I have many fond memories of getting haircuts as a kid. One interesting aside is that at one time there were 3 barbershops in Berlin Heights, which was quite a few for a town that had a population of roughly 756 in the mid 1960s. It is paradoxical that at the present, the population is slightly higher, but there are no barbershops left in Berlin Heights.

 

The first of the 3 barbershops was owned by Mr. Sturtz, who we all called ""Sturtzey"". Off hand, I cannot recall his first name. His shop was in a separate building on the south side of Main St. just east of the old fire department building. For some reason, he would not cut our hair. I have always assumed that for some reason, he either didn't kids in general, or Tim and/or I in particular. If it was us, I just can't understand the reason why. I'm sure it was something Tim did at one time to aggravate him, since I was the perfect "little angel" when I was a kid. (Rebuttals will be accepted from 3:45 AM – 3:46 AM today only. Just email me at my old discontinued email address at LittleAngel@hockma.con). One thing that always fascinated us as kids was that ""Sturtzey"" had an old wooden pool table in the rear of his shop. It was huge, or at least it looked that way to a couple of little kids. It had big thick leather nets under each pocket. ""Sturtzey"" always spoke with a loud raspy voice. When we happened to be at "Phil's Restaurant" in the morning before school, ""Sturtzey"" would amble in and yell, "Ham and eggs!" (To hear my imitation of him saying this, check out the link below.) Throughout the years, I've heard some very interesting and amusing ""Sturtzey" stories from the old timers. Suffice it to say, he was a real character. Update: Yesterday I talked with one of our resident historians and he said Sturtz's first name was Dwight. He also related a story about one of "Sturzey's" regular customers who happened to get a haircut from another barber for one reason or another. Apparently, "Sturtzey" found out about it and the next time the guy got his haircut from "Sturtzey", he only cut half of his hair and told him to get the other half done by the other barber! Indeed, "Sturtzey" was a real character.

 

The 2^nd of the 3 barbers in town was Mitt (Milton) Austin. Other than Mitt Romney, he is the only other "Mitt" I have ever heard of. He was very old and was very slow while cutting hair. I rarely had my hair cut by him. I liked him, but I just had the habit of going to one of the other of the 3 barbershops in town. Recently, when I was talking with one of our resident historians, he mentioned that Mitt gave Thomas Edison haircuts when he visited Berlin Heights. Wow! Mitt was older than I thought. He passed away in 1964.

 

My usual barber was "Did" Vartorella. From looking at his posted barber's license, his real first name was Alvin. I never took the opportunity to ask him how he got his nickname. His barbershop was right beside Mitt Austin's shop. Both buildings are gone now. "Did" only cut hair part time. If I recall correctly, he had a full time job with the Ohio Turnpike. I guess with 3 barbers in our small town, he had to have another job to make ends meet. I have always wondered how the other 2 barbers made a living. I can vividly recall "Did's" barber shop. Like all shops, there was a big mirror. One interesting thing about "Did's" shop was that he always had several calendars hung all over the walls. I guess his rationale was that many of his customers gave him free calendars and he didn't want to offend any of his regulars by not hanging up their calendars. After all, there were 2 other barbers in town they could have gone to if they ever were offended. In those days, "Did" always wore the standard barber's smock. It was white, short sleeved, and buttoned up the side with metal snaps. To me, while wearing that smock, he always looked like he was about to perform surgery rather than to cut hair. In those days, as a hyperactive kid, "Did" had a very successful method of keeping me still and relaxed in the chair. He said if I moved my head too much while he was trying to cut my hair, that the electric clippers could accidently cut off my ear! He reinforced this threat by saying that he had a whole jar of "pickled ears" in the back of the shop from kids that didn't stay still. Of course, at that young age, I believed him. This resulted in about the only time in my life that I stayed still and relaxed, at least while he was cutting my hair. As I grew older, one sure sign of finally reaching "man hood" was the day I no longer needed the "booster board" in the chair. The "booster board" was a black upholstered board with chrome arms that went across the barber chair arms so a kid would sit higher in the chair to enable the barber to cut thier hair without bending down so much.

 

As a teenager, my hair was so thick, that "Did" had to use thinning shears to thin it out so my hair wouldn't clog up his electric clippers. Alas, would that that was the case now! During the mid 1960s, "razor" cuts came into vogue. A "razor" cut was performed using a straight razor. The barber would first wet down your hair using a plastic mist sprayer, and then commence to trim off hair with the razor. It looked more tapered and balanced with a "razor" cut. As I recall, I didn't get too many "razor" cuts because they were a little more expensive and the razor tended to pull hairs.  Perhaps, the reason I usually got my haircut from "Did" was that he had one of those cool revolving barber poles. You rarely see them these days. The main reason I have deduced is that they presently cost around $700. One thing native to all barbershops in those days was a poster that had drawings of various hairstyles. There were men's styles and kid's styles. Once and a while I would get a "flat top" or a "butch" hair cut as shown on the poster.

 

When "Did" finally went out of business in the mid 1960s, Tim and I would hitchhike to Norwalk to get our haircuts. The Norwalk barber always got a kick out of the fact they we hitchhiked all the way from Berlin Heights just to get our haircut from him. Actually, that was not the only reason. While we were in Norwalk, we always went to "Meek's Pastry Shop" to get the worlds BEST maple cream sticks! Meek's was close to the Norwalk barbershop on the same side of the road. At times, we hitchhiked to Norwalk when we didn't need a haircut, just to get those fabulous "Meek's Pastry" cream sticks.

 

When I was a kid, I entertained thoughts of becoming a barber. I think it was because I liked calendars. Alas, barbers are a dying breed these days because now most guys go to a female "hair stylist" to get haircuts. Other than the fact that these places are expensive, my masculinity would never allow me to go into a beauty parlor to get a haircut from a female  "hair stylist" I have never worn my hair "real long", but I may have to start someday if there are no male barbers left. I imagine I could start wearing "butch" haircuts again. I could very easily give myself one of these. If I were to be really daring, I could give myself a "flat top" haircut.  With my past trend setting original ideas, I could bring "flat tops" back into style. If this doesn't happen, then at least it will make it easier for me to stand on my head if I ever had a desire to do so. What are the odds of me ever desiring to stand on my head? Well, for those of you who know me well, the odds are very good J