Barber’s retirement means end of an era
He’s been cutting hair for 53 years
Victor Quinio started barbering full time when he was 19, following a line of barbers in his family that goes back four generations.
Now 72, Mr. Quinio, of the Natrona Heights section of Harrison, is putting away his barber tools and retiring May 2 after 53 years in the business. He spent 47 of those years in his shop in the Heights Plaza Shopping Center in Natrona Heights. The shopping center, he said, dates back to 1955, making it one of the oldest shopping plazas in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Mr. Quinio’s retirement is poignant for him and his family.
His great-grandfather, Ludovico Laus, worked in the wardrobe department of an opera company in Italy and started barbering when a singer who saw him taking care of the wigs asked him to trim his hair. Others also asked, and when he got good at the trade, he opened his own barber shop.
Mr. Laus’ son, Louis, learned the trade from his father in his shop near Rome, and when he immigrated to the U.S in 1909, he opened a shop near Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights.
“All of his 10 children got into the hair business, including my father, Victor Sr., who learned as an apprentice in his father's
shop,” Mr. Quinio said.
During high school, Mr. Quinio attended Pittsburgh Barber School, which was founded by his uncle, Frank. By the time he finished high school, he had his barber’s license but decided to enroll at Clarion University, where he entertained thoughts of becoming a teacher.
“After a year and a half, I quit because teachers at that time were making less money than barbers,” he said.
For the next six years, he worked at Anthony’s Barber Shop in Ross, where, he said, he “learned a lot from the owner.”
At the age of 25, he opened his own shop in Natrona Heights and has been there ever since.
Over the years, Mr. Quinio has had several barbers work in his shop.
Thomas Homolek of Natrona Heights, a man he considers his best friend, has been with him for 40 years. At age 72, Mr. Homolek also has decided to retire, and both men will leave the shop for good May 2.
“Tom went to my uncle's barber shop and knew my Dad and uncles,” Mr. Quinio said. “He and I go fishing, and we also take family vacations together.”
On an average day, they cut 15 to 25 heads of hair at $12 a cut. Their age doesn't appear to have slowed either man down.
“Back to school is a busy time, as is Christmas, when everyone seems to wait until the last minute for a cut,” Mr. Quinio said.
According to Mr. Quinio, the barber business suffered during the long hair era, a time when many barbers left the trade for other careers. “We toughed it out and raised our kids in that era,” he said. “When short hair came back into style, we got back into clippers and combs. And no more mullets — short on top, long in back.”
He estimates that about 25 percent of his current patrons have been with him for 25 years. Over time, he's heard “a ton of jokes” but doesn't remember most of them and wishes he had a tape recorder to preserve them for posterity.
With no pension plan and having to pay for his own medical insurance, Mr. Quinio said he struggled to make a living and discouraged his two sons and two daughters from getting into the hair business.
In the last 27 years, he has never taken off more than a week at a time.
In retirement, he plans to update his house, do more trout fishing and work on his two 1960s vintage Triumph motor cars. He also plans to spend more time watching his eight grandchildren play sports.
He and his wife, Carol, a retired dental assistant, have known each other since grade school and will be married 51 years on May 30.
“I think retirement will be a hard adjustment for Victor,” she said. “We plan on going to the Y for some exercise, but I know he’ll miss his patrons. They all have interesting stories to tell and ask me where they might go after he retires.
“But it's time. It’s the end of an era that goes back four generations, so it’s sad. Over the years, Victor’s met a lot of people both at the barber school and in his shop, and his father and grandfather are well-known in the area. Right now we’re planning some sort of retirement party because we want to send him out in style and on a good note.”
"After a year and a half I quit because teachers at that time were making less money than barbers"
Victor Quinio