Based on childhood recollections
of shops in Edmonton, north London in Edwardian times.
Red and white striped barber's pole signifying a barber's shop. Photo taken
in recent times outside a barber's shop.
You could always recognize a barber's shop, because
there was a red and white pole outside, about 18 inches high and 4 inches
across. Barbers cut men's hair and did shaving.
I have been unable to find a barber named Rawlinson
in Silver Street in the 1911 census. So he probably arrived later.
Pat Cryer
A good barber was well sought after because being able to trust oneself
to someone with an open razor was obviously important. Our
local barber in Edmonton was owned by the Rawlinson family.
A man to be shaved would first have a towel put over his shoulders and
under his chin. Then the barber
would work up a lather with a small brush and soap, apply the lather with the brush and use the razor to
scrape it off, along with the beard stubble. Finally the man would have a warm towel put round his
face which was supposed to help the skin feel better.
There are photographs of the type of shaving brush and razor used by the barber on the
page on washing and bathing.
Women often cut their husbands' and children's hair. It was all a matter of
cost - but couldn't you tell!
This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as
Join me in the 1900's and is ©
Pat Cryer.
