Sitting in My Dad's Barber Chair

My dad, Sidney Henry Frost, was my only barber from the time I got my first haircut in 1937 up until I joined the marines and moved to California in 1956. I have many pleasant memories of the haircuts and the barber shop visits. Dad was different at work, as are most of us. He was outgoing, talkative, knowledgeable, the kind of man others turned to for advice and opinion. He knew all the latest jokes as well as news and financial reports. He knew what was going on in town and around the world. All this with a 7^th grade education.

But, there was more to it than that. Cutting my hair was our private time. I didn't have to compete for his attention the way I did at home. My sisters didn't have this opportunity, but perhaps he found another time for them. He'd talk to me about what I was doing and what was going on in my world. He'd brag about me to the other barbers and to his customers.

Even when I didn't need a haircut, the barbershop would be a regular stop for me. Sometimes I'd go see him to get some money to buy the latest toy or go to the movies. There was a movie theater across the street from Travis Barber Shop on West 7^th Street where he worked for many years that had Saturday morning serials that couldn't be missed. There was another theater down the alley from the shop on 6^th Street across from Scarborough's. The one on 6^th Street would occasionally have cowboy movie stars there to sign autographs.

By the time I'd moved back to Austin in 1976, my friend Jack McCowan had become a barber and opened his own place on Congress. He was a hair stylist and I was drawn to getting the latest styles so I started to going to him. His wife, Doris, would wash my hair and then Jack would cut my hair with a straight razor while it was still wet. Then he'd blow dry it and cover it with a net to shape it while he sprayed it with hair spray.

I have to admit I felt guilty not letting Dad cut my hair any more, but I convinced myself it was for my career. I was working for Bob Bullock when he was the State Comptroller in an important job and needed that professional look Jack provided.

Later, I'd go back to get a haircut from Dad when I needed an old fashioned look for a part in the opera.

Dad cut hair until he was 90 years old. The Sportsman Barber Shop held a birthday bash for him, but he was back the next day, still working.