The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17
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soothing touch and likewise filled with rum, gavc
me a IS bill But, nlasl those days ore past A
customer who would rise up out OF the chair and
IN gratitude for work well and faithfully perform
cd fork over 81 note 10 the tonsota artist would
have homicide 10 answer for. NowClnyo make
Sl5 week. salary and get about 81 a week in tips
That "A because this is non union shop In the
union shops couldn't make ns much, by any
means Most Of the tips come from strangers,
rs tbs people use 10 shave and give hair cuts 10
don't patronize the shops | am working in at
present, II secms"
Where are the best paying barber shop"
Well now where would you expect 70 find them?
Very likely you think they nrc in tho big hotels
uptown or In tho great Office buildings downtown.
But can tell you something which will prove
that the tonsorial paror in tho big Office building
has not as much opportunity 10 accumulate wealth
as you imagine In one particularly immense
building which faces Broadway there Is a gildcd
ton3orial paror Of the most arstocratic cast.
Through the corridors Of the BUILDING enough
men pass every day 10 form All army, and you
might imagine that would be corking good
place for a tonsornl parlor But that would be
a mistake il the word Of fellow artist who works
there is worthy Of acceptance, and thiak il is
bfcause he has worked in many Of the large shops
OF this town for a quarter Of a century. He has
owned five or six shops OF his own, and Ia one 81
the few American BARRIERS left in New York This
elegant shop, so far from paying its proprietor
a handsome sum every year. affords him hardly
more than enough 10 1.-Two on He is really not
much bettcr of than his employees
NO, the best paying shops ore not in the big
buildings You find them tucked away in odd
hooks and corners Of New York near the com
mercial and financial centres They have small
rent to pay and their expenses are light so
there is chance for the boss to accumulate
a competency, although never heard Of but "nc
tonsorial man who got rich In the big build
ings the rents enormous and the incidental
expenses. such as light, heat, handsome hxturea,
etc eat up ell the Profits Of the business"
do not the propretors of the barber shops in
the hotels make money"
AS a matter Of fact I know Of no tonsorial
parlor in leading hotel or even in a good second
class hostelry whose tonsoral parlor is owned
by a regular artist The proprietor Of the hotel
is almost invariably the owner of the shop
and he employs a superintendent 10 look after It's
affairs Surely the superintendent Of the hotel
shop has little opportunity 10 get rich, FOR know
an artist who acts in this capacity in one Of the
largest hotels in the city, and his salary is only
SlS week But as he has the choice Of the
several chairs in the place, | presume his tips
Will bring his salary up 10 about S28 week,
AS general thing the wufkn,Cn make es
much out Of this business as the men who en-.
ploy them and. after all when you como 10 con
slider the expenses attached u the running OF
a first class barker shop il is better Ia take
salary of sig or SIS week and have your mind
free from financial worry than it is to assume
the responsibilities Of paying steady wages To
five six artists, big rent newspaper bills light
and half thousand other things which pertain
10 the business"
do men shave themselves now than
formerly
Yes at least 40 per cent more" returned the
reflective barber so-rowfuy Just drop into
any one Of the big cutlery stores and you will
find that their sales Of razo:s and strops have
increased enormously within tho last ten years.
There Is hardly young man in New York 60 day
who does not shave himself or who is not trying
to learn. Shaving oneself has become a SOFT Of
fad, you know alas, for the poor tonsurial artist
But as the shaving trade declines, so does the
business Of honing razors and taking care Of them
for customers go up. Everywhere day you
will find little sign hanging up in the very best
of tonsoral parlors announcing that razors are
put in order and kept so for customers. This is
podient TO check the Losses due to self shay
Ming men, but in some shops il has proved effect
uaL II seems strange TO an old time barber to
such signs when only u few years back great
many shops would not hone even their own razors
let alone those of others"
How do you explain the large increase of Ital-
ians and Germans in the barber business"
Why the Italians have caught On is easily
explained They DETER and lighter OF touch
than the Americans Germans or Jews. and they
work for less wages. must be the case. else the
Bowery three cent shops could not exist Then
they are frugal in their habit They seldom
drink, are industrious, and frequently reliable.
That quality, however is the keynote Of the Ger
mans success in this business. He is always
TO be depended upon and is methodcal in his
work. Once he gets good place he stays, whereas
the American and others are liable TO wander
from shop to shop"