The pinnacle of western civilization
can be experienced at Joe’s Barber Shop, in Dyer, Indiana. It’s down the street from Hog Haven on Rt 30.
Joe , who I’ve posted about before, has no website. He has no credit card machine, either. He’ll take a check from you, if you know him really well, I suppose, but I always show up with cash.
I usually go High & Tight, these days, which takes Joe but minutes- and he does it with unequalled ease. Today I treated myself and went for the shave and haircut.
Joe is an old fashioned barber with old fashioned tools and old fashioned skills. His blades are so sharp you cannot feel them cutting the hair. He wraps that towel around your face and pats it down, two, maybe three times. Then shaves, all in one direction. Then he does it again, and shaves in the opposite direction. I won’t need to shave again till after Christmas.
When I win the Lottery, I’m gonna go to Joe’s every day. I walk out of his shop every time feeling like Strickland of the Police. I don’t give a damn about nuclear power or windmills or open heart surgery; the Barber Shave is civilization.
I can remember getting my neck and shoulders massaged along with the heated shaving cream – on the back of my neck, behind the ears, and on my face.
Then I discovered wimmen cut hair, too.
Chuck has been cutting my hair for nearly 25 years. The shop still smells faintly of cigars, newspapers, Brylcreem and…..guys. There are Hot Rod and Sports Illustrated on the rack…along with Field and Stream, Outdoor Life. In the background, either baseball, football, basketball or early rock and country play on the AM radio.
His razor is as sharp as the best Katana blade…..He asks me about the deer and antelope hunts, or the fishing. Maybe we talk about how bad the Broncos are doing, or who will be pitching for the Rockies come spring training time. He cuts away at the ever thinning, ever more white locks. Hot towels and straight razor trim, then a massage on neck and upper back and head with the vibrators. Its a luxury for old farts like myself. A woman barber just doesn’t fit into the equation….Period!
Chuck fell and broke his hip last spring. Dunno how long he will keep going. He has arthritis bad. Two younger Koreans have come in to help him. They care for him, treat the ol’ feller with utmost respect….Chuck is the Master. I watch them watching him, learning.
Will they ever attain the same level of mastery? — I prolly won’t live long enough to find out. Chuck is 70, I am 63. It took him his whole life to be where he is now.
Og, pinnacle indeed! Trusting another man to shave you with their consummate skill is indeed a joy.
Dad and I had Dick the Barber for years. Shortly after Dad died, Dick retired and sold his shop to his second chair.
I went back twice after that and it just wasn’t the same. Now I let my wife’s hairdresser cut my hair. The fact that she is gorgeous and stacked and might be related to my wife had nothing to do with this decision :) (The fact is that she really is a wizard with the scissors.)
I grew up going to Wesley’s Barbershop from the time I was a toddler. Wesley had a second chair worked by Roger. They both retired and shut down the shop when I was about thirty. It’s been two decades and I haven’t found Wesley’s Barbershop’s equal. Not even close.
The American Work Ethic is just about dead.
To paraphrase Tiny Tim: God help us. God help us every one.
When I was a lad and lived in New Jersey, before the insanity, we had a great barber. I always got a crew cut. When I got married in California, just when the insanity started (in Marin County north of San Fracisco), there was a great barber and boot black, I would get a cut, a shave and a shine. It hasn’t been civilized since they closed 30 years ago.