The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-02-11
SuPEBST!IlONS OF BARBERs
LEFT-HANpED MAN MAY THROW
WHOLE SHOP INTO DIS
ORDER.

FEg1u VI iHsAhStfl 81 MISUNDERSTANDING.
esdperstitiousa / should say yes
they won't admit II to any one ex.
cept members Of the craft. but bars
bers ara the most supersitious peos
pie in the woria.r &
The man in charge OF the second
chair at one Of the large hotel shops
stropped his razor and loqnacionsIy
confirmed:
You see that naw man down at the
end OF the chair? He just came TO
work here this MORNING. and he'll
have nice large can tied to his coat
tonight. Why? Because he's left.
handed. If he remained here every
barber In the shop would quit be-
fore the week was out. a
"a lefthanded barber Is a hoodoc
To any shop. and there's no getting
away from 1t. You may thing that's
only a prejudice that BARRIERS have for
1efthanded knights OF the razor, but
it's wellgrounded superstition, us
old as the trade itself.
Weed be apt to have all kinds OF
hard luck If that fellow stayed here
any length of time, once worked iii
a New York shop where there was a
lefthanded barber, and almost every
day an accident would happen to some
OF the others. We told the proprietor
where the trouble lay, but as he was
not barber he couldn't understand
what difference 1t made whether a
man shaved with his right or his left
hand.
"one day a runaway horse plunged
through the plate glass window, and
another day mad dog ran into the
shop. followed by a policeman. who
killed thu beast under the left.handei
mans chair. Without any apparent
reason the hotwater faucets would get
cold as ice, and the razors would re.
fuse to work properly. Customers who
for years had been in the habit of
getting shaved three or four times n
week stopped coming. and 1t was all
due to that lefthanded barber. Dur.
irg all the while he was there not one
of us won bet on policy, although
the porter used to dream some Of the
best numbers I ever saw. This fellow
= speak of had red hair, and that, of
course, made 1t worse. We finally In
duced the boss to fire him, and Just
as soon as he was gone things began
to get good again.
Nov, this fellow on the end, who
drifted in this morning. looks to be a
pretty good barber, but just as soon
as the boss saw him strop razor with
his left 'mitt' 1t was all for julius. In
most shops before new man Is hir-
ed he is asked whether he Is right or
left handed.
"Ilefthanded men who learn the
trade get onto this after while, and
then they switch to the right hand
that is, II they can make good with
the right. I'm scared to death that
somebody is going to get killed around
here before s o'clock tonight. when
his 'nibs' will take off his coat and
take 1t away with him.
Another superstition among bar
bers Is that they don't want to shave
the first customer that comes in on
Monday morning. That's sure sign
of poor business all week for the I'M.
lucky barber. OF course, somebody
has got to shave the first man, but
you don't see the BARRIERS rushing
madly DIP to their chairs and beck.
oning to the customer. You'll see one
of them go for drink Of water, an.
other is too busy reading the sporting
page to look up. and the others are
all doing something that occupies
their time. Whatever chair that Gus.
toner climbs into the barber who runs
II Is hoodooed for the week.
Another popularity about BARRIERS
Is that one OF the crat-can tell fet.
low.tradesman by shaving him al.
though he may never have seen the
man before. The way a barber lies
in chair when he is getting shaved,
and the way he unconsciously assists
the man with the razor tips him of
every time. He will turn his head
from one side to the other in a DIFF.
ferent 'Tay than other men who are
not BARRIERS, and when the razor Is
en- his neck he will raise his chin in
a way that cannot be counterfeiteI
l never missed out on calling the t1rn
on a barber In my llfe."