Wellington barber shifts shop after 40 years
Lance Barnardwas told he might be the oldest barber in Wellington.
‘‘It only feels like yesterday that Iwas the youngest,’’ Barnard laughed to a client.
A fortnight ago Barnard moved from the barber shop in Courtenay Placewhere he spent the last 40 years cutting hair, to Cuba Barbers in Cuba St.
He only works two days aweek now, Monday and Tuesday, ‘‘for a bit of beer money’’.
He started his apprenticeship in 1967, three days after his 15th birthday.
When Barnard was young he thought he wouldn’t mind an ‘‘upmarket’’ job but knew his options were limited because he had left school at 14. Barbering seemed like a good fit.
His favourite part of the job was working with older clients because they talked about what they had done, not what they planned on doing.
His ‘‘oldies’’ were given the option of a home visit by Barnard when they were unable to make it into the shop.
There were always a few beers on offer at home visits in the early days.
‘‘The idea was to get your haircut done early before Lance had toomany beers,’’ Barnard said. If he were to stopworking in a barber shop, Barnard said he would like to just do home visits.
Cuba Barbers boss Michael Petrie said he saw no reason why Barnard could not continue as a semi-retired barber for as long as he wanted.
The pair had worked together since Petrie walked into Barnard’s shop in 2002 looking for a job.
Not much had changed since then, he said, despite now being Barnard’s boss. ‘‘The respect is still there,’’ Petrie said. Petrie bought the barber shop Barnard worked in at Courtenay Place and since then he had opened and closed branches in various locations around central Wellington. Barnard’s shop was the last to go, prompting his move to Cuba St and positioning the men at the same location once again.
When Barnard first started in Courtenay Place in 1967, his apprenticeshipwas 41⁄ years and
2
9000 hours long.
During that period, he said, 17 barber shops closed in the area because of the long hair and mutton chop sideburns trends.
‘‘When Iwas with a group of guys with long hair I did not like to tell them I was a barber,’’ Barnard said. ‘‘It was not such a trendy job to have.’’
After he gained his qualification in the early 1970s, Barnard took a break from barbering.
‘‘The good and bad of the job is the people,’’ Barnard said. ‘‘I also enjoy being by myself.’’
For several years Barnardworked as a deer culler for the forest service, which meant he was alone for long periods of time.
He returned to Courtenay Place in 1981. When hewas not at the barber shop, Barnard said, he spent time in the hills deer hunting, painting and honing his photography skills.