This is
Central Barber Shop on Spring Street in Searcy in the 1930s. Coy Benton of Searcy, who owns the original copy of
this photo, identified the barbers from left as
M
|
y barber and I usually work
out all the problems of the world as she does my haircut. Shirley Nipper is my barber and she lives off
Highway 36 near
There
was Central Barber Shop on Spring Street in one of the buildings restored by
First Security Bank. I got my first
haircut there and continued to go in every couple of weeks until I went to
college. Claude Marsh and Ode West
operated two of the chairs all those years with a frequent change in the center
chair.
It
was a big open room with chairs along two sides of it. Some of the older customers had their own
personal shaving mugs, beautifully decorated things with their names on them in
a cabinet. There was seldom any time of
the day when the place wasn’t about full. Everyone discussed the state of the
world, and most of us left with all the local gossip and felt, in some way, we
were really involved in what was going on.
And downtown on Saturdays was something to see. The farmers all gathered on the foundation of
the Robbins-Sanford Mercantile Company, also on Spring Street, and discussed
the state of the world and the condition of the
crops. The sidewalks were crowded until
at least
There
were two hospitals then.
Off
and on, Dr. Sloan Sanford operated his office by appointment on the third floor
of Robbins-Sanford. He was among the
first eye, ear, nose and throat specialists in the country. You had to climb up an iron outdoor staircase
to get there. Across the street was
another iron staircase that led to Dr. Sam Allbright’s office. All doctors made
house calls, and few people could afford to go to the hospitals. It was a different time but it’s the way
things were then. vvv