Wally Kennedy: V’s is latest in men’s barbershops
November 21, 2011 | The Joplin Globe
November 19, 2011
By Wally Kennedy
This town is buzzing with new barbershops. The latest is V’s Barbershop at 2917 S. Main St.
Lucia Crawford, the owner, has taken a house and converted it into an old-fashioned barbershop with upscale decor. It has six fully-restored, 1950s-era Koken barber chairs. I understand these chairs are called “The King’s Chair’’ by those in the trade.
Sitting in one reminds me of the trips I made to Berry’s Barbershop at 3217 S. Main St. to get a haircut with my father. That barbershop disappeared decades ago, but the memories are just as real as if they happened yesterday. Of course, it was easy for a 10-year-old boy to get a haircut back then. It was a crew cut.
The crew cut, favored by the armed forces during World War II, became a civilian fashion for men in the 1950s and early 1960s. You used something called butch wax to make the front part stand up and stay in one place. By the late 1960s, short hair was out and long hair was in. The crew cut is still fashionable in some camps today, but I have too many dents and dings up top to get one now.
It was the tradition, the ritual if you will, that made going to the barbershop such a guy thing. When men get together in a barber shop, they talk about things that men like to talk about. Back then, it was Cardinals baseball — some things don’t change — fishing, hunting and the latest models of Fords and Chevys. Back then, there were virtually no imports.
It’s that ritual that inspired Jim Valenzuela, of Phoenix, Ariz., to open the first V’s Barbershop in 1999. He wanted to take his son to an old-fashioned barbershop just as his father had, but he couldn’t find one. You can get the full treatment at V’s, including an old-fashioned shave with a hot towel and a shoulder massage.
V’s in Joplin is the 15th shop in the chain and the first in Missouri. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Gift cards are available.
V’s is the third barbershop to open on Main Street. The others are T’s One-Stop Barbershop at 809 S. Main St., and the Brush and Blade Grooming Parlor, 1027 S. Main St.
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