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Charles Johnson doesn’t own a rocking chair. He had not even contemplated retiring until last year. With a clean conscience, steady hands, keen eyes behind glasses, and the commitment to a work schedule, this barber just isn’t sure if or when retirement will begin. “Could be when Father Time says so,” he jests. Mr. Johnson turned 93 in early June this year.
The Iconic Barber Pole
The red, white and blue barber pole is a quintessential symbol for the place where men can get some head trimming. From a hot shave, beard and mustache trims to haircuts, hair coloring and styling, the barbershop pole needs little explanation. And this red, white and blue does not link to the USA flag colors.
With a history spanning some 6,000 years, barbers once performed other tasks as well. In the Middle Ages, they functioned as medical practitioners dubbed barber-surgeons. Their sharp razors and manual dexterity worked well for pulling teeth, setting broken bones and amputating limbs.
These barber-surgeons hung out bloody, once white, bandages to dry, which would twist in the wind. Patients had to grip a pole tightly so their veins would stand out during some procedures. Thus, white is for bandages, red for blood and blue for veins. According to Mr. Johnson, the blue is only in the United States. Barber poles elsewhere are just red and white.
Mr. Johnson’s Early Journey
The word barber comes from Latin barba meaning beard. A tonsorium is also a barbershop. The Latin word tonsor means clipper and the verb tondere means to shear.
Seeking to learn a trade, it was this line of work that appealed to Charles Johnson as a teenager studying at Christiansburg Institute, the all Black school founded in 1866. Upon graduation, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served in the Korean War as a barber and military policeman.
Back home in the New River Valley, Blacksburg native Johnson found a job at the campus barbershop at Virginia Tech. He worked before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m., which were the only times the Black barbers were permitted to cut hair for Black students. This system did not set well with Johnson, so in 1961 [three years before the Civil Rights Act passed] he told his customers they would get their hair cut between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. like everyone else.
He intended to open his own barbershop, figuring he’d get fired. Without a word or confrontation from management, the Black students came in during day time hours, and Johnson was there to trim their hair. He eventually became the manager and was responsible for all the Corps of Cadets’ haircuts.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit
When Mr. Johnson did step out in 1974 to become an entrepreneur with his own barber shop, he faced lots of prejudice in finding a space to rent. As with everything in his life, he persevered, rolled with the discriminatory punches and continued not only cutting hair and doing hot shaves, but also offering brotherly and fatherly guidance, often financial assistance and being a model friend to anyone who needed one. He loaned his car once for a Virginia Tech student’s honeymoon and often drove VT students home for breaks.
After selling his downtown barbershop — and having no rocking chair — he simply opened another one. Though Upscale Barber-Salon has moved five times in a couple decades, it has never compromised on quality, attention to details, fair pricing, cleanliness and hygiene. Both Mr. Johnson and his associate, Melinda Dalton, who has worked with him the better part of 20 years, stay current on hair fashion trends, facial grooming techniques, and the plethora of tools, equipment and advancements.
Ms. Dalton offers her 35 years’ experience doing all kinds of hair for men, women or children. She attended ATI Hollywood School of Beauty in Roanoke and has been licensed since 1993. Mr. Johnson and Ms. Dalton are in the retirement age demographic, and both of them enthusiastically embrace having a schedule. Many studies report that people who maintain regular routines experience less stress, better sleep, improved health and enhanced mental clarity.
Cutting and styling hair [for men, women and children here] is demanding for its long hours standing, and rewarding for improving every customer’s appearance and thus boosting their self-confidence. It is an exciting career that blends artistry, creativity, personal interaction, precision skills and myriad challenges of operating a small business.
Retirement
Not yet.
Question: To what do you attribute your long working life?
Mr. Johnson: I eat fresh food and breathe fresh air. I’ve never smoked or drunk alcohol or coffee. I enjoy my work, look for the best in people and love God and country.
Ms. Dalton: Claiming victory over stage 4 breast cancer, I find joy in every morning and having a schedule with a meaningful purpose. It is very pleasant and rewarding to work with Mr. Johnson.
Text by Joanne M. Anderson
Photos courtesy of Upscale Barber-Salon
Photos courtesy of Upscale Barber-Salon
Upscale Barber-Salon
Bonomo’s Plaza, 860 University City Blvd.
Blacksburg
540-808-7745
Blacksburgbarber.com
