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Stopped by an old shop in Philly last week and felt like I walked back 20 years
I was in Philly for a family thing and stopped into this little barbershop on South Street. They still had a leather strop hanging from the chair and used hot lather from a real mug, not that canned stuff. The old guy cutting there said he's been in the same spot since '89 and never bought a clipper with a cordless battery. Made me think about how much the trade has changed, especially with all these new fade machines and products now. Anybody else ever visit a shop that feels like it's frozen in time?
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claire_ramirez1mo ago
My dad's old barber in Fishtown still uses that exact setup, a leather strop and a mug. But I gotta say, those old cordless clippers were actually around since the early 80s, not the '90s like a lot of people think. I remember my grandpa had a Wahl that was cordless from '82, but the batteries would die halfway through a cut. That shop sounds like a gem though, especially if they're still using the hot lather machine from that era. Makes you miss when barbers really took their time with each customer instead of rushing through fades.
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grayc271mo ago
Your dad's barber might be onto something but that cordless Wahl from '82 is not the same as the ones today. The batteries in those old ones were basically lead acid bricks that weighed a ton and died after 15 minutes. Still, that shop on South Street sounds like the real deal. Did the old guy tell you how long he takes on a regular haircut? I bet he stretches it out to a full 45 minutes easy, not the 15 minute assembly line most shops run now.
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