BY GONE ERA
It came in one of my decreasing moments of lucidity.......Things that are no more........Soft drinks in bottles made from glass, penny candy, and if you were a frugal child you could sometimes find two for a penny. Drive in movies and barber shops. The one that I visited in my youth was a three chair shop. There was Tony and Joe and that extra chair towards the back of the tonsorial emporium belonged to Tony senior who passed long before I was even born,but they kept his area in a respectful tribute to Tonys father. You would come in and the smells told you you were in the right place. The smell of cigar and cigarette smoke.The sweet smell of tonic water that Tony would sprinkle on you liberally when he was done. You sat in the row of leather upholstered chairs that ran along one wall and took a magazine even if there was no one in the chair. Sooner or later ,when he was ready Tony would give you the nod and you would go and settle into the most comfortable chair imaginable. It had a leg rest and a foot rest and even a head rest.It was made from stainless steel,wood and soft leather. Tony would get out a fresh paper neckband and wrap it around your neck and then he would get the cape from its place on the back of the chair and place it tightly around your neck to protect your clothing from the hair that he cut . He would ask you "what can I do for you today young man?" You told him "a shave and a haircut please Tony" he would gently recline you and take a hot steaming towel from its cabinet and wrap it round and round on your face and let it soften your beard while he stropped his straight razor. He would remove the towel and apply warm shaving cream from the dispenser, and shave you as clean as a new born baby's bottom. He would then set you upright and cut your hair the way he thought it should be cut. Then another hot towel to clean the remnants of the shaving cream off your face. He would then take a little tonic and shake it on your scalp and comb your hair with a fine toothed comb, dry your neck and your ears with another dry clean towel, and spin you around so you could see your haircut in the panoramic mirror as he removed the cape with a theatrical flair like to say........."Here he is folks" That would be $1.75 please. I would always give him two bucks because my Dad said that is what you should do. You would walk out of there looking and smelling like a new man.Those days are I'm afraid, long gone. You are not forgotten Tony....thanks for making me feel like the King of the world so many times. 
It came in one of my decreasing moments of lucidity.......Things that are no more........Soft drinks in bottles made from glass, penny candy, and if you were a frugal child you could sometimes find two for a penny. Drive in movies and barber shops. The one that I visited in my youth was a three chair shop. There was Tony and Joe and that extra chair towards the back of the tonsorial emporium belonged to Tony senior who passed long before I was even born,but they kept his area in a respectful tribute to Tonys father. You would come in and the smells told you you were in the right place. The smell of cigar and cigarette smoke.The sweet smell of tonic water that Tony would sprinkle on you liberally when he was done. You sat in the row of leather upholstered chairs that ran along one wall and took a magazine even if there was no one in the chair. Sooner or later ,when he was ready Tony would give you the nod and you would go and settle into the most comfortable chair imaginable. It had a leg rest and a foot rest and even a head rest.It was made from stainless steel,wood and soft leather. Tony would get out a fresh paper neckband and wrap it around your neck and then he would get the cape from its place on the back of the chair and place it tightly around your neck to protect your clothing from the hair that he cut . He would ask you "what can I do for you today young man?" You told him "a shave and a haircut please Tony" he would gently recline you and take a hot steaming towel from its cabinet and wrap it round and round on your face and let it soften your beard while he stropped his straight razor. He would remove the towel and apply warm shaving cream from the dispenser, and shave you as clean as a new born baby's bottom. He would then set you upright and cut your hair the way he thought it should be cut. Then another hot towel to clean the remnants of the shaving cream off your face. He would then take a little tonic and shake it on your scalp and comb your hair with a fine toothed comb, dry your neck and your ears with another dry clean towel, and spin you around so you could see your haircut in the panoramic mirror as he removed the cape with a theatrical flair like to say........."Here he is folks" That would be $1.75 please. I would always give him two bucks because my Dad said that is what you should do. You would walk out of there looking and smelling like a new man.Those days are I'm afraid, long gone. You are not forgotten Tony....thanks for making me feel like the King of the world so many times. 
2 comments:
Guess I missed those days,,,well maybe not those days, just the shave and a haircut part!!
The last time I tried to get a shave from a barber the sumbitch used a disposable razor! I could have done that in the motel room myself. I bet they don't even teach a barber how to sharpen a straight razor anymore-and to think I learned to shave with one.
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