How did barbers go from performing minor surgeries to crafting the perfect haircut? Join me, Melissa, as we unravel the intricate tapestry of barbering history in "Barbering Through the Ages." We'll journey back to medieval times when barbers were also surgeons, and explore ancient Egypt's barbers who were as revered as priests. You'll learn about the surprising origins of the barber pole and discover how trends like Queen Elizabeth I's hair dyeing habits influenced English aristocrats. Plus, find out how Abraham Lincoln's iconic beard not only changed his look but possibly his election outcomes. And let's not forget the significant yet often overlooked role of black barbers in post-revolutionary America.
Ever had an unexpected run-in that left you laughing and learning all at once? In "The Drag King Hair Incident," I'll recount a memorable barbershop encounter with a drag king client and the hilarious misunderstanding that followed. This chapter is filled with colorful language, unexpected humor, and a quirky story about my phone's farting duck noise during a straight razor shave. You’ll also get a peek into the world of drag performances, comparing real-life incidents to the polished artistry on the Boulet Brothers' show. Finally, I'll share how you can connect with me and join the conversation about all things barbering. From history to hilarity, this episode has it all.
How did barbers go from performing minor surgeries to crafting the perfect haircut? Join me, Melissa, as we unravel the intricate tapestry of barbering history in "Barbering Through the Ages." We'll journey back to medieval times when barbers were also surgeons, and explore ancient Egypt's barbers who were as revered as priests. You'll learn about the surprising origins of the barber pole and discover how trends like Queen Elizabeth I's hair dyeing habits influenced English aristocrats. Plus, find out how Abraham Lincoln's iconic beard not only changed his look but possibly his election outcomes. And let's not forget the significant yet often overlooked role of black barbers in post-revolutionary America.
Ever had an unexpected run-in that left you laughing and learning all at once? In "The Drag King Hair Incident," I'll recount a memorable barbershop encounter with a drag king client and the hilarious misunderstanding that followed. This chapter is filled with colorful language, unexpected humor, and a quirky story about my phone's farting duck noise during a straight razor shave. You’ll also get a peek into the world of drag performances, comparing real-life incidents to the polished artistry on the Boulet Brothers' show. Finally, I'll share how you can connect with me and join the conversation about all things barbering. From history to hilarity, this episode has it all.
Good evening everyone. It's Melissa, your host at Strange, deranged, panned and Sane. So tonight I have a fun and even educational, I mean. I think it's fun and very interesting too. I want to talk about the history of barbers. As some of you know, I did get a new job. You know, a few episodes ago I was bitching about working in corporate world. I did join a barber shop it's a mom and pop shop, if you will in Macomb County, macomb, michigan, and I really like the atmosphere. It's fun. We also do cut women's hair still and of course, I still have my side hustle at home. You know my little mini salon down here, slash podcasting room. But I do want to give a shout out to the girls that I work with. They have taught me so much about barbering already. In just like the short month that I've been there, I've learned how to straight razor and it's definitely a skill that you have to learn and be patient with so many.
Speaker 1:
Many, many moons ago in cosmetology school, you know they did kind of dip into the history of barbers, but nothing. Like you know, I was reading about the last few nights and again, it's very interesting and there's a lot of history, so I'm going to dive right in, all right. So here's a little short article from PBS and it says in medieval times the professionals were known as barber surgeons, which is just what it sounds like. They weren't just there to give customers a trim, they'd also perform minor surgeries like pulling teeth and amputating limbs. Interesting, huh. Can you imagine if we were still doing that? That'd be really fucking scary. I don't just getting over the whole straight razor thing and, you know, being right up to someone's jugular is definitely enough for me. I can't imagine like, um, definitely enough for me. I can't imagine like amputating limbs, although pulling teeth I think that would be kind of fun, anyways, okay. Now here's another article. There's many articles in here and I kind of just took like the interesting stuff right, okay.
Speaker 1:
So the first barbering services were performed by Egyptians in 5000 BC, with instruments that they had made from oyster shells or sharpened flint. In ancient Egyptian culture, barbers were highly respected individuals. Priests and men of medicine are the earliest recorded examples of barbers. According to the Barber Surgeons Guild, it was precisely because barbers were so skillful with scissors and razors and the like that they were designated to do surgeries, something standard physicians were unwilling to do. So imagine that you didn't go to doctors, physicians, and you went to your barbers. Yet distinctions were made between barbers and surgeons over time and eventually barber surgeons were separated. And then, it says, barbers started using the iconic barber pole to separate and identify themselves.
Speaker 1:
The history of personal grooming isn't just a story of how we humans once gussied up for a night out on the town. Ancient Egyptians melted fragrant wax cones on their heads, not just to smell and look awesome, but also to carry favor with the god of perfume. And that is Nefertum. And he was the guy you talked to. If you wanted to live a long, happy life In the 1500s, english aristocrats would dye their hair bright red and keep their skin ghostly pale.
Speaker 1:
Sure, this was a bold fashion move, but it was a smart way to carry favor with Queen Elizabeth I, who happened to be very fond of red. But it was also repeatedly a way for the Church of England followers to separate themselves visually from Catholics across Europe who were predominantly dark-haired. Alright, another fun little fact. So Abe Lincoln's beard was a cultural battleground, crazy huh, alright. So even in this day, lincoln's beard was a matter of intense public debate. An article in the appendix recounts In 1860, lincoln was clean-chinned and still seeking election to the presidency, an 11-year-old supporter named Grace Bedell wrote to Abe suggesting a beard might increase his chances, and Lincoln did take her advice.
Speaker 1:
He even made a point of meeting her in person to thank her for her suggestion. The press even reported on it. Rival candidates mocked Lincoln for his unbecoming vanity. In 1860, long before social media, a presidential hopeful faced an optics and credibility issue, and it all revolved around his personal choices. A beard changed Lincoln's face dramatically, transforming his weak chin into a imposing yet urban facial feature. Lincoln seemed more authoritative bearded, but it also represented an endearing um, philip, philipity, whatever the fuck that means. Okay, so it made him relatable. Oh, okay, that was uh, that was um was a little glitch in this article. So more like familiar, that's what they were trying to say when they said that it also made him relatable. Okay, got it so right.
Speaker 1:
As the US was about to tear itself apart, a beard became a battleground for the future of the nation's national character. Now this gets a little bit dark. So, however, the dark history of the American beard begins much earlier, in the years immediately following the American Revolution. It was in this uneasy new culture and economy that many former slaves opted to become barbers. It's probably oversimplifying this historical turn of events to describe it as completely dark.
Speaker 1:
After all, the noble art of barbering became an important culture avenue for a disempowered and marginalized group of people to pull themselves out of poverty and obscurity. Moreover, while it was disempowerment that led them there, barbers occupied a strangely powerful and high profile position in society. Barber shops were considered places of civility, a kind of beardy town square, if you will. Nevertheless, for both better and worse, the stereotype of the black barbershop gradually took hold in American culture and remained a prominent culture touchstone for many generations. Wow so the post-revolutionary beard and racial tensions. Despite their influence, black barbers were frequently on the receiving end of the racial prejudice. If their opinions became too strident or transgressive, customers might accuse them of overstepping racial boundaries, with potentially disastrous consequences. Potentially disastrous consequences.
Speaker 1:
The American beard of the post-revolutionary period told an awkwardly story of cultural power and rising up out of poverty in the face of entrenched inequalities In inequalities. Okay so the barbershop of this era and the helpless beard. Its existence was predicted on, and it was also very complicated. It was odd, it was an odd cultural theater and it hints at the idea that has been repeated over millennia of human history. The trappings of fashionable civility are usually about a lot more than fashion Around.
Speaker 1:
The same time as Lincoln's ascent to bearded glory came another twist in the annals of Beard Dom. Science was yielding more insight into germ theory and suddenly lack of beard became a medical condition. I'm sorry, not just in the US but throughout Europe. So I'm not sure if I'm saying his name right, but Alan Whitley, a medical historian cited in a Smithsonian article, explained that the Victorian obsession with air quality saw the beard promoted as a sort of filter. A thick beard was reasoned, and it would capture the impurities before they could get inside the body. Oh my god, sorry, sorry, okay. So basically, your thick beard would, um, obviously work as a trap and would filter out the impurities so that the evil or negativity could not reach your body. Okay, that's crazy. Anyways, it is strange, strange beyond insane after all. All right, so now let's go to future time, right, or present, if you will.
Speaker 1:
It all gets back to the hipsters. The third beard of many-chinned Hydra is the wax-comed and impeccably edged beard of the hipster. In the hipster beard, all in political ambulance of the Swanson mustache is writ large in fashion form. Okay, the hipster beard is an assertion of masculinity and a statement of gentle vanity. It's a counterculture, barbaric roar against fashion while playing straight into fashion's hands. Ultimately, the hipster beard is oddly iconic. Peter Furia, a hipster documentarian, had this to say of hipsters on NPR what's funny is that people who aren't hipsters generally express distaste for them, and those who appear to be hipsters hate to be identified as such. Everybody hates hipsters, especially hipsters, and the iconic part is that the hipsters' opposition to pop culture has become pop culture. If you apply the idea to facial hair preference, the hipster beard is perhaps an iconic statement, a sarcastic statement even about masculinity. Oh, these little articles crack me up. All right. So the current state of the beard. So what is the current state of the beard?
Speaker 1:
For humans as species, beards have always been more than a handy method for preventing unwanted flies from entering one's mouth. While plundering a Saxon village oh god, I'm just picturing that so fucking gross Viking conquerors were arming themselves with an arsenal of beard grooming tools, including a standard issue of the bone comb, which they take into battle should their manly foliation be folded with mud or gore. A well-kept beard was a symbol of self-respect and the pride of any barbarian about town is what that says. Okay, the elegantly trimmed and maintained facial confections of the gentlemen of the Renaissance was considered a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, which makes more sense when you consider that until the 17th century, it was believed that beard hair was a I'm sorry was generated by the body as a result of having overheated testicles. Oh my God, I mean, I can respect that. A nice looking beard. Okay, you look clean, you look hip. Maybe you looked like you had more money back then.
Speaker 1:
But I will say this if you guys go through any of those pictures online TikTok, instagram, facebook, whatever YouTube there's a lot of dudes that shave completely shave their faces and they look so fucking nerdy like they don't even look like they have chins after, like they don't. They look like the women online and I have always said this like the women online that overdo their makeup and spend like four hours on it. To me that's catfishing. Like if you wake up in the morning and you don't look like that at all, like you look like a whole nother person, I feel like you should be arrested or pay a fine, just like these men they. Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but in these videos when they shave their beards and you see the before and after. They do not look like the same man, like what the fuck? That's complete catfishing. Anyways, okay, get back. Sorry you guys, squirrel moment.
Speaker 1:
Alright, so scientific effects that happen when a man grows a beard. My husband was laughing at this the other night when I was writing this up. He thought it was hilarious. Okay, so it says ask anyone who has ever bearded up and they'll tell you that life changes once you embrace your inner werewolf. People look at you differently, you feel different as a whole. The impact that a beard has upon a person's life is way bigger than you might think and to back that up, here are some scientific studies that have been done on beards.
Speaker 1:
Okay, I can back that up because, like when we get our hair done and our nails and our toes, you know we put our makeup on, like we feel we always feel better, right? Every woman knows that when you have no makeup on complete no makeup your hair is a mess. You look like shit. What is the first fucking thing someone says to you? Oh you look tired. You know that's like. Of course that's an insult. Oh, you look tired, you know that's like, of course, that's an insult, right? So, for a man, going and getting his beard trimmed, lined up, looking crispy and fresh, probably looks a lot better, probably feels better. So I can, I can, relate to that, okay.
Speaker 1:
So, um, so many of these reports, um, one would assume that they may have been conducted by bearded men. Here's what happens when you grow a beard you feel great, you look great, you're ready for work, you're ready to take on the world and, of course, you do seem more handsome. All right, so there's some fun facts about the history of barbers. I thought that was fun, um, fun little topic tonight. Okay, so I did put a note to myself.
Speaker 1:
Now I want to talk to you guys about this story. This is so funny, and if you're listening to this in the morning or, like me, if you drink coffee all night, you're probably going to spit out your fucking coffee. And again, I'm warning you for some words that are about to come out of my mouth, but I am just speaking exactly how this happened. This was in, okay, so we're in 2024. So this happened in like 2010. So long time was it? Like 12 years ago? You, I can't math, okay, so when I worked at Fantastic Sam's many moons ago, a co-worker and friend of mine, denise. We were on the night shift. It was just us two, we were closing down. I want to say it was a Thursday, in fact. I know, I almost know it was a Thursday when that was still. That was still like a big drinking night, right, thirsty Thursdays.
Speaker 1:
So Denise has her client in her chair um, this woman's a hardcore lesbian, whatever. So we always would sweep for each other. Um, even at the barbershop that I'm at now, even when, when Kaylin's leg heals or whatever, and she can walk on two feet, I will still always sweep for her. I sweep for Bridget. Sometimes Bridget's very, very busy. She's a busy bee, so I don't want to be in her way, but it's just something that I picked up on years ago. Like I'm always going to be that person that's constantly sweeping if I have the time. Okay, time, okay. So, anyways, I sweep up the hair and I I shoot it into the vacuum, the wall vacuum.
Speaker 1:
Dude, this lady jumps out of her seat and she goes why the fuck did you do that? And I, I'm looking at her and I'm looking at Denise and I'm like do what she's like you swept my fucking hair away. And I said yes, yes, that's what we do, we. We sweep the hair into the vacuum every day, every night, after every haircut. What's the problem? And she goes, this is word for word. She gets up into my face and she goes you know, you're a real fucking cunt. For that, I fucking die. I start cracking up. Denise is like speechless and I'm like okay, why am I such a cunt, ma'am? And she goes because you swept up my fucking hair. And she's screaming at me, just calling me all kinds of names, and I'm like all right, lady, I don't know what the fuck you want. Like this is what we do. Like the hair goes bye-bye. Like this is how we clean. So she's going on and on.
Speaker 1:
So finally she says do you know that I'm a drag king? And I said, uh, I know what a fucking drag queen is. She goes no, I'm a drag king and I needed that fucking hair to make my beard tonight for a show. And I said you know I go. That's even worse. I said so you're going to pick up that fucking hair on that ground. That's not all yours. And you're going. You're going to what? You're going to glue it to your face. I said you can buy fake hair online, you can buy fake beards, you can go to the Halloween store like, why would you do that? And she's like because it's authentic and it's mine. And I said, well, you know what? It's a good riddance because I don't feel bad. And I said you're fucking being crazy. I said I'm crazy too, like I'm like the fun crazy. I said, but you're like really fucking crazy, right, and she just went off and off and gone crazy. So, anyways, that's.
Speaker 1:
It brings me to the show the Boulay brothers. They're not brothers, they're actually married. Um, if you guys haven't seen that, oh my god, you should watch it. It's a bunch of drag queens and they do have drag kings on there too, and they do all their their own costumes, all their makeup, all their special effects and all of the drag kings that I have seen on there, none of them have used their own human hair to make fucking facial hair. So, anyways, that's my um. Oh, there goes my phone. Sorry about that, you guys. Usually I have it on low.
Speaker 1:
Um, another funny story about my phone that, um, that like farting duck noise. Um, my new co-, my new co-worker, thought it was funny. Farting duck noise. My new co-worker thought it was funny because of course, I was like hovered over a man straight, razoring him. I think it was last week. You know, the chairs go back, they lay back and that sound goes off. And the guy, he was like he, he, he, and I go, oh, I didn't fart, that was my phone. And he just gave me that look like, oh, okay, and I'm like, no, really it's my phone and anyways. But, um, I told them that, that story and they thought it was pretty funny. They're like, well, that's stupid because that makes it look like you farted. But, yeah, if you guys ever hear that, well, that's stupid because that makes it look like you farted. But, yeah, if you guys ever hear that, that's the noise on my phone.
Speaker 1:
I do have an Android, so I get all those goofy noises. But that sums it up for the barbershop episode. I thought it was fun and unique and interesting. So if you guys have anything to add to that or any other barbers out there that like to hop on here, um, you know that you can get ahold of me at ghost sisters 21, 24. Again, that's ghost sisters 21, 24. At Gmail Um, also, buzzsprout has a new feature that, if you guys go onto my website through Buzzsprout, you guys can give me fan mail, so any kind of suggestions, or tell me the episode sucked or you loved it or whatever. Of course, my TikTok. If you type in Strange, strange, beyond Insane, you can find us on all platforms. And yeah, so get a hold of me and hop on and come chat. Have a good night, we'll be chatting soon.