Today we are going to Muse about the barber shops. If this is your first visit, welcome to Musings. If you have been here before, welcome back. Over time we are going to talk about many things: the past, the present, perhaps the future, travel, art, society and more. Wherever my musing takes me. I hope you will come along with me.
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The Barber Pole
The other day I was driving home, through a less than affluent part of town, when I came to a stop at a light. As I waited for it to turn, I noticed out the window, on the adjacent building a column painted in a wrap-around red, white and blue descending stripe. It was a barber pole! A barber pole! Imagine, a barber pole!. I haven’t seen one of those in years.
That brought back a flood of memories. When I was a kid we went to a barber shop, not a hair salon. It was a manly place!
There were hair creams, face lotions, hot towels, large aprons. There were always interesting magazines! Not People Magazine or Entertainment Today. The barbers dressed in white and worked Tuesday through Saturday.
The only time I remember a woman being in the shop was when a mother brought in her son for his haircut, usually his first. After a short time we boys learned how to negotiate that transaction alone.
One time, about age 6, I went alone to the barber and ordered a “butch”. That would be style 27-29 below. I had longer hair at the time, parted on the side.
The Barber asked, “Is this OK with your mother?
“Oh sure! She said it was OK. All the other kids have butches.”
So off went the hair and I came home looking like fur ball. That night I cried because I couldn’t comb it. I liked to comb my hair. Today I don’t have too much to work with.
The barber shop was unlike any other place in town. As I said it was a manly place. And you knew where it was because it always had a barber pole. I could spot the barbershop a block away. It wasn’t necessary to read. When I went to a different town, like to visit my grandparents, I could spot the barbershop. And, I knew I would be welcome even though I was unknown to the barbers.
That’s another thing! Barbers with an “S”. Most shops had four chairs. In the city there were often more. Always there were at least two. At least that is what my memory tells me.
Today the barber poles are mostly gone. When I first arrived here I had a terrible time finding a barber. It never occurred to me to use the white pages. I was looking for the barber pole. Now even white pages seem to be history.
And today barber shops are rare. What we have are mostly hair salons today with not too interesting magazines. The “Manly” shops have changed! And they are hard to find without a barber pole.
My friends recommend this place, but I can’t find it.
More to come
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thomas-tribby.pixels.com
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- 1. Click on this link: thomas-tribby.pixels.com.
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- 3. Click on option.
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Have fun.
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Click on: thomas-tribby.pixels.com
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