Fifty years of barbering - Larry HALL has seen a lot

HALL

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 3/15/2011 at 19:47:14

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Front Page

By Jeff Wilson
Ledger publisher

In March 1961, Fairfield barber Larry HALL was busy cutting flat-tops and Elvis Presley pompadours.

Although the styles have changed, HALL is still at it 50 years later in the same location on the northeast corner of the square.

"There were 15 barbers in Fairfield then," said HALL. "Today it's just me and Ronnie Fischer. Nobody wants to be a barber any more."

Long-time Fairfield barber Maynard Barton repurchased the shop on March 13, 1961. He and his father operated Barton's Barbershop from the early 1930s until it was sold in 1955. HALL, Barton and Dale Bodart manned the three chairs when Fred Erlandson sold the shop back to Barton.

"I can't remember if we were charging $1 or a $1.25 back then," said HALL who now charges $15 for a haircut. "A lot of things have changed since then."

Before the decade was finished, the shop was Larry's Barber Shop, The Beatles and their shaggy hair had landed in America and women were cutting men's and boy's hair.

"Years ago, women couldn't cut men's hair," said HALL. "There were laws against athat. They didn't have a barber's license. They had a beautician's license. Several got arrested. But all that changed. I don't know when."

The number of barber chairs in Fairfield dwindled quickly.

School policies that restricted the length of boys' hair to above the collar up until the late 1960s disappeared by the early 1970s.

"Most of our customers were beyond school-age even back then," said HALL. "And by that time were missing the Parsons crowd like most other businesses in Fairfield."

About the time hall said most of his current customers "aren't youngsters any more," Norman Kisling of Stockport walked through the door for a trim.

The conversation turned to baseball and Kisling's trips to Arizona for spring training. He offered his congratulations on the milestone anniversary as HALL talked and cut without missing a beat.

HALL continued the story about his career. His path to barbering proceeded quickly after graduating from Birminghan (sic) High School in 1957.

"I went straight from graduation to barber college in Des Moines," said HALL. "I was done in six months and then spent a year in Columbus Junction and two in Coralville before coming to Fairfield."

Marriage wasn't far off either. He married Judith in September 1961 and they raised a family that included two sons and two daughters. Judith retired a few years ago after working across the street at Iowa State Bank for 25 years.

"It all goes pretty fast," he said. "I keep thinking it's time to get out, but we've all got to have something to do."

HALL is down to a three-day per week schedule Monday through Wednesday.

"In the old days, we were closed Thursday afternoon and we worked all day Saturday," he said.

His shop has never had appointments. The customers are cut in the order they walk in the door.

Were there ever any celebrities that got pushed to the head of the line -- Parsons College president Millard Roberts or some visiting dignitary?

"Roberts was never in here, and I don't recall any celebrities," said HALL. "We did have a deer jump through the front window."

HALL deftly removed the apron from around Kisling's neck and shook it while finishing the sentence. Some customers need a swing around in the chair to check out HALL's work. Kisling wasn't one of those customers

"I pretty much know what most of them want," said HALL.

It was getting pretty close to 5 p.m. Another day of cutting hair on the northeast corner of the square was about over.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

In the photo below, Fairfield barber Larry HALL works on Norman Kisling's haircut Monday afternoon at his shop on the northeast corner of the square. HALL celebrates his 50th anniversary at the location Sunday.

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