An Ann Arbor Yelp search for "hair" yields 108 results ranging from salons to studios to haircutterys. With a population just north of 110,000, about half of which are male, the gentlemen of Ann Arbor have no shortage of options when looking for a place to get their coif cut. National chains with rock-bottom prices clash with mid-level and high-end salons, each vying for the male hair dollar. The juggernaut, the Douglas J Aveda Institute, services hundreds of clients six days a week, charging $16 for a men's cut with no tips allowed. With all these options, with all these discounts, how do the elder statesmen, the barbershops of Ann Arbor, remain in business and survive the hirsute chaos?
"We're a dying breed," says barber Mike Bigelow.
"We're the real deal," says local legend Jerry Erickson. "We're barbers, not beauticians."
"Beauticians just cover the basics," says lifetime Ann Arbor resident and legacy barber Bob Dascola "Barbers learn about chemicals, shaving and haircutting, and then go way past that."
When I was a kid my dad took me for my first professional hair cut at a barbershop sandwiched between an ice cream place and a beer store. I couldn't have been more than two when they coaxed me onto a little plastic seat where I remember looking at myself in the giant mirror caught up in the sights and smells of the place - until I saw those scissors. I howled and squirmed and tears rolled down my face because I thought it was going to hurt and even after they showed me a swatch of my own dead hair to prove to me that haircuts were painless, I sobbed through the whole ordeal.
Bob Dascola, proprietor and master barber at Dascola Barbers (304 ½ S. State Street) has been an Ann Arbor native all of his 65 years. His father Dominic bought a barbershop in 1939 and Bob eventually took over. In its current location, the second-floor shop on State Street has been "a cultural and intellectual experience" for its clients for 10 years. Bob is well known in the area and has a reputation as a good barber specializing in giving hair cuts to kids who other barbers can't deal with.
"Our clientele runs the whole spectrum," says Bob. "Longtime residents, students who find us on Google. I even have a guy who comes in from California to get his hair cut. Little kids come in for their first cut and we take care of them all the way to the end of their lives. Some can't make it up the stairs anymore – for them I'll go to their house and give them a cut."
Bob's cozy shop features a sitting room packed with too many artifacts to list and the barbershop proper full of photos, posters and a 45-year-old kiddie car barber seat used for the younger customers.
"Competition comes and goes but barbers are the mainstays. Coming here is an experience. We play a lot of classical music and we talk about every subject you can think of. A kid came in the other day to get his first straight shave right before his sister's wedding. I gave him his first haircut when he was just a little kid and now I'm giving him his first straight shave."
I don't remember any more haircuts at the place near the ice cream shop and the beer store. At some point I graduated to The Stag Shop, (my dad's choice), a barbershop near our house run by a thick-accented Italian-Canadian named Rico Ventura. My dad called in my appointments and I'd ride my bike to The Stag Shop after school and there Rico would man his three-chair shop all by himself, cutting hair while glancing sideways at an old black and white TV showing episodes of The Three Stooges and Leave It To Beaver. He'd whistle the entire time he cut my hair. I can't remember anyone else ever being there. Just me and Rico in the faded, green barbershop with the cracked vinyl chair and old push-button cash register that made the coolest noise when he rung me up at the end of every transaction.
Around fifth or sixth grade I realized I didn't have a hairstyle, just a haircut, and peer pressure pushed me into the world of the salon. I patronized the manly-named Joe's Salon - less than 50 yards from The Stag Shop - until I graduated high school and moved out of town. For the first few cuts I hoped and prayed that Rico wouldn't see me parking my bike and slipping into Joe's for appointments with my regular stylist (whose name escapes me). The few times I peeked into the front window of The Stag Shop to see what Rico was up to, he was always leaning back in one of the chairs watching his little black and white TV - ready to cut whoever's hair when they walked in, whistling the whole time.
"You got hair, we're cutting it," says Mike Bigelow, proprietor and barber at Varsity Barber Shop (105 East Liberty Street). "Precision cuts, straight razor shaves…"
"Best in town," chirps barber Tony Massey. All six-foot-plus of Massey, long hair and tattoos wrapping around his right forearm, is hard at work trimming a customer's hair in the prime seat next to the Liberty Street window. Sitting in the chair is Jon Waggoner, who has been coming to the shop for a year and a half and says that barbershops are a good anchor to his roots.
"You hang out with the fellas every two weeks, talk sports, politics, anything you want," Jon says.
Bigelow's grandfather had a barbershop on William Street and Bigelow followed in his footsteps. He loves creating a comfortable atmosphere for his clients where they can relax, talk about whatever's on their mind and leave looking better than they did coming in.
"It's tough these days to get a straight razor shave and watch the game," Bigelow says. "Also, where else could I hire a long-haired hippie with tattoos to cut hair in my front window," he jokes, pointing to Tony.
"It's the last bastion of manhood," says Waggoner.
Ann Arbor's barbershops announce their trade with the iconic red, white and blue barber pole, the origins of which date back to the Middle Ages and signify the service of bloodletting. Atmosphere and history might separate Ann Arbor's barbershops from their salon competitors, but it's the straight razor that's the biggest distinction.
I find myself surrounded by autographed memorabilia and stuffed animal heads. An autographed photo of a famous Michigan quarterback reads: "To Jerry, the best barber in Ann Arbor - Brian Griese."
Jerry Erickson, proprietor and barber at Coach & Four (806 South State Street), has been in Ann Arbor since the early '60s, serving the community in his current footprint since 1972. He cut Bo Schembechler's hair and still serves many of Michigan's coaches, hence the name of his shop.
"We're throwbacks," Jerry says. "This place is a man cave. Guys come here to be guys."
The manliest totem in the whole place isn't the taxidermy bear, it's the straight razor. Coach & Four proudly displays its straight razors in a case on the wall and thick leather sharpening straps hang from each of the barber chairs. Straight razor shaves require extra training and insurance and some barbershops have stopped offering them - but not Coach & Four. Barber James Price was recently featured in the premiere issue of Jack Detroit Magazine giving a straight shave in the shop. During a straight shave the customer leans back in the chair and receives a thick, warm lather followed by hot towels, additional lather and finally the shave. The whole experience usually ends with a bracing aftershave and boom – your face is as smooth as a baby's bottom.
A few doors down from Coach & Four is the State Street Barber Shop (816 South State Street) manned by Bill Stolberg. Stolberg, a spry gentleman with a bushy grey beard, has been cutting hair since 1963 - 38 years at the State Street location.
"The barbershop has been around for 1,000 years," says Bill, working on a customer near lunchtime. "We build personal relationships with our customers. Two weeks, two months, six months - I don't care - I'm happy to see them again. Sixty percent of my clients are regulars so I can survive summers. We're not gonna get rich, but we're gonna have a good time."
Bill wraps up his work and his customer leaves, giving him a few moments to talk about the unique sanctuary of the barbershop.
"Conversation at the barbershop is unique," Bill says. "When I get someone and I can feel that they're tense I talk to them. Try to get their minds off their problems. Once you develop that relationship and get 'em in, you usually keep 'em. This is what guys these days are looking for. Old and young alike."
A rotary phone straight from my childhood rings and Bill jumps up to answer. "I'm free right now, come on down," Bill says to a regular on the other end and hangs up.
Ann Arbor's barbershops might have a lot of competition, but like Bill says, they've been around for 1,000 years. No reason to think they won't be around for 1,000 more.
Richard Retyi is a former assistant director for athletic media relations and social media director at the University of Michigan and currently works as a brand channel manager at Big Fuel, a marketing and communications firm in Detroit.
All photos by Doug Coombe
Photos
Bob Dascola with the Kiddie Car Barber Seat at Dascola Barbers
Bob stropping his straight razor
Bill Stolberg cutting Brian Grieser's hair at the State Street Barber Shop
Bill takes an appointment on the rotary phone
All the chairs full at Coach & Four Barber Shop
Jerry Erickson's straight razors at Coach & Four Barber Shop
A.J. Erickson at Coach & Four Barber Shop
Mike Bigelow cuts Bob Harrington's hair at Varsity Barber Shop
Mike finishes up Bob's haircut
Bob Dascola cutting Larry Hill's hair at Dascola Barbers
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