierced. Definitely not something you could get done on the NHS.
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Here the piercing is free is you buy earrings.
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love this story…just a pinch, yes ;O) I was the girl with the needle and the ice cube and I helped my friends who got no ok from their parents to pierce their ears… my mother was NOT amused about my piercing studio in her bathroom and she sadly ruined my business…
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When I wrote this I knew you’d be one of those needle friends! I didn’t trust any of my friends.
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