Haircut Anyone?

Rossi's Barber Shop and Hair Stylist. What’s missing?  (click to enlarge)

You just don't see many barbershops like this any longer—a tiny, stand alone building.  I can't imagine this place having more than two chairs.  Unfortunately, Rossi's in Sharpsville, Pennsylania closed in 2022.  The business had been serving the men (my assumption) of Sharpsville since 1955.  What I find especially interesting is that this little lot is cut out of a very large piece of industrial land occupied by a large container company.  That has me wondering how that came about.

The horizontally textured cladding on the building is made of what I’ll call tarpaper.  More properly it is called a ‘decorative asphalt siding.’  It’s an asphalt based covering that has designs and textures to mimic other materials such as roof shingles, bricks, stone, wooden siding, plain colors, etc.  It was developed in the 19th century as an inexpensive way to protect building exteriors.  In the 1930s-50s, it became more popular as the ability to create new and different colors and textures emerged.  My grandmother’s backyard shed had green tarpaper siding.  The downside was it was weak enough that you (or a strong wind) could relatively easily tear it off.  In the cold winter weather, it would break when bent.

Also notice the thin metal pole with some wiry things at the top attached to the left side of the building.  That, for you youngsters, is an old fashioned television antenna that one had to have before cable TV was around.  If you were close to the TV station(s), you could get away with a ‘rabbit ears’-type antenna that sat on your television.  We had one of these antennas on the outside of our house.  Inside, sititng on our (black & white) television was a small powered device that would activate a motor to rotate the antenna to get the clearest signal.  Often times, switching channels also required adjusting the direction of the antenna.  I grew up in western Pennsylvania and we could receive television stations broadcasts from Youngstown and Cleveland, Ohio as well as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Each time you wanted to pick up a channel from one of those cities, the antenna had to be rotated.  Did I mention how much I love streaming programs over the internet?  👍🏻

I'm not a fan of the modern day hair styling places like we see in malls, shopping centers, etc.  Lots of chairs, noise, music, etc.  Too many people.  I like the old fashioned men's barber shop with a maximum of four chairs.  Three chairs are better.  I guess my preference is a product of my generation.  I still find one of the joys of getting a haircut is to sit and have a good conversation with the barber who has been cutting your hair for decades.  Also, other men in the shop would chime in if the conversation was interesting.  In a modern hair styling place, I don't think much of that would happen.  Just getting the same barber each time is near impossible.

That’s me at around three years old.
(click to enlarge)

I can remember my first haircut.  I was seated up on a barber chair that was shaped like a horse.  I was seated in the saddle.  I suspect it was to make the experience less frightening as it is common knowledge that most little boys do not want to get their first haircut!  As I was working on my current project of scanning in old family snapshots, I found a photo of me getting a haircut. I don’t look like I’m having a great time!  lol.  I had no idea this photo existed.  Finding this and other photos that I have never seen before is a nice offshoot of the project.

Oh!  So what's missing from Rossi's?  It’s the red, white and blue barber pole.  I love those old barber poles and often photograph them when I see one still in use.  A real one.  Not a fake one.  I suspect that Rossi's was removed when the business was closed as those are most likely collector's items and, if not removed by the owner, someone probably would have absconded with it.

Living in the past...it’s nice to visit but dangerous to remain there.

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Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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