Long Hair
It’s official - Michigan is now the only state in the union not allowing barbers and hair stylists back to work due to Covid-19 risks! As a result, my hair hasn’t been this long since college, except now it’s gray and thinner.
When playing golf or tennis, I see my shadow with the long hair curling out from under my cap, which reminds me of my college days. Obviously the gray doesn’t show, so literally my shadow looks young again!
There is a barber in Owosso, Mi who ignored the Governor’s stay-at-home orders and re-opened his shop, only to have a judge rule it be closed, so he took his protest to the steps of the state capital and provided free haircuts as pictured here. Each of his customers put their hair clippings in an envelop addressed to the Governor in further protest of her stringent orders. She sent two representatives from the Attorney General’s office to deliver the judges ruling in person.
The reps both had overgrown hair so in jest he offered them a free haircut! The Governor then suggested people google how to cut their own hair. He responded by asking the Governor if hair cutting is so easy and non-essential, why does he need an expensive license from the state to practice? He’s still opened in full defiance and others have followed suit!
The mop-topped Beatles started the long hair craze back in the 1960’s, which meant I had to convert from a flat top haircut to the longer look, which was quite a transition that seemed to take years.
As a kid, Mom would cut my hair, but she never could master the flat top, so I saved my allowance money for my first professional haircut at Romie's barber shop in Ft. Loramie. It was a neat place since it also doubled as a sporting goods store, plus shoe repair. Proprieter Al Romie was the jack-of-all-trades who cut hair, repaired shoes and sold sporting goods in his Main Street store. By the time I got to know him, he was a lot older and balder than this photo on his wedding day.
After Al retired, Morrie Frey became the local barber and also held the position of the fire chief as his shop/home was directly across the street from the Fire Department. So he was like a full time firefighter on call 24-7. He would take the fire truck out to the fires and the other volunteers would follow in their vehicles, many red pick-up trucks with magnetic flashing red lights that were mounted to the top of the truck during a run.
My barber in Michigan was named Theo; check out this previous blogpost about him.
Back to the 60’s, the rock musical Hair originated on Broadway, featuring hit songs, profanity, depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene all caused much comment and controversy. I recall seeing a live performance of the show but was disappointed in the nude scene because the dimly lit stage showed the actresses strategically covered by their long hair! One actress was quoted as saying, "We stood naked to comment on the fact that society makes more of nudity than killing.” Good point.
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