The Barber

While in Las Vegas recently, seeing the red and blue striped pole in the Palazzo Spa and having a bit of time, I decided that a haircut was in order.  Little did I know I'd get an education and a history lesson at the same time.

Philip the barber took his craft very seriously.  He looked the part with his black shirt and red bow tie.  As I like to say, if you're going to get in the game, you've got to be dressed to play.

According to Philip, the barber's craft  has been in a demographic decline over the years, but the service is poised for a comeback, as people seek a "Wow" factor.  When barber shops in the 70s gave way to the hair stylists, he changed with the times.  Now, the time and skill and attention to detail of a barber is now recognized as a valuable skill that should be compensated.  The supply is low and demand higher.

I didn't even go to a barber shop until I was in the 9th grade, after we moved to Austin.  When I was younger, my mother cut my hair and I have the pictures to show for it.  I'm sure it was me that refused to go see a barber and I was generally clueless about how I should look for at least the elementary school years.

Around the 7th grade my hair was over my ears.  My mother cut more over one ear that I expected.   I saw the one ear and panicked.   I flatly refused to let her "even it up" and I went around lopsided for a day or two until the junior high teasing reached my ear(s).  "Hey Turley, who cut your hair?"  [laughter and embarrassment]

Professional help was needed and my mother took me to Command Performance in the Memorial City Mall where I recall a nice lady did what she could to straighten it out.  She did encourage me to come back a second time.  She also graciously did not press me for details on what happened.

After then I became a convert to the out-of-home hair cutting.  In Austin, the local neighborhood men and boys in the know were to the Casis Barber Shop right by our home in the Casis Shopping Center.  I think it started with some barber aptly named "Bud" . Bud had sold the shop to James who was the barber of choice.  

It was worth making an appointment with James to escape having "one of those girls" cut your hair, as someone once pointedly questioned me who had actually cut my hair.  I lied and said it was James.  Never made that mistake again.

In Lexington VA in college, there was Wendell's Barber Shop, one barber, about 500 square feet, right by my apartment.  He charged $8.00 for a haircut.  He even swept the floor himself.   I recall he was closed Wednesdays which was not a day off for him but rather he cut hair that day at Virginia Military Institute.  Those cadets got a weekly haircut.  If you were a Rat (freshman), they had their heads shaved all year.

In Houston after college, I found the Exxon Building Barber Shop where my father had got his hair cut in the 1960s.  As expected in the 90s, the same two barbers of my dad's era were still there, Don and Frank.  There was a third, Wendell (no relation).

After a few years, Wendell in Houston retired, followed by Frank.  In 1998 or so, I dropped in for a haircut.  The barber  shop was closed, but there was now a salon next door.  Phone number 686-HAIR.  I saw a sign in the window:  Barber Cuts Available.

I went in to inquire and there was Don working among a group of women.  He had his white barber shirt on.  The only man there.  Needless to say, he looked out of place.  When I was getting my hair cut, he told me the barber shop had just closed, the landlord would not renew the lease after 35 years in that location but that he was able to work at the salon for now.  This had just happened - in fact I think it was his first week in the new place.

I wrote a story at the time about Don, which has since been lost.  It was entitled "A Death, a New Life".  I admired Don for his ability to carry on, in the face of a loss of what he had know for so long.  I didn't know him well before, but I did send a copy of the story to him.  His wife wrote back, saying how much the story meant to her and Don.

So it's nice to see that men like Philip are keeping the old ways up and seeking a bridge to the next generation.  I told Philip about a barber I had read about in San Antonio, Rob the Original, who had been profiled in Texas Monthly.  "I know Rob, I've met him at the hair shows".  Rob has a fresh combination of barbering and art, and perhaps that will be part of the spark that keeps this skill going in the future.  Along with Philip's spa-like service, the skill of the barber will adapt and overcome to meet the demand.  After all, there will always be a need to fix bad haircuts.