# Barbershops **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbershops/222125 "2004-01-01T15:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbershops/222125/1 "2004-01-01T15:57:01Z")
Does anyone what that red, white and blue [spiralling cylinder](http://www.kanfer.com/prairiescapes2/images/261NL%20Barbershop%20Quartet.jpg) in front of many barbershops is? What is it for? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbershops/222125/2 "2004-01-01T16:13:56Z")
[History Of The Striped Barber Pole](http://www.adsd.com/holtz/bpole.html) > [@](#): > > The barber pole as a symbol of the profession is a legacy of bloodletting. The barber surgeon’s necessities for that curious custom were a staff for the patient to grasp (so the veins on the arm would stand out sharply), a basin to hold leeches and catch blood, and a copious supply of linen bandages. After the operation was completed, the bandages would be hung on the staff and sometimes placed outside as advertisement. Twirled by the wind, they would form a red & white spiral pattern that was later adopted for painted poles. The earliest poles were surmounted by a leech basin, which in time was transformed into a ball. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbershops/222125/3 "2004-01-01T19:40:04Z")
Thanks, **Fear Itself**! Ew.