Antiquity The barber's trade has a long history:
razors have been found among relics of the
Bronze Age (around 3500
BC) in Egypt. The first barbering services were performed by Egyptians in 5000 BC with instruments they had made from oyster shells or sharpened
flint. In ancient Egyptian culture, barbers were highly respected individuals. Priests and men of medicine are the earliest recorded examples of barbers. In addition, the art of barbering played a significant role across continents. Mayan, Aztec, Iroquois, Norse and Mongolian cultures utilized shave art as a way to distinguish roles in society and wartime. Men in
Ancient Greece would have their beards, hair, and fingernails trimmed and styled by the (
cureus), in an
agora (market place) which also served as a social gathering for debates and gossip. The barbers used a rough cloth (ὠμόλινον) on their shoulders to keep the hairs off their dresses. There were also female barbers (κουρεύτριαι). n Greek painted
terracotta figure dating between c. 500 and c. 475 BCE, showing a barber cutting a man's hair, currently in the
Boston's Museum of Fine Arts Barbering was introduced to
Rome by the
Greek colonies in
Sicily in 296 BC, and barbershops (, lit. "clipperies") quickly became very popular centers for daily news and gossip. A morning visit to the barber () became a part of the daily routine, as important as the visit to the
public baths, and a young man's first shave () was considered an essential part of his
coming of age ceremony. Roman barbers employed rudimentary mirrors and wielded combs, razors, scissors, curling irons, specialized tools for beard removal and pomata to remove unwanted hair elsewhere. Barber-surgeons began to form powerful guilds such as the
Worshipful Company of Barbers in London. Barbers received higher pay than surgeons until surgeons were entered into British warships during naval wars. Some of the duties of the barber included
neck manipulation, cleansing of ears and scalp, draining of
boils,
fistula and lancing of
cysts with wicks.
19th and 20th centuries Barbershops were influential at the turn of the 19th century in the United States as
African American businesses that helped to develop
African American culture and economy. According to Trudier Harris, "In addition to its status as a gathering place, the black barbershop also functioned as a complicated and often contradictory
microcosm of the larger world. It is an environment that can bolster egos and be supportive as well as a place where phony men can be destroyed, or at least highly shamed, from participation in verbal contests and other contests of skill. It is a retreat, a haven, an escape from nagging wives and the cares of the world. It is a place where men can be men. It is a place, in contrast to Gordone's
bar, to be somebody." Barbershops from black barbers at first mostly served wealthy whites. In the later part of the century, they opened barbershops in black communities for serving black people. The average shop cost $20 to equip in 1880. It was about ten by twelve feet. A hair cut in 1880 would cost five or ten cents and shaving cost three cents. , c. 1842. The barbershop also provides an opportunity for social contacts. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, barbershops became a common business in the United States where people would go to have their hair cut by a professional barber with good equipment. People would also play
board games, talk about recent events, or gossip. They have also occasionally been used for public debates or voicing public concerns.
Contemporary Most modern barbershops have special
barber chairs, and special equipment for rinsing and washing hair. In some barbershops, people can read magazines or watch TV while the barber works. Despite the economic recession in 2008, the barbershop industry has seen continued positive growth. In 2018 there was a trial that had barbers check high blood pressure in barbershops and have a pharmacist meet and treat the patient in the barbershop, with positive results. In 2018, Arthur Rubinoff opened a museum with barber poles and antique barber equipment in
Manhattan. The barber
Sam Mature, whose interview with
Studs Terkel was published in Terkel's 1974 book
Working, says "A man used to get a haircut every couple weeks. Now he waits a month or two, some of 'em even longer than that. A lot of people would get manicured and fixed up every week. Most of these people retired, moved away, or died. It's all on account of long hair. You take old-timers, they wanted to look neat, to be presentable. Now people don't seem to care too much." Given their importance as social hubs in certain cultures, barbershops have been used in educational campaigns. These include the U.S. literacy project Barbershop Books, which sets up reading stations in barbershops to promote a culture of reading among African American boys. Public health researchers have also explored barbershops as a venue for sexual health education. ==Barber schools==