Ye Olde Barber Shoppe

Before there were tonsorial parlors or unisex hair salons, there was the very masculine barber shop. The pre-WWII shop had a swinging screen door and a table fan whirring slowly and the scent of witch hazel permeating the place. But there were no girlie magazines - just the Sporting News, the Daily Racing Form and the local newspaper which sold for three cents and with the local ball game on the radio. Life was slower. My brother and I walked the eight blocks to Charlie Kohler's shop. We always went in tandem as we passed thru strange neighborhoods and with a quarter in your pocket you were fair game circa 1939. There were three chairs in the shop but since we didn't tip we always waited for the owner as you didn't have to tip him. The barber chair was akin to a throne - it raised and lowered and swiveled and had a large leather razor strop for sharpening his straight razor.
Now I visit a unisex establishment where a female "stylist" shears my gray locks for $11. with a senior discount. I tell her to excise just the white hair and I don't want to see her for six weeks - but it's nothing personal. I leave feeling and looking younger with a bounce in my step and smelling nice enough to get a seat on the subway. But I do miss the witch hazel.
As an aside, in parts of Asia the striped barber pole was a symbol for a brothel. And in early days in Europe barbers performed certain surgeries and kept leeches on hand for blood letting. Ugh. But don't let that spoil your day.
tjs
Next - Waiter! Waiter!