Thread: Banning the Pole

Oh, barber "pole".... i thought you ment my uncle Stovitchswi..... He would have been sad..

Originally Posted by chay2K

I am a soon-to-be barber, and this is actually a bigger issue than it may seem at the outset. The barber pole is the most internationally recognized non-religious symbol, not to mention, the oldest continually used trade symbol in the world. Though the distinction between actual barbers and cosmetologists has been somewhat blurred for the last three or four decades (thanks a lot, Beatles); with the recent resurrgance of classic barbering, I think that the distinction between these two skill sets needs to be fairly represented. I know that on a few occasions I've been drawn to an establishment by the displayed barber pole, only to be turned on my heels by the first ammonia-laden whiff of perm solution upon opening the door. Now, to the majority of the men on this forum, this is no big deal; but, to the unitiated, this is an unfair representation of the barber's craft. There are now generations of men that need to become familiarized with the barbershop and it's services, and oftentimes, the recognition of the barber pole is the first step in that process.

(Calmly sets down clippers, steps off soapbox, and walks off into the sunset)

Don't walk off into the sunset...we need you !

Originally Posted by Nightblade

Don't walk off into the sunset...we need you !

"Shane...SHANE!!!"
-Shane

Michigan seems to be getting stranger and stranger. Use to think my state of NY was different but I guess there's others too!

Originally Posted by Johnus

Michigan seems to be getting stranger and stranger.

YA THINK?!?!

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

YA THINK?!?!

Bah... MI doesn't have Jack on KS lol! And KS doesn't have Jack on...

Being originally from Michigan...I unfortunately have to agree. My poor state is ...Poor .

Originally Posted by Nightblade

Being originally from Michigan...I unfortunately have to agree. My poor state is ...Poor .

And just plain loony!

Originally Posted by earcutter

Turkish barber in Kusadasi - Kuafor Ercan (Turchia) - YouTube

That was ridiculously fantastic. I hope that experience isn't unique to filmed cuts alone.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Yep. You cannot leave em outside anymore or someone will steal them. I have read where they evolved from just red stripes which signified blood running down an arm from the days when barbers were also "bloodletters". I suppose it is no longer "PC" to have them. That's why I have my own to look at!



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My Grandfather had an old barbers chair in the back room of his Barbershop. He came from the "Old Country (Italy) by way of Cuba after WWI.

In a drawer in the back he keep a collection of spring operated lancets. The older men would come in, speak to him and then go let themselves in to the back room and wait for Grandpa to come back.

He only stopped bleeding in the 50's when my Aunt went to Nursing school. She explained to him that there was no way to effectively clean and sterilize the inside of the "spring box" after use.
Since he was very serious about sanitation (way ahead of his time, they would deliver Listerine to his house by truck...) he stopped immediately and refused to ever do it again. But this is the same man who gave up driving one day by placing his car keys and license on the counter and announcing that he was done driving in his late 70's. (A blessing, he was the worst driver on the planet, running the gas and brakes like a pump organ - we have always assumed he had a real scare that day)

BTW the bowl at the bottom of the pole represents the bleeding bowl. Those macaroni shaped stainless steel containers you used to see in the hospital had the same origin. They would press the inside curve against the back of your neck to catch the flow, cutting below your hairline on one side of the back of your neck for instance.

Barbers were also the dentists...a prospect that should make you shudder. I believe that is what the "white" in the pole signifies.

Sadly we don't know what happened to any of his kit....I'm still looking and asking.