Why the phrase ‘Pay for uncomfortable feelings.’ would be
appeared in the old barbershops?
Nowadays, in the hair salons, there are nice facilities, and the
environment is great. But, actually, the old barbershops were terrible!
(1) Nowadays, we can lay on the barber chairs for cleanse, very nice and
comfortable. But in the past, customers needed to bend their head
inside the sink to clean their hair.
(2) Apart from hair cutting, old barbers thought that shaving was the best
way to serve customers.
Nowadays, we will go to this kind of hair salon:
In the past, people went to this kind of barbershop:
To find more information, we also go to an old barbershop to have an
interview.
R: How long does this barbershop last for?
C: More than 30 years.
Q: These tools are interesting, can you explain to us what they are used for?
C: Okay!
This is a chair for the customers to sit on; this switch is used to move up and
down to make sure that the customers are comfortable.
These are some little tools to make up the hair and shave away the
bread.
This is for shaving the beard, too. It has the water tap for washing away the
bubbles and putting tools, which are in needed.
These are the towels for wiping away the rest of the bubbles after shaving the
beard
This is for the customers to use, when they are waiting, they can smoke for a
while. (The people in the past like smoking very much.)
This is used to wash the hair of the customers; the one now is not the same as this
one.
Now
In the past
R: How many years did you do this job?
C: Our barbers have done this job for over 50 years, all of them!
R: In these 50 years, do you have any special experience?
C: Of course! I remember that once I hurt a customer’s face when shaving, my
boss scolded me after that!
Q: Why did you choose this job?
C: It was because sixty years ago, it was difficult to find a job. I thought that be a
barber could earn more money, because at that time, the people like short hair,
they cut their very often, so I chose this job.
R: What is the difference between the old and new barbershop?
C: The most different is the process. Nowadays, the barber just wash, cut and
blow the hair, we will include the shaving of beard.
Q: How about the payment?
C: Oh! A big different! In the past, it just take a few dollars to cut your hair once,
nowadays takes about $100 !
Q: Thank you!
R: Thank you!
Q: Queenie Yu
R: Ruby Wong
C: Mr. Chan