By Hailey Doughty
The greatest thing about history is that
every detail of it has a story. Being a historical interpreter, I am fortunate
enough to learn and tell these stories from hundreds of years ago. But even
though I spend most of my summer completely immersed in history, I still find
myself being amazed at the stories that we uncover from the smallest of
artifacts. I like to think of them as little glimpses into what life was really
like hundreds of years ago. Recently I was fortunate enough to find one of
these glimpses myself and uncover a story from a simple artifact that I had
seen almost daily… a barber’s chair. This chair, sits neatly in the corner of
the Keene Hotel Bar Room, unbeknownst to visitors of the story its worn, patterned
floral seat and faded chestnut wooden arms hold. For this blog post, I want to transport you,
the reader, back in time to learn the story of this chair, and many other
barber tools, in the popular culture of men’s facial hair in the mid 1800’s
onward.
Imagine for a moment you are a man in 1850. A new trend has swept the country of Canada- men’s facial hair. Prior to this
time, men’s facial hair was seen as an indication of your social standing. If you
had facial hair it was presumed that you were part of the middle to lower
classes because only the upper class and those of the nobility had both the
time and expenses to shave their faces. But now a new age has come where you, a
middle class man, are seen in a higher regard for your beard; for in 1850 this
is the facial hair of choice. All the influential figures and leaders at this
time are wearing the same popular style of facial hair as you, such as Charles
Dickens and Karl Marx. Your style choices for this era are dependent on you,
for you will be your own barber. Do you choose to let your beard grow with a
nice full moustache or do you opt for a chin beard and use your straight razor
for the nice clean shave on your upper lip?
Travel
20 years into the future. You are now a man in 1870. Standing outside of the
Keene Hotel, you hear the laughs of men coming from inside. Following the
chatter you step up the white steps, entering into the Bar Room, the smell of
alcohol and smoke fill your nostrils. The hum of many men chattering, is now
louder and you can see a card game in session with a few men. Looking around
the room you notice the new addition of a barber’s chair with numerous tools
around it. A man standing beside the chair, looks at you, with a grin on his
face he asks “What will it be today lad? A cut or a shave?”
Now
that it is 1870, facial hair has grown in popularity and the whole trend as
broadened to various different styles since the 1850’s beards. Styles include chinstraps, mutton chops, handlebar moustaches and everything in-between. Not
only have the styles changed, but the whole culture of it has developed into a
country wide phenomenon. Almost every man at this point has some style of
facial hair and the days of clean shaven faces are a thought of the past. Now
barbers are the primary source of facial hair trends and the process of up
keeping ones facial hair.
Next, our journey puts you in 1901. You are
standing in front of the Menie General Store. News has just broken of a
revolutionary device that has hit the market! The new Gillette safety razor,
the very first of its kind that has a disposable blade for a close shave every
time! For sale for a starting price of $5.00 (which equals about 140 dollars
today). The creation of this invention modernizes razor technology of the time,
from the old straight razors and hand powered clippers to disposable safe
razors. News of this excites the men gathered around the front porch talking,
walking up the steps of the general store, you note their moustaches that are
each precisely combed and styled with a small curl at the end. One man notices
you looking, he states “Your moustache is looking a little dull there chap”
directing you with his finger to the shelf full of products inside.
On this shelf you note various shaving
creams each claiming of having a special ingredient to either soothe or soften
the skin. A poster pinned beside the shelf advertises a new wax that claims
miraculous results to your hair, including strength. But one shelf is dedicated
to flowered gold lined tea cups, upon further investigation you notice it is a
man’s tea cup called a moustache cup.
The purpose of this cup is to prevent the
heat of the steam from the tea melting the wax of a man’s moustache. It does so
with the use of a small lip that holds the moustache away from the tea; thus
allowing the man to enjoy his tea without disturbing his finely styled facial
hair. With the increase of popularity in the 1980’s to the turn of the century, a lot about facial hair has changed. Not only are there new inventions and
products helping in the upkeep of facial hair, but barbers are being considered
a professional trade. Barbers at this time had become quite distinguished as a
group with the optimum goal of being titled as a "master barber" and to swear the
barber’s oath. This trade was taken so seriously that barbers began being
educated in the anatomy of hair and skin to provide the best consultation for
their customers.
Present day, you are a visitor at Lang
Pioneer Village Museum, standing in the Keene Hotel Bar Room. You notice how
quiet it is, you hear the faint sound of the historical interpreter down the
hall. You look around at the tables that are empty, with each chair positioned
neatly underneath them. You then notice that sitting in the far right corner is a barber’s
chair. You walk towards it noticing its worn, patterned floral seat and faded
chestnut wooden arms. Looking at it you imagine the many men who sat in that
chair, the cuts they must have gotten and the barber who spent most of his days
there. As you go to leave, you look back one last time and think to yourself …
that chair must have a great story.
