Editing Barber (section)

== History ==
[[File:Boiotian Greek painted terracotta figure of a barber cutting a man's hair.jpg|thumb|[[Boiotia]]n Greek painted [[terracotta]] figure dating between c. 500 and c. 475 BCE, currently held in the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]], showing a barber cutting a man's hair]]
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===Antiquity===
The barber's trade has a long history: [[razors]] have been found among relics of the [[Bronze Age]] (around 3500 [[Anno Domini|BC]]) in Egypt. The first barbering services were performed by Egyptians in 5000 BC with instruments they had made from oyster shells or sharpened [[flint]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalbarbermuseum.org/about/barbering-timeline|title=Barbering Timeline - National Barber Museum|website=www.nationalbarbermuseum.org|access-date=2018-06-17}}</ref> In ancient Egyptian culture, barbers were highly respected individuals. Priests and men of medicine are the earliest recorded examples of barbers.<ref name=MOLER>Moler, A.B.. "The barbers' manual." Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine. The National Education Council of the Associated Master Barbers of America, 1 January 1928. Web. 19 March 2012. https://archive.org/stream/barbersmanual00mole#page/n29/mode/2up.</ref> In addition, the art of barbering played a significant role across continents. Mayan, Aztec, Iroquois, Norse and Mongolian cultures utilized shave art as a way to distinguish roles in society and wartime.<ref name=Kuiper>Kuiper, A.C. "The Hair Etching Pen Guide, 14 April 2018. Web. 14 April 2018. https://www.royaletch.com/hair-etching-pen-guide/.</ref> Men in [[Ancient Greece]] would have their beards, hair, and fingernails trimmed and styled by the {{lang|grc|κουρεύς}} (''cureus''), in an ''[[agora]]'' (market place) which also served as a social gathering for debates and gossip. The barbers used a rough cloth (ὠμόλινον) on their shoulders to keep the hairs off their dresses. There were also female barbers (κουρεύτριαι).<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DT%3Aentry+group%3D10%3Aentry%3Dtonsor-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Tonsor]</ref>

Barbering was introduced to [[ancient Rome|Rome]] by the [[Magna Grecia|Greek colonies]] in [[Sicily]] in 296 BC,{{fact|date=July 2023}} and barbershops ({{langx|la|{{linktext|tonstrīna}}}}, lit. "clipperies") quickly became very popular centers for daily news and gossip.<ref name=hischild>{{citation |last=Chrisman |first=Oscar |title=The Historical Child |publisher=Richard G. Badger |date=1920 |page=235 |location=Boston }}.</ref> A morning visit to the barber ({{lang|la|{{linktext|tonsor}}}}) became a part of the daily routine, as important as the visit to the [[thermae|public baths]], and a young man's first shave ({{lang|la|{{linktext|tonsura}}}}) was considered an essential part of his [[coming of age]] ceremony.{{fact|date=July 2023}} Roman barbers employed rudimentary mirrors and wielded combs, razors, scissors, curling irons, specialized tools for beard removal and pomata to remove unwanted hair elsewhere.<ref name=hischild/> A few Roman barbers became wealthy and influential, running shops that were favorite public locations of [[class in ancient Rome|high society]]. Most, however, were simple tradesmen who owned small storefronts or worked in the streets for low prices.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:A barber getting ready to shave the face of a seated custome Wellcome V0019707.jpg|thumb|"A barber getting ready to shave the face of a seated customer.", c. 1801.]]
Starting from the [[Middle Ages]], barbers often served as surgeons and [[dentist]]s. In addition to haircutting, hairdressing, and shaving, barbers performed [[surgery]], [[bloodletting|bloodletting and leeching]], [[fire cupping]], [[enema]]s, and the [[dental extraction|extraction of teeth]]; earning them the name "[[barber surgeon]]s".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/surgeons-and-surgical-spaces#the-barbers-shop|title=Surgeons and Surgical Spaces #The Barber's Shop|website=sciencemuseum.org.uk|access-date=2020-05-05}}</ref> Barber-surgeons began to form powerful guilds such as the [[Worshipful Company of Barbers]] in London. Barbers received higher pay than surgeons until surgeons were entered into British warships during naval wars. Some of the duties of the barber included neck manipulation, cleansing of ears and scalp, draining of boils, fistula and lancing of cysts with wicks.

===Modernity===
[[File:Bucharest Barbershop 1842.jpg|thumb|right|Barbershop in [[Bucharest]] ≈1842. The barbershop also provides an opportunity for social contacts.]]Barbershops were influential at the turn of the 19th century in the United States as [[African-American businesses|African American businesses]] that helped to develop [[African American]] culture and economy. According to Trudier Harris, "In addition to its status as a gathering place, the black barbershop also functioned as a complicated and often contradictory [[Macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]] of the larger world. It is an environment that can bolster egos and be supportive as well as a place where phony men can be destroyed, or at least highly shamed, from participation in verbal contests and other contests of skill. It is a retreat, a haven, an escape from nagging wives and the cares of the world. It is a place where men can be men. It is a place, in contrast to Gordone's [[Bar (establishment)|bar]], to be somebody."<ref name="black barbershop">{{cite journal|last=Harris|first=Trudier|title=The Barbershop in Black Literature|journal=Black American Literature Forum|date=Autumn 1979|volume=13|issue=3|pages=112–118|jstor=3041528|doi=10.2307/3041528}}</ref> Barbershops from black barbers at first mostly served wealthy Caucasians. In the later part of the century they opened barbershops in black communities for serving black people.<ref name="eighteeneight.com">{{Cite web|url=https://eighteeneight.com/austin-tx/a/|title=A Quick History Of Barbering {{!}} Austin, TX Barbershop|website=eighteeneight.com|access-date=2018-06-18|date=2017-10-16|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308210233/https://eighteeneight.com/austin-tx/a/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The average shop cost $20 to equip in 1880. It was about ten by twelve feet. A hair cut in 1880 would cost five or ten cents and shaving cost three cents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalbarbermuseum.org/about/barbering-timeline|title=Barbering Timeline - National Barber Museum|website=www.nationalbarbermuseum.org|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref>

[[File:Blow_hair_dryer.jpg|thumb|207x207px|A hair dryer in barbershop]]
[[File:At the barber shop, Essex County (I0015263).tiff|thumb|A barber shop in Essex County, Ontario, [ca. 1900], with the photographer visible in the mirror at the back.]]
In the late 19th and early 20th century, barbershops became a common business in the United States where people would go to have their hair cut by a professional barber with good equipment. People would also play [[board game]]s, talk about recent events, or gossip.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://eu.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/01/11/oprah-president-winfrey-barbershop-nashville/1015204001/|title=Oprah for president? The buzz at Winfrey's barbershop in Nashville|last=Bliss|first=Jessica|date=2018-01-12|work=The Tennessean|access-date=2018-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://beardtrimandgroom.com/the-history-of-barbers/|title=History Of Barbers|website=beardtrimandgroom.com|date=27 September 2014|access-date=2018-06-18|archive-date=2021-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711064224/https://beardtrimandgroom.com/the-history-of-barbers/|url-status=dead}}</ref> They have also occasionally been used for public debates or voicing public concerns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.coloradobarbers.com/history-of-barbering|title=coloradobarbers|website=coloradobarbers|access-date=2018-06-18|archive-date=2021-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711064222/https://www.coloradobarbers.com/history-of-barbering|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Most modern barbershops have special [[barber chair]]s, and special equipment for rinsing and washing hair. In some barbershops, people can read magazines or watch TV while the barber works.

[[File:Iranian barber.jpg|thumb|right|An Iranian barber shaping his customer's beard in [[Ahvaz]], Iran ≈2022]]
Despite the economic recession in 2008, the barbershop industry has seen continued positive growth. In 2018 there was a trial that had barbers check high blood pressure in barbershops and have a pharmacist meet and treat the patient in the barbershop, with positive results.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/upshot/what-barbershops-can-teach-about-delivering-health-care.html|title=What Barbershops Can Teach About Delivering Health Care|last=Caroll|first=Aaron E.|date=2018-05-21|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref>

In 2018, Arthur Rubinoff opened a museum with barber poles and antique barber equipment in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/nyregion/barbering-is-an-art.html|title=Barbering Is an Art|last=Kilgannon|first=Corey|date=2018-05-04|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref>

The barber [[Sam Mature]], whose interview with [[Studs Terkel]] was published in Terkel's 1974 book ''[[Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do|Working]]'', says "A man used to get a haircut every couple weeks. Now he waits a month or two, some of 'em even longer than that. A lot of people would get manicured and fixed up every week. Most of these people retired, moved away, or died. It's all on account of long hair. You take old-timers, they wanted to look neat, to be presentable. Now people don't seem to care too much."

Given their importance as social hubs in certain cultures, barbershops have been used in educational campaigns. These include the U.S. literacy project Barbershop Books,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://barbershopbooks.org/about-us/|title=About Us – Barbershop Books|work=Barbershop Books|access-date=2018-08-14}}</ref> which sets up reading stations in barbershops to promote a culture of reading among African American boys.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pw.org/content/barbershop_books_0|title=Barbershop Books|last=Ro|first=Christine|date=2018-06-13|website=Poets & Writers}}</ref> Public health researchers have also explored barbershops as a venue for sexual health education.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Randolph|first1=Schenita D.|last2=Pleasants|first2=Terrence|last3=Gonzalez-Guarda|first3=Rosa M.|date=November 2017|title=Barber-led sexual health education intervention for Black male adolescents and their fathers|journal=Public Health Nursing|volume=34|issue=6|pages=555–560|doi=10.1111/phn.12350|issn=1525-1446|pmid=28812306|s2cid=11564832}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" widths="250px" heights="250px">
File:Enrique Simonet - El barbero del zoco - 1897.jpg|"The Barber at the Souk" by [[Enrique Simonet]], 1897
File:Barber at Peshawar British India 1907.jpg|Barber at [[Peshawar]], [[British India]], 1907
File:TexasRichardson barberShop.jpg|Interior of a barber's shop, circa 1920
File:Old barbershop in West Texas IMG 4596.JPG|The barbershop in Fluvanna, Texas, was restored in 2010 as part of a pioneer village in [[Snyder, Texas|Snyder]] in [[Scurry County, Texas|Scurry County]] in [[West Texas]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://historicscurrycounty.com/exhibits.htm|title=Heritage Village {{!}} Snyder, Scurry County, Texas|website=historicscurrycounty.com|access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref>
File:Inside a New Traditional Barber Shop in Bucharest, Romania.jpg|Barbershop in [[Bucharest]] around 2016. Men find the lost comradery between their peers, inside such "new traditional" barbershops, a revival of the old ones.
File:Barber Shop Museum 290 Columbus Av jeh.jpg|Barber Shop Museum in Manhattan
</gallery>