Tom got back on the topic of haircuts and old timey barbershops when he was a kid. I have a few recollections myself. We used to frequent the Indian Hills Barber Shop that was located in what would now be called a strip mall (about 4 blocks from our house). As you entered the first thing you would notice is the bell on the door. The second was the smell of Aqua-Velva, hair cream, witch hazel and cigarettes. The barber chairs had armrests with fliptop ashtrays in them for goodness sake! The floors and windows were kinda dirty like a man's garage or basement workshop. A tv was hanging in one corner and it always had a sporting event or fishing show on it. I swear our barber probably was a bookie on the side and sold moonshine out of the back of his Chrysler. He had a display case below the wall of mirrors that I swear had knives and firearms for sale! Our barber would openly display Playboy along with Field & Stream and Hot Rod magazine. The trick for me as a pre-adolescent boy was to pick up the Field & Stream browse it for a bit and while no one was looking (my Dad most of all) slip the Playboy inside it. This was my first look at the wonderland that is the nude female body and at that moment I knew I liked girls! Cecil would never give you the haircut you wanted or asked for, but he would give you what he thought looked good instead to his aging eyes. It was a simpler time when you only had to worry about being "sanduskied" in the church basement!
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