Cutting out
George Neale set to retire after 55 years as Charlottetown barber
George Neale has wanted to cut hair for as long as he can remember.
He just never thought he would end up clipping away for quite this long.
Neale, who grew up in Charlottetown next to a barber, thought the hair-cutting trade would suit him well.
At age 20, he shot off to Boston, boarding with his uncle for six months while attending the Massachusetts School of Barbering.
The trimming talent came fairly quickly to Neale.
Sure, there were a few
missteps — make that
miscuts — early on when he started his own shop called Neale’s Barbershop on the corner of Queen and Chestnut Streets in Charlottetown.
“There is no doubt when I started out there were some big gaps in the hair,’’ he says with a grin.
Way back then, Neale earned 75 cents for each haircut. Today — 55 years later — he charges $15 and up per head.
Early on, he thought he would “retire easy’’ by the age of 50. That time came and went a quarter of a century ago.
He has always earned a decent living cutting hair and has never been in jeopardy of closing shop: not Neale’s Barbershop that he ran for 14 years or The Razors Inn that he has operated ever since along University Avenue in downtown Charlottetown.
“I’m not doing this because I have to really,’’ he notes.
In fact, Neale has been, well, cutting back cutting hair to four days a week over the past couple of years. He plans to put the scissors away for good by the end of the year, leaving his business partner Kenny Lowther to pair up with another barber.
You have everything when you have your health.
George Neale
Neale looks back on his 55-year career as a barber as rewarding. The job never became a grind. He has always enjoyed meeting people — he has several customers that have been turning to him for a trim for 30 to 40 years — and striking up a conversation.
Talk typically turns to politics, sports, weather or that crazy high price of gasoline.
“You hear lots of stories ... true and false. You have to take some of this stuff with a grain of salt.’’
Neale feels fortunate to have spent 55 years on his feet, clipping and bending over, with remarkably little wear and tear on his 75year-old body. He has never had back trouble but his feet and legs get sore at times.
“You have everything when you have your health,’’ he says.
And Neale expects to remain in good trim to play plenty of golf, get more involved in his church and enjoy life with his wife, Paulette, and family.