The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-12-14
THIS MANAGEMENT
Is OPPOSED
TO
TIPS OR FEES
TO BARRIERS.


each chair in his shop, aud the customer no
sooner seats himself in a chair when his
| eyes catch the large printed letters Of the
sign, and then he settles himself for a
shave with the satisfaction that he does not
have TO pay extra 10 get his mustache
curled or little bay rum on his cheeks TO
take off the soap.
A CALL reporter visited the Grand Hotel
tOnsorial department Yesterday, and man
aged to catch Mr.. Laubenheimer after he
had finished ''tba cross-grain cut" on
young man who wanted a close shave.
The proprietor and manager Of the shaw
ing-parlor was asked what reasons had in
| duced him 10 begin his crusade against the
tipping system. He talked very readily on
the subject. and said the reasons were suffi-
Gent TO induce any proprietor OF shop to
take the same course IL he had any regard
for his own business or for the interest of
his customers.
The practice is very bad," he said, ''and
has grown TO an alarming extent of late.
This has been due TO the systematic culti-
walton of The tipping system by the BARRIERS.
They could teach many OF the most expe-
rieneed walters how TO induce a customer
TO part with an extra coin before his jaw is
scraped.
when he has once begun to give the tip,
the customer will have small-siZed bristies
| on his chin il he does not keep up the prac-
| ticc.
"You ask me how much some OF the bar
bers in my shop have made by the tipping
| system. | can truthfully say that they have
always made enough by IL 10 encourage the
system. l have known men here TO make
from 81 10 IS extra this way. Then they
begin to expect it, and then work is regula-
| ted accordingly. Ii Is the same as when
you go TO fashionable restaurant to get a
| good meal, and In TIE eXuberance oil your
| feelings arising from the fumes of good
| wine and the delights of an epicurean
| relish OF fine eDtree you give the waiter q
| fee. Go the next time and forget the tip.
| Then you will find how cold will be your
| soup, how iufrequent the bringing in of the
dishes and how long You will have to wait
! for your black coffee. This is what makes
| the practice perniciOus. A customer know
/ Ing this state Of things when he finds that
he cannot afford to fee BARRIERS will visit
| some other shop where be Is a stranger and
knows the tip is not expected. This is how
| the proprietOrs lose.
Il have watched the system of tipping for
| long time in my shop and out of cons der-
alton for my men did not Interfere. But it
began TO grow TO such an extent that / de-
( teTmlned to stop il.
| Il have seen men came in my shop who
| would be accustomed to tip the BARRIERS
| The favoriie barber would be shaving some
body else. In the regular run Of business
| the tip customer would not fall to him.
Then lie would hurry MP to catch him and
do very sloyenly job with the man in the
| chair, who when he got out would be able
| probably to brush his own clothes with the
hair left uneropDed on his chin.
| when the tip customer was got there
was an amount of time bestowed on him
usually occupied in two shaves, tho best
| bay rum and colognes were used in pro-
| fusion aud the boss barber was loser all
around. without coming in on division of
the tip"
81 don't see why the signs should be
| stuck up" sald a barber who works Ia the
place to CALL reporter.
Now, in the East the boss BARRIERS al
| ways allow the working BARRIERS to take
| tbs; AS rule what we get in that way
| don't amount to much. though of course 1t
! all counts up by the end of the week
II have worked in London barber-shops
where they shaved men for 'tuppence,' or 4
| cents-less than one-third what tho BARRIERS
| charge here, and 1 generally got tips there.
They come in mighty handy. Too. where Won
| only get So TO $40 week. or even less.
Il have worked at barbering in New
York. There the practice of tipping is
| quite common. New York BARRIERS make
| about as much as those in San Francisco.
Their pay ranges from Sl2 to SIS week,
| and that's about what is paid here.
1T is general notion among the boss
| BARRIERS that the pay in the East Is higher
than what it Is here, butt idea is entirely
| at fault.
''The practice Of tipping Is rather new
| here. and Is being looked upon with distrust
| by the managers OF barber-shops, bnt /
think there is nothing wrong in II. What
we get IS so very small anyway that we
have 40 hesitancy in taking ii.
No. | don't believe ever saw one of
| those proud BARRIERS who refuse tips. There
| may De such men, but they never work in
! the shops 1 WORK IN.
| What is the biggest tip that is paid to
BARRIERS In this town? Well, / have heard
| OF 81 being handed out, but that was by
very liberal mar. They don't generally
range higher than fifty cents, and are most
always at The dead level of two bits.
| Dignity in BARRIERS? OF course there is.
and plenty of it. While they may be willing
to accept tip they don't 20 round like a
car-porter. with his hand behind his back.
Nc. slr; IL man wants to give his barber
anything IN the way oil a tip, why, it's ali
| right. and II he doesn't it's all right. There's
no harm done ono way or the other, nor Is
there any loss Of dignity on the part of the
barber. III all these men who have money
to give out so freely came by II as homes
| as the barber does they needn't worry abont
the kind OF treatment they will receive in
| the next world.
Shampoo. sir?'