July 8, 2024 - I have been thinking recently about the disappearance of barbershops in our town. I can recall that during the 1930’s and 1940’s there were three barbershops in our small town, perhaps even into the 1950’s.
The first barbershop of record in San Augustine was the Lockhart Barber Shop located at 112 North Harrison. In a three story building, the facility was also a tailor shop and a storage house for furniture owned by C. J. Childers. The building was owned by city mayor Lamar Blount, and was a total loss when it burned in October of 1919.
The barbershop that I remember the best was the one owned and operated by Dexter McBride. It was located at 115 East Columbia Street. The shop was established in the 1920s. Originally it had two chairs but soon expanded to three. A barber chair cost less than a hundred dollars back in the 1920’s, but today is priced well over $3,000.00.
Two benches were originally provided for those waiting for tonsorial service, and a two-chair shine boy stood ready to those concerned with the appearance of their boots or shoes. The barber services available then included a shave with a straight razor (25 cents), a haircut ( 35 cents), a facial (15 cents), and a shampoo (15 cents) Shoe shines were 10 cents and boots were 15 cents.
I recall that outside the shop was that ubiquitous barber pole with its spiraling read and white stripes. Since the eighteenth century it has symbolized the blood and bandages that were once a part of the barber’s trade. Before limiting themselves to shaves and haircuts, barbers provided the service of surgery and bloodletting.
Of late social and professional changes have taken place in what used to be a male-dominated barber shop world. The “butch” and the “burr” saw their day, and the “flat top” has come and gone. “Hair styling” has almost replaced “hair cutting”, and the slow but steady integration of masculine traits with effeminate characteristics (ear rings and body piercing are only two examples) has altered the role of the barber shop. These changes have ushered in a gender switch from male to female operators or hair stylists.
In turn, this has led to still another procedural revision. Reservations have become popular, almost mandatory. What about Dexter’s shop? Well, he did not have a telephone in his barber shop. He did not take reservations. Patrons just walked in and took a seat on one of the two eighty-year-old benches and waited for him to call out, “Next!”
Dexter McBride was born November 7, 1926 four miles west of San Augustine. When he was discharged from the military service in 1952, he met and married Jo Ann Dillon. He ran the Pool Hall located in the rear portion of the barber shop from 1954 through 1957. My parents forbade me from entering the pool hall during my high school years. I snuck in there only twice that I recall. Please don’t tell my parents about that.
Cite: Harry P. Noble
