Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
CHESCO BARBER MARKING 50 YEARS
‘You have to be careful with what you talk about these days’
When Tom Van Ardsdale began working as a barber, gas was 36 cents a gallon, a McDonald’s hamburger was a quarter, and a the average price of a single-family home was $26,000. How times have changed. Van Ardsdale, a 1967 graduate of Octorara High School, recently celebrated 50 years cutting hair, and 40 at his current location on Pottstown Pike in Eagle.
When he finished barber school in 1968, he did a brief stint in Philadelphia, then opened his own barber shop on First Avenue in Parkesburg. After two years, he moved to Marchwood in Exton before settling into his Eagle site.
“I loved the 60s when I started,” Van Ardsdale said. “Men got crew cuts, and then came the 70s and the long hair. All the guys were getting shat haircuts and guys started perming their hair. I had to go back to school to learn how to cut long hair.”
Van Ardsdale may have been clipping hair for a long time, but
his profession is one of the oldest in the world. Barbers were often referred to as barber-surgeons. Barbers performed various tasks such as minor surgery, dental work, bloodletting, and diagnostics of various health problems. The white spirals on a barber pole represent blood, white was for bandages, and the blue has been loosely interpreted to represent the veins in a human.
Today, Van Ardsdale said, a clipper cut is all the rage, but many of his clients prefer the scissor cut.
“I more or less stay away from clippers,” he said. “If I put a clipper to some of my clients, they would walk out of the chair. I don’t like clippers but they are very popular. The average of my clients is from 40 to 80, and they aren’t interested in clipper or fades.”
Van Ardsdale said the biggest change he’s experienced in his 50 years is how people are afraid to talk about sensitive topics.
“At one time, barber shops were filled with jokes and everyone had jokes to tell,” Van Ardsdale said. “Now, it’s different. Everything is so serious today, and it’s definitely political. You really have to be careful about what you talk about these days, even with sports. I miss the old days.”
Van Ardsdale said he never injects his personal opinion in the topics, and he mostly listens.
“I don’t take sides,” he said. “I listen and laugh. Most people probably don’t’ even know what side of the fence I am on.”
Van Ardsdale, 71, said he has no plans to retire, and will continue painting, a hobby he developed over the years. He works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and occasionally a half of a day on Fridays.