Barbering from the Beginning         

HISTORY OF BARBERING

The word "barber" comes from the Latin word "barba," meaning beard. It may
surprise you to know that the earliest records of barbers show that they were
the foremost men of their tribe. They were the medicine men and the priests.
But primitive man was very superstitious and the early tribes believed that both
good and bad spirits, which entered the body through the hairs on the head,
inhabited every individual. The bad spirits could only be driven out of the
individual by cutting the hair, so various fashions of hair cutting were practiced
by the different tribes and this made the barber the most important man in the
community. In fact, the barbers in these tribal days arranged all marriages and
baptized all children. They were the chief figures in the religious ceremonies.
During these ceremonies, the hair was allowed to hang loosely over the
shoulders so that the evil spirits could come out. After the dancing, the long
hair was cut in the prevailing fashion by the barbers and combed back tightly so
that
the evil spirits could not get in or the good spirits get out.

This rule by barbers was a common thing in ancient Asia. In fact, wherever
there were legends and superstitions about the hair, the barbers flourished. To
this day in India,
the veneration of the hair continues and those who cut and dress the hair are
important characters.
SHAVED HEADS AND BEARDS
In Egypt, many centuries before Christ, barbers were prosperous and highly
respected. The ancient monuments and papyrus show that the Egyptians
shaved their beards
and their heads. The Egyptian priests even went so far as to shave the entire
body
every third day. At this time the barbers carried their tools in open-mouthed
baskets
and their razors were shaped like small hatchets and had curved handles. The
Bible
tells us that when Joseph was summoned to appear before Pharaoh, a barber
was
sent for to shave Joseph, so that Pharaoh's sight would not be offended by a
dirty face.

In Greece, barbers came into prominence as early as the fifth century, BC.
These wise men of Athens rivaled each other in the excellence of their beards.
Beard trimming became an art and barbers became leading citizens. Statesmen,
poets and philosophers, who came to have their hair cut or their beards
trimmed or curled and scented with costly essences, frequented their shops.
And, incidentally, they came to discuss the news of the day, because the barber
shops of ancient Greece were the headquarters
for social, political, and sporting news. The importance of the tonsorial art in
Greece
may be gathered from the fact that a certain prominent Greek was defeated for
office because his opponent had a more neatly trimmed beard.

In the third century, BC, the Macedonians under Alexander the Great began their
conquest of Asia and lost several battles to the Persians who grabbed the
Macedonians by their beards, pulled them to the ground and speared them. This
resulted in a general order by Alexander that all soldiers be clean-shaven. The
civilians followed the example of the soldiers and beards lost their vogue.
Barbers were unknown in Rome until 296 BC, when Ticinius Mena came to
Rome from Sicily and introduced shaving. Shaving soon became the fashion
and the barber shop became the gathering place for the Roman dandies. No
people were better patrons of the barbers than the Romans. They often devoted
several hours each day to tonsorial operations, which included shaving, hair
cutting, hairdressing, massaging, manicuring and the application of rare
ointments and cosmetics of unknown formulas. The great ladies of Rome
always had a hairdresser among their slaves and the rich nobles had private
tonsors, as they were then called. Barbers were so highly prized that a statue
was erected to the memory of the first barber of Rome.

When Hadrian became emperor, beards became the fashion again -- and for a
very good reason. Hadrian had a face covered with warts and scars. He
allowed his beard to grow to cover these blemishes. The people of Rome
imitated the emperor and grew beards whether they needed them or not.
The fashion changed again to clean-shaven faces. We know that Caesar was
clean-shaven. As we will see repeated in history many times, the leaders of the
state were the leaders of fashion and the people were always ready to follow
the prevailing styles. There are many passages in the Bible referring to the
barber profession. Moses commanded that all who recovered from leprosy
should be shaved. This was done as a health precaution, because throughout
history the Jews have honored the beard as a badge of manhood. To this day,
the orthodox Jews have little respect for clean-shaven men. During periods of
mourning, the ancient Jews allowed their beards to go untrimmed, but ordinarily
their beards were trimmed regularly. The prophet Ezekiel refers to an ancient
custom in these words: "Take thou a barber's razor and cause it to pass upon
thy head and upon thy beard." The razors of those days were made of flint and
oyster shells.

ASSISTANTS TO CLERGY
During the first centuries of the Christian era, the barbers of Europe practiced
their profession wherever it was the custom to shave the face and trim the
beard. Charlemagne made long, flowing hair the fashion, but each new
conqueror changed the fashion according to his whim and personal needs.
During the first ten centuries after Christ, the great majority of the people and
even the nobles were uneducated and could neither read nor write. The most
learned people of the times were the monks and priests who became the
physicians of the dark ages. There were no professional surgeons at that time.
Most of the diseases, which are easily curable now, were fatal then.
"Bloodletting" was the popular method of curing all ills. The clergy who enlisted
barbers as their assistants first performed this. This was the first step in the
upward progress of the barber profession. Barbers continued to act as
assistants to the physician-clergy, until the 12th century. At the council of Tours
in 1163, the clergy were forbidden to draw blood or to act as physicians and
surgeons on the grounds that it was sacrilegious for ministers of God to draw
blood from the human body. The barbers took up the duties relinquished by the
clergy and the era of barber-surgeons began. The connection between barbery
and surgery continued for more than six centuries and the barber profession
reached its pinnacle during this time.

FIRST BARBER ORGANIZATION
The earliest known organization of barbers was formed in 1096 in France when
William, archbishop of Rouen, prohibited the wearing of a beard. The
barber-surgeon, or chirurgeons, began to thrive all over Europe. They were the
doctors of the times and the royalty as well as the common people came to the
barbers to have their ills treated as well as for shaving and haircutting. The
physicians proper were in continual conflict with the barber-surgeons. The
barbers embraced dentistry as well as surgery and this brought down on them
the enmity of the dentists of the times. This caused a long strife, whose
settlement required the interference of kings and councils. Followed between
the barbers and the regular surgeon-dentists. But the barbers retained the
privilege of practicing dentistry and surgery for several centuries.

FOUNDED SCHOOL OF SURGERY
In the middle of the 13th century, the barber companies of Paris, known as the
Brotherhoods of St. Cosmos and St. Domain, founded the first school ever
known for the systematic instruction of barbers in the practice of surgery. This
school was later enlarged and became the model for schools of surgery during
the Middle Ages. Many of the foremost surgeons of the times were students of
the School of St. Cosmos and St. Domain. The establishment of this school
was one of the greatest contributions ever made toward the progress of
humanity. The oldest barber organization in the world, still known in London as
the "Worshipful Company of Barbers," was established in 1308. Richard le
Barbour, as the Master of the Barbers, was given supervision over the whole of
his trade in London. Once a month he had to go the rounds and rebuke any
barbers whom he found acting disgracefully or entering on other trades less
reputable. The master of a city company not only had this power, but he
successfully prevented unauthorized persons from practicing the barber
profession. The Barbers Guild of the 14th Century was undoubtedly more
powerful than any of the modern unions. The king and council sanctioned the
Guilds and so they could enforce their regulations. It was not uncommon for
violators of Guild regulations to suffer prison terms for their misdemeanors.

BARBERS AS SURGEONS
Up to the year 1416, the barbers were not interfered with in the practice of
surgery and dentistry. But it was soon evident that they were attempting too
much. It was impossible to expect ordinary human beings to competently
practice surgery, dentistry and the various tonsorial operations. People began to
complain that the barber-surgeons were making them sick instead of well. Many
barber-surgeons resorted to quackery in order to cover up their ignorance of
medicine and anatomy. These abuses came to the attention of the mayor and
council of London. In 1416 an ordinance was passed forbidding barbers from
taking under their care any sick person in danger of death or maiming, unless
within three days after being called in, they presented the patient to one of the
masters of the Barber-Surgeon's Guild. Until 1461 the barbers were the only
persons practicing surgery. The practice of surgery was still in its primitive
stage, but new discoveries were being made regularly and the barbers found it
impossible to keep up with the new discoveries and at the same time maintain
their skill in dentistry and barbering. The surgeons began to forge to the front
and became increasingly jealous of the privileges accorded the barbers. But for
a long time they could do nothing to prevent the barbers from acting as
surgeons. In 1450, the Guild of Surgeons was incorporated with the Barbers
Company by act of parliament. Barbers were restricted to bloodletting,
toothdrawing, cauterization and the tonsorial operations. However the board of
governors, regulating the operations of the surgeons and barber-surgeons,
consisted of two surgeons and two barbers. Every time a surgeon was given a
diploma entitling him to practice his profession, the diploma had to be signed by
two barbers as well as two surgeons. The surgeons resented this, but the
barbers were very much favored by the monarchs and preserved their
privileges until the middle of the 18th century. Henry VIII, Charles II and Queen
Anne presented the barber-surgeons with valuable gifts and raised many of
them to high offices. Under a clause in the Act of Henry VIII, the
Barber-Surgeons were entitled to receive every year the bodies of four criminals
who had been executed. The dissections were performed four times a year in
the Barber-Surgeons Hall which still stands in London.

ALLIANCE DISSOLVED
As the science of medicine, surgery and dentistry advanced, the barbers
became less and less capable of performing the triple functions of
barber-surgeon-dentist. The surgeons wished to be separated entirely from the
barbers and they petitioned parliament to sever the ancient relationship of the
barbers and surgeons and compel each profession to adhere strictly to its own
provinces. A committee was appointed by parliament to investigate the matter
and the petition was favorably reported to parliament. By an act of parliament,
which received the sanction of the king, the alliance between the barbers and
surgeons was dissolved in June, 1745. Two separate companies were formed
and the property, formerly owned by the barbers and surgeons jointly, was
divided among the two companies.

PROFESSION DECLINES This marked the decline of the barber profession.
Similar action was taken in France under the reign of Louis XIV. Toward the end
of the 18th century the barbers of Europe had completely relinquished their right
to perform any of the operations of surgery and dentistry, except in the small
towns and out-of-the-way places where doctors and dentists were not
obtainable. After the barbers were prohibited from practicing medicine, surgery
and dentistry, they became mere mechanics and servants, subject to the whims
of fashion. When wigs became the fashion during the 18th and part of the 19th
century, barbers became wig makers. Their profession had lost its ancient
dignity and barbers had become laborers, instead of professional men. In
England, America and all over the civilized world, the decline of the barber was
a spectacle for all to see. Barber shops became hangouts, places where low
characters assembled. Smutty stories, malicious scandal and gossip of all kinds
characterized barber shops until a few years ago. A barber shop was a place
where men showed their lower instincts and where women dared not enter.

AN UPWARD TREND
Late in the nineteenth century there were several noteworthy events in the
barber profession that gave it an upward trend, and the effects are still carrying
onward and upward. How long it will be before the barber may be looked up to
as a professional man, taking his place by the side of the dentist, chiropodist,
chiropractor & massage  and other kindred professions, cannot be foretold.

MOLER BARBER SCHOOLS
In 1893, A. B. Moler of Chicago, established a school for barbers. This was the
first institution of its kind in the world, and its success was apparent from its
very start. It stood for higher education in the ranks, and the parent school was
rapidly followed by branches in nearly every principle city of the United States.
In the beginning of schools, simply the practical work of shaving, haircutting,
facial treatments, etc., was taught as neither the public nor the profession were
ready to accept scientific treatments of hair, skin and scalp. Not until about 1920
was much effort made to professionalize the work.

I observed that up to the early 1960's hair styles for men stayed on the shorter
and neater side 40's & 50's crew cuts, flat tops and collegiate, peter gun, Burr
cuts were the usual cut of the day.  In the early 1960's not only was there a
racial and youthful revolution but hair styles began to see longer hair  to the
dismay of the corner Barber.  Mothers dragging there teen boys into the shop
crying and she proclaiming cut this hair off,when you pay  than you can say
how its cut.  The Beetles were the trend setters, the monkeys and other
performers in the musical world were now setting the styles.  Many barbers
closed shop and went to work in other trades.  The beauty salons put in booths
so that young men could not be seen in such a place.  Thus started a decline in
Barbering that has seen the cosmetology departments of government taken
over by mostly women without any formal haircutting schooling in mens short
clipper cutting.  It has reached a point that control the boards of cosmetology
and where there is three to four cosmetology licensed person on the governing
board but only one Barber.  It seems evident that given that this board is
discouraging new male s from entering the barber field and the old male barber
shops are being closed or snapped up by female non barber licensed or trained
women who are unwilling or unable to give the haircut that the male customer
desires.  

But it seems both the public and the profession are definitely moving towards
better things. In the 20th century there is now several franchise Barbering
chains where the basic price of just a haircut starts at $35. & $38. and
appointments are as hard to get as with your doctor.  The web sites of these
chains kinda indicate that these very upscale Barber shops are staffed with
cosmetologists and are now just reversing a long trend and capitalizing on the
name Barber and designing these salons in a male friendly image

Note....  We did not gather this information ourselves, It was taken
from the Internet.   We can not say with certainty how accurate it is.










Barber in
Rascal
Clark -knows the way
HairplusGallery
1102 Bronson way & Park ave      (425) 204 8486
Across from the downtown Library,  adjacent to the Cedar River
*Library
A real Barber shop & easily
one of the nicest shops any
where around.  No
appointments, walk-in only,
plenty of parking at the front
door.
Barber Shop
Barber,Renton,   Haircut, Renton,  Stylist, Renton,  Sauna, Renton