Local barber calling it 'clips'

Harry Williams in his barber shop.

SIKESTON - Since 1958, Harry Williams has clipped and snipped the hair of Sikeston men, their sons, their grandsons and in some cases their great-

grandsons and great-great-grandsons.

"People would bring their baby boys to me for their first hair cut, just to continue the tradition," said Williams.

But that tradition has come to an end. Williams retired in August after 47 years in business.

According to Williams, being a barber in Sikeston brought him in contact with people from all walks of life. He counted among his customers farmers, policemen, doctors, mechanics and judges.

"And once a ventriloquist brought her dummy in for a hair cut," he recalled.

Explaining the puppet's hairpiece needed the sides evened and the top trimmed, Williams clipped the hair on the dummy much to his customers' amusement.

"I think we all were satisfied. He didn't throw a fit and didn't cry so I think he really liked it," quipped Williams.

Originally, Williams said, he hadn't planned on a career as a barber. In search of a steady job, he talked to some barbers in St. Louis about their work and although they weren't encouraging, he went to school to learn the trade.

Returning to Sikeston, he opened a shop. In 1962 he built his own barber shop in downtown Sikeston. Later he sold that operation, moving his business into his home at East Murray Lane and South Prairie.

When he began his career in the 1950s, Williams used his clippers to give customers the look they wanted. The crew cut or the flat top was popular then.

As hairstyles changed, not all of his customers were happy to see him. "In the 1970s when long hair was the style there were boys brought in by their fathers under protest to get their regular haircut," Williams said.

Since dad was paying the bill, Williams said he would cut the hair to suit the father. The barber, he lamented, was often caught in the middle of a dispute between father and son.

It was during the long-hair fad, Williams saw many of the area's barber shops close. He estimated back in the late 1950s, Cape Girardeau supported some 26 barber shops near the college while today there are maybe two, he said, noting many young men today prefer going to a stylist at a beauty salon rather than a barber shop.

Working as a barber involved long hours. Williams said typically he would open his shop at 7 a.m. for the convenience of those men on their way to work. He would close at 5 p.m.

"We barbers thought we had to work when other people weren't working," he explained. On Saturdays his work day would be 10 to 12 hours.

The long hours could be hard on the feet and the back but Williams said the best part of the job was the people he met.

"Oh sure, sometimes you had to be a counselor. When guys have some kind of problem they want to share it with the barber or the bartender," said Williams with a laugh. "But the business has been good to me."

As for his retirement, Williams said he will stay busy overseeing his rental business and traveling with his wife. Also his yard, he said, is big and almost a full-time job in itself.

He has sold his barber chair and equipment to a young man starting his own business as a barber and like those barbers before him, Williams admits he discouraged the career.

"But I think he is doing pretty good business," said Williams. "The main thing a guy has to do is work."