The South is alive with them.
And the Unisex hair joint never really caught on here.
There’s one about a mile from our house. They just moved into a brand-new strip shopping center and I haven’t been into the new location, but I often sat and waited for my husband in their old shop. It was scruffy looking and besides the older guy cutting hair, there were a couple of women once. But they all just do basic haircuts. Nothing fancy.
There was also one in Fredericksburg with a barber who was really good when he wasn’t drinking. Last time hubby went there, he got the world’s worst haircut. :eek: We moved back to FL 3 years ago, so I don’t know if the old man in VA is still in business.
The Death of Barbershops began in the '60’s.
Barbers fell out-of-touch with changing Hairstyles.
The Network of Old-School,“I’ll cut your Hair my way” Barbers,
ultimately cut their own throats.
Any young man growing up in the sixties,feared the Barber!
Barbers ALWAYS cut your hair shorter than we asked.
All over America,young men would go to their friends for trims to
meet the Schools Hair-Length code.
I was told by my Principal,“Baby Lindbergh,if you don’t cut your
hair you won’t graduate!”
Now Days, Salons,Fantastic Sams and Supercuts are the places
to go.They don’t try to screw you over.
There was one a block from my house, but it moved a mile or so away when they replaced the shopping center with high price houses. I continued going there until about a year ago. Alas, they were not open good hours, and the owner seemed to have fired the other barbers, which meant a wait of a few hours on Saturday morning. I now go to a chain barber with evening and Sunday hours. My old place had Maxims too.
For years now, every coupla weeks, I go to my barber. Wonderful old barber’s chair. Scissors and a straight razor for the haircut; straight razor for a shave. Bay rum after the shave and a neck massage to finish up. Charles has been cutting hair for over 50 years. Never a nick. He doesn’t talk much, but I like that. There’s a boot boy, too, so I can get my shoes shined while I’m being pampered. I can’t imagine ever getting my hair cut anywhere else. $11 for the haircut; $4 for the shave; $5 for the shoes. And a $5 tip. It’s not just a haircut, it’s a hedonistic ritual. I described this once before on SD and some nitwit cited me. 
If only they knew!
- PW
It seems that there are a good number of traditional African American barber shops around here - not being a man, or black for that matter, I don’t know if you can get a shave too, but it seems like you might could. People seem to always be sitting around in them talking. I don’t know if they’re ever paying for haircuts or just gossiping, but they’ve definately got regulars.
My Uncle is a barber in just such a shop, although I don’t think it has the interesting ethnic elements (can’t vouch for the porn, either). It’s just located in a little strip mall in Indianapolis. But said Uncle is a wonderful storyteller, and each of them begins “Guy came into the shop the other day…”
Recently my Uncle’s been having some hard times due to an automobile accident (which was entirely his fault), so the owner of the barbershop put out a collection dish and you know, those customers contributed to the tune of several hundred dollars! Then they held a holiday party for him. I hear he had a wonderful time.
I’ve seen tons everywhere I’ve been, and I’m a female who wasn’t even looking for one. I’ve seen them with the stripey poles and everything. There’s one downtown in San Francisco that has the Playboys lying around where you can see them even if you’re walking by on the street, lol.
Lucky, lucky me. My section of town abounds with good barbers, some of whom have been in business for 40 or 50 years. I’ve got the cream of the crop though, his name is Pete. Quick, efficient and mercifully not talkative[he knows I don’t like to chat when undergoing one of the most sybaritic rituals left to men] He’s having trouble standing lately, and the special chair they make for barbers to sit in while working doesn’t suit him. I try to get there before he opens, so I’m first and he’s still steady on his pins. It’s 10 dollars for me too, haircut, plus beard, eyebrow and nose[EWWWWWWWWW] trim. A nice tip goes his way, and I feel like a million bucks. What is it with feeling so good after being freshly-barbered? He’ll do shaves if there isn’t a lot of customers waiting, I wouldn’t dream of delaying THEIR gratification. He told me recently that barber college students aren’t even taught how to shave a customer anymore. Sic transit, gloria mundi. Kinda’ hoping I go first, don’t know how I’d get by without the best barber in the world.
Here I have my hair cut by the Carlos, The World’s Gayest Filapino. Great guy. Great place.
He sprays alcohol over his straight razor and sets it afire like a blowtorch. He shaves my cheeks with a thread held taught between his fingers. Nice neck massage. I have never had him do my fingernails.
In America, I judge barbershops by the amount and quality of taxidermy. Deer wearing hats score double points.
In Panama, I have yet to find a good shop. Still going to Miami every two weeks seems, somehow, excessive.
I think there’s at least one in every small town in Texas. Admittedly, once they retire, their shops tend to go out of business…
I would never go anywhere *except an old-timey barber.
There’s nothing like the full tonsorial experience-- annointed, shaved, cut, and massaged. My barber always has the latest woodworking, metalcraft, and motorcycle mags laid out in the waiting area, too, which beats the hell out of the gossip rags and fashion magazines that most folks get.
I went to a barber this week…it was like walking into the past! The smell of the barber’s soap, the bay rum, the weird hair tonic…I was like proust eatinh his madeleines? Gosh, I hope barber shops don’t disappear!
Support your local barber! let’s have everyone get a haircut this week!
I get my hair cut every 2 or 3 weeks by an old-fashioned barber. He has a little shop about 5 minutes from my house, but he’s not old (maybe 35-40), though most of his equipment is: genuine antique barber’s chairs, glasses, brushes, etc. He keeps his combs in purple Barbicide. His name is Lynn, and he cuts my hair just the way I like it: a number 2 flat-top. I don’t know much about his background - came from Wisconsin, I think, but he only charges me $5 for the cut, and you can balance a book on the cut when he’s done. There’s usually a current newspaper laying about, and some kind of sports on the television.
And all those old-fashioned scents, too…which, by the way, if you really like, you can purchase. That particular scent you’re looking for? It’s by a company called “Clubman.” Generally has a picture of a guy in a tophat and waistcoat on the can - they make powder and colognes.
Love that stuff…
Oh, yeah, forgot to add a couple of colorful items -
He moved here only about 10 years ago and opened up that shop. All the “old guys” from all over get their hair cut there (this is a retirement community, but I’m only 34 - it’s actually a great place to raise young-un’s).
Anyway, he really embraced the atmosphere down here - everyone pretty much knows he’s from Wisconsin, so he tagged his shop “The Yankee Clipper,” complete with red/white/blue barber pole out front…
Not that I’m aware of, although I’m of an age that might not have seen this.
Here in the sprawling metropolis of Covington (pop. 2500), we have a barbershop just like what you described. Our barber is French, though, thus we call him Frenchie. He just had hip surgery, but he’s back to cutting hair again. I usually go to the other barber in the shop, a woman. She does as good as a job as anybody on my hair, and they all make for pleasant conversation when Frenchie’s not sleeping. The only difference in what has been described and our shop is the lack of hot lather and such.
I still go to my old-time barber shop, and usually pray to get the main guy, Sal. He’s known my family and friends for two decades.
Sometimes, though, I get stuck with Geno. He’s a bit older; his Italian accet is a bit thicker, and his haircuts aren’t as nice as Sal’s. But he’s a good guy nonetheless.
I love getting a haircut. Those guys know more about me than my relatives.
I visit Roy once a month. No porn, but always has the latest shooting/hunting mags in the rack. Great hot-stove league in the winter.
Where else can I get a great haircut, solve all the world’s problems, and damn most of our local coaches to the nether regions all for $10.00 ($6.50 haircut, $3.50 tip)?