If a girl wants to have her hair cut, she goes to a beauty or hair salon and so does the rest of the female populace. But what if it’s a man who needs a haircut, where could he probably go? Younger men and teenage boys will sometimes go to a hair salon just like women, but men can also visit the barber shop for their necessities. It is true that a man’s haircut may be obtained from both a hair salon and a barbershop, but for men who may feel too feminine to have their hair cut in a hair salon can seek the services of a barber.
In this modern period, most men are not fans of a barbershop. But in the 1880s up to the 1940s, barbershops were a hit. During those days, men visit a barbershop once a week or even once a day. This is because a barbershop is not only a place where they could have a haircut and a shave but also a place for a friendly hangout and a chat. This golden age is when barbers work in a classy and stunning workplace. The barbershop then had marble counters on which colorful glass bottles are lined up. The barber chairs are even ornately made with oak and walnut upholstered in fine leather. Some barbershops even had crystal chandeliers and fresco-painted ceilings. But even with such high-end fixtures, barbershops were still a homey and inviting place to be. Everywhere in the shop, a manly aroma could be smelled. As soon as the man enters the barbershop, he knows he is in a manly territory.
It was in 1904 when barbershops began to feel a great impact of decline when portable and disposable razors were marketed. An advertisement from a known razor company entails that using their razor product is more economic and convenient than paying a barber to do the shaving. The rest is the history of the existence of barbershops. But even though only a few barbershops exist today, some men still believe that a barbershop is the right place where a man should go for their hair or shaving needs. They perceive that a barbershop is specifically tailored to provide masculine haircuts and male services from a manly barber. A barber uses clippers to cut a man’s hair, and a unisex salon hairdresser or cosmetologist uses scissors.
If you were a man and went inside a unisex hair salon for a haircut, chances are you will keep all words to yourself. A man would feel awkward talking to a woman hairdresser or to a group of women inside a hair salon. But if you go to a barbershop, talking to or chatting with the barber is not a problem. There might even be some new male colleagues to meet and get acquainted with. In a barbershop, a man feels like he really owns and would not feel alienated as the people inside the barbershop are basically from the masculine gender.