Paleo Retiree writes:
These days I often find myself enjoying retro things. Is it my age that makes me so partial to old things, and to new things done in old styles? (If I’ve achieved true fuddy-duddyism, I have to say that it feels surprisingly good. No more need to “keep up” with things — yay to that.) Is it spending so much time using flashily modern electronic gadgets that leaves me in the mood for something more solid and material?
In any case, I feel a reliable and deep rush of satisfaction when a well-kept old car drives by … or when I visit a steakhouse, and settle in beside The Wife in a red-leather booth … or when a classic cocktail is placed before me.
Urbanistic moments and touches often do it for me too. The other day, for instance, I was was strolling through the downtown of a small California burg and noticed that it supported two traditional barber shops. Not hair-stylists but barber shops, dammit — the real deal, with the requisite poles, seats, signs and relaxed, guyish camaraderie. What a lovely little experience it was to explore them for a few minutes.
Here’s a visual impression.
Do such places detract from our experience of “downtown,” or are they part of why we bother with downtowns at all?
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
The barber shop in my neighborhood has an honest-to-goodness wooden Indian. I’ll try to get a picture.
The Coen Brothers’ “The Man Who Wasn’t There” did a great job evoking the old classic barber shop: http://wondersinthedark.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/man-who-wasnt-1.jpg
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That’s a perfect still. Looking forward to your snap too. Passing by a real-life barber shop almost always puts a smile on my face.
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Me too. As a matter of fact, I’m getting a haircut this pm…
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Fun fact: Barber poles can be found outside so-called “salons” in China (often in Western hotels, which is where I saw them), but they are meant to represent — ahem — *services* of a very different kind.
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Is that right? That’s funny. The barbershops in NYC’s Chinatown use barber poles too, only they’re different than American ones. I’ve got some snaps somewhere. But I wonder if they’re offering extra “services” too.
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I wouldn’t be surprised. Some of those Chinatown “massage parlors” look awfully sketchy, too. In China, our tour guide specifically told us, “If you really want your hair cut, don’t go in there.”
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I read somewhere that the barber pole went back to ancient Greece where it represented a phallus and was posted outside brothels. These brothels offered other services too, bathing and grooming type stuff which actually makes a lot of sense paired up with prostitution.
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I love the cartoon barber on this ad.
http://www.thebarberspole.co.uk
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Here’s a traditional British barber’s pole.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2531643
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Tell us: Did you get wildroot cream-oil?
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