History of barbering: from origins to modern times

In the first material of the “Barbering” special project, we will start with history: we will tell you what barbers were like in Ancient Egypt and Rome, how the functions of hairdressing representatives changed over the centuries, and much more.

As you know, the name of the profession “barber” comes from the Latin word barba, translated as “beard”.

Ancient Egypt

The earliest mention of the barber profession dates back to 4000 BC. e. – we are talking about Egyptian hairdressers. This is evidenced by archaeological finds - relics from the Bronze Age, which indicate that even then people took care of themselves and used sharpened tools, for example, oyster shells, as shaving blades.

The status of barbers in society was quite high - they were considered the most capable people in their tribes/communities and had knowledge in several areas.

People were very superstitious about haircuts and shaving because they believed that evil spirits entered the body through hair. Only the worthy could engage in barbering, and in most cases they became priests or clan heads.

Only the most trustworthy men were entrusted with the responsibility of barbering, which in most cases used to be the priest or the chief of the clan.

All the paintings, sketches and various markings recovered from the remains found during the research of the early Egyptian civilization clearly show that the profession of barber has always been given special honor and was considered royal.

In addition, it was also discovered that hairstyles were a sign of belonging to a particular social class in early Egypt. The hairstyles of kings, clergy and slaves were different. It is noteworthy that there were even barbers for each class. That is, a barber who cuts a king’s hair can in no case be a master, for example, of a nobleman.

Ancient Greece (ca. 1500 BC)

The next no less great civilization, which also shows the demand for the barber profession, was the Greek civilization.

Around the 5th century. BC e. the beard has become a symbol of masculinity and strength. This is evidenced by the images of Greek mythology - the powerful gods Zeus, Poseidon, Hercules, etc. Everyone had beautiful and well-groomed beards. Additionally, in Athens, beards were considered a sign of intelligence and wisdom, and historians claim that men would challenge each other to compete on the quality of their beards.

These facts confirm that barbers were extremely popular among clients. It was impossible to properly care for a beard and grow it without the help of a good barber.

Since the beard was an important element of image and even status, barbers became influential members of society, and barbershops themselves became a kind of center of social activity.

As historical facts show, philosophers, poets and other respected people of the time regularly visited barbershops where they shared their ideas, told stories and discussed topics that were of general interest.

Interesting fact: a Greek might not be hired if his competitor had a neater beard!

As for trends, they changed depending on the rulers, their habits and even direct orders. In the 3rd century. BC e. Alexander the Great gave a general order to all his soldiers to shave their beards. The main reason for this was the defeat of Alexander's troops at the hands of the Persians during the conquest of Asia. The Persians grabbed the warriors by the beards, thus throwing them off their horses, and killed them.

After such an order, the barbers had more work to do - they had to quickly carry out the order of Alexander the Great.

Ancient Rome (before the 6th century AD)

Shaving beards actually became fashionable as early as 296 BC. e. This coincided with the arrival of Ticinius Mena from Sicily to Rome. It was he who brought the first barbers, and the fashion for clean-shaven beards also strengthened the position of barbers.

Barbershops have begun to be more than just a place to get a haircut or discuss ideas and plans. Massages, manicures and other cosmetic procedures began to be introduced into the package of services.

Historical fact: the Romans highly valued the profession of hairdresser, so they even erected a statue in memory of the first hairdresser in Rome.

Today, trends in hairstyles, cuts and coloring are set by celebrities. At that time, the main “stars” were the emperors, who also unwittingly dictated trends in beard cutting (or lack thereof). When Hadrian became Roman Emperor, the beard came back into fashion because he had one.

Why was the role of barbers and hairdressers so important? All due to a fairly rapid change of rulers. Emperors changed and trends changed. And barbers and barbers were always ready to fulfill the wishes of their clients. The beard fashion was short-lived because Julius Caesar, who succeeded Hadrian as emperor, was clean-shaven.

1st millennium AD e.

The first millennium of the Christian era was marked by a large number of illiterate and uneducated people. Even many nobles could neither read nor write. Thus, the era was called the "Dark Ages". During these times, monks and priests were considered the most educated people in society.

Since there were no professional doctors and surgeons, it was priests and monks who had to perform operations of varying levels of complexity. A well-known treatment method was bloodletting. This procedure was considered a panacea for most diseases and was popular. Hairdressers were the closest people to “surgeons” and very often helped them perform complex operations. This continued until about the 12th century.

But after that, hairdressers turned into something more - they became hair surgeons. What influenced the fact that representatives of the clergy stopped engaging in such procedures?

In 1163, at the Council of Tours, the clergy were prohibited from taking blood and performing operations, since it was considered impious for them to take blood from the human body. All responsibility for surgical operations passed to the barbers, or rather, barber surgeons.

A time when barbers were surgeons

(1000 – 1745)

Hairdressers, barbers, in addition to their main area of expertise in hairdressing, were considered doctors and surgeons of the time.

Throughout Europe, hairdressers became the most important people in society. And by the end of the 14th century. For centuries, barbers have already performed bloodletting, tooth extraction, cauterization, and other duties.

But naturally, hairdressers could not cope with everything, including surgery and dentistry. Given the significant advances in the field of medicine, hairdressers could not match the profession of a doctor. In addition, people began to be skeptical of the skills of barber surgeons and began to insist on separating the professions.

In 1308, the oldest barber organization, the Worshipful Company of Barbers, was founded in London and still exists today. The organization was headed by Richard le Barbour, who actually monitored the entire hairdressing industry. At first, surgeons with little hairdressing experience joined the Guild of Hairdressers, but later created their own Guild of Surgeons.

In 1540, the guilds merged and a company of barbers and surgeons was formed. At the legislative level, it was enshrined that no surgeon can cut or shave and that no barber should practice surgery; The only common activity left was the procedure of tooth extraction. The symbol of this association - a cylindrical column painted in a spiral with red and white stripes - displayed two crafts (surgery - red stripe and shaving - white).

Barber sign – the Barber Pole

You could often see this sign on the facade of a barbershop. It is visible from afar - a blue-red ribbon that rotates around its axis.

This sign originated in the days when hairdressers still practiced surgery. And they developed it just at the peak of the popularity of the bloodletting procedure. The two spirals around the pole represent the bandages that were wrapped around the patient's hands during the procedure. One bandage was tied before bleeding, and the other immediately after the manipulations.

Yes, such medicine is a thing of the past, but the sign has become a permanent symbol of barbershops. This has happened historically.

XVIII–XIX centuries

When the functions of the surgeon were completely separated from the tasks of hairdressers, the barber profession lost its popularity, as its importance began to decrease - yet they did not save lives.

In the XVIII–XIX centuries. barbers returned to their original work of cutting and shaving, which was completely inconsistent with the once powerful role of the barber-surgeon-dentist.

But the ingenuity of hairdressers has always been at the level. Wigs appeared and came into use, which meant more work. However, many barbers began to look for other occupations and even master other professions. The barbershop has actually turned into a place where poor and needy people spend their time.

Rise after fall at the end of the 19th century.

At the end of the 19th century . members of the profession helped restore confidence in their craft and protect their rights.

In 1893, A. B. Mohler founded a barber school in Chicago. This was truly a historic moment for the hairdressing profession, as the trend soon spread to other states and similar schools began to appear more and more often.

At first, only the practical aspects of the profession were included in the curriculum. Practical classes were conducted for students on shaving, hair styling, facial care, etc.

The school really marked a new trend, as interest among the population began to grow, the profession of hairdressing became popular again.

The main heyday of barbeshops was the end of the 19th century. It was during this period that hairdressing establishments again became clubs where men came to read the newspaper, drink whiskey, take a break from female society, discuss the latest news without mincing words, and, of course, get quality service. People began to follow the style of celebrities and Hollywood stars, and posters of famous actors and actresses on the walls of hairdressers became a means of promoting their business. Later, hairdressers and barbershops turned into trademarks.

XX century Male and female masters

The 20th century saw perhaps the greatest change in the hairdressing industry, namely the barber profession. Barbering has become a serious professional service.

In 1916, significant progress was made in the field of hairdressing. It concerned new methods of disinfection and sterilization of equipment. The earliest methods involved packaging equipment in airtight bags and sterilizing it with hot boiling water in front of clients.

Such methods have become very popular among hairdressers and have also increased the confidence of clients. Hairdressers who did not implement these methods of their own free will were forced to do so due to significant losses - people simply did not return to them.

Various sterilization methods have evolved over time, including baking instruments for processing and immersing them in different solutions. These methods were subsequently approved and became part of the curriculum in 1926.

The first blow to barbershops was dealt by the Gillette company, which invented it at the beginning of the 20th century. safety razor. We can assume that since then the safety razor has become an integral part of a gentleman's kit. And that was just the beginning. Over time, in the 30s, the electric razor was invented. Within 2 years, this invention became very popular, more than a million razors were sold, which shook the men's salon business, and in the post-war period, most barbershops closed.

The 50s saw a brief period of growth for men's salons, but with the advent of the 60s, which brought the hippie subculture, there was a decline again. Young people protested against class differences; young people also did not want to look like their parents and, in contrast to classic haircuts, grew long hair. This led to the decline of barbershops.

By the 1920s, some brave women were ready to enter the male-dominated arena of the barber shop to get their hair cut. They understood very well that in this way they were invading men's space. After all, barbershops were filled with groups of men chewing tobacco and talking about the weather, politics, rodeo and class struggle. The fashion for short haircuts was so widespread that the few hairdressers who really knew how to cut hair were even more busy with work - from now on emancipated women began to come to them. Soon a division into female and male masters appeared.

In the 1950s, particularly with the advent of different variations of the famous pompadour hairstyle, men began to spend more time and money on barbers, who began to use the term "men's stylists" to thereby distinguish themselves from the old-fashioned barbershops.

By the late 1960s, the fashion for longer hair for men, which stemmed from various counterculture styles, meant that they were visiting barbers less often. In the United States, census data showed that between 1972 and 1982. the number of hairdressers decreased by more than 28%. This required changes in skills and marketing, and by 1970, British men's grooming journalist Rodney Bennett stated: “The old barber, trained in the use of electric clippers, was a technician. Today, hairdressers are stylists, even artists.” He described men's salons as "reminiscent of gentlemen's clubs with deep, comfortable chairs, wood paneling on the walls and paintings or prints...".

The old barbershop was still around in the early 2000s, with a dwindling clientele, but many men interested in trendy hairstyles turned to "unisex" barbers who did not differentiate themselves into female and male barbers.

Yes, exactly the 20th century. became the most significant for barbering, and the 21st century. only continues to strengthen its position. After all, over the entire existence of barbershops and barbering culture in the form it is now, several hundred different barbershops have opened in the world. And this process continues, because barbering is about men, about the atmosphere and about the habit of quality self-care.