Thinning Scissors, c. 1960

Franco Insana used these thinning scissors while serving as the owner and operator of Franco Beauty Academy, a beautician training school located in downtown Pittsburgh. An immigrant from Sicily, Insana started the school in 1950 and later opened branches in New Kensington, Charleroi, and Ambridge. His wife Nina, also born in Sicily, was instrumental in managing the business and financial affairs of the school and served as proprietor from the time of her husband's death in 1974 until the business closed its doors in 1989-1990. A gregarious and likeable personality, Franco Insana was known throughout the city for giving blindfolded haircuts as publicity stunts to promote his business and for raising money for his favorite cause, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He also invented and patented a specially-designed plastic permanent rod. Gift of Nina Insana and family, 2006.61