Last of His Kind

Melvin White has a distinction that few, if any in the Monroe area can match. Mr. White believes that he is the oldest barber living and still cutting hair in the area. While listening to White during this reporter's interview with him, one could hear him relive history all over again from the time he first obtained his license to cut hair. It was during the summer of 61, June 3rd to be exact, when White proudly graduated from the Little Rock Barber College in Little Rock, AK. White took an interest in cutting hair before he went to barber college, as he would cut/trim hair of his young contemporaries at the time and to him, it just felt natural. However, before White began his career as a professional barber in Louisiana, the state did not recognize his Arkansas license/certificate. So he went through the state's process of obtaining a license, got it and soon began to cut hair in Monroe. Early on in his career, White would cut hair for his employer, a white man and some of his associates. He said that some of his co-workers weren't too pleased with that arrangement, because it took him away from working with them. Though nothing really came of it, as White would soon join the military doing-you guessed it, cutting hair. White says that he remembers well hearing soldiers telling him "Not to cut it" too close, as he would cut the hair of white and Black soldiers in a military that no longer (Pres. Truman 1948) had a segregated policy. White began his professional career cutting hair in civilian life at Manuel Thomas Barbershop located at North 11th and Desiard Streets before he went into the military, he said. After the military White said that he resumed his career at the Casa Blanca Barbershop on Renwick Street located not far from Carroll High School. From that time on, it would be his only job.

White said that he has seen many hair cutting styles such as the "Ivy League" and "College Cut" when they came out. According to White, those two cut styles were derived from African men who while in America had their hair cut close all over. But when they returned home, their hair was still cut close along the sides, but with more hair on the top. He said that was the fore runner of what is known as the modern day "fade". Another style that White vividly remembers, was the "shag", where the hair was cut low allover, but with what was called the "ducktail". Then there was the "Mississippi Sidewalk", where the hair is "cut to the right eye", that could be worn high or low. During that time, people called it by another name-the "process." Or as Fred Sanford said in one of his classic lines, it was "fried, dyed and laid to the side." As White was reminiscing about the old days of him being a barber, he laughed often at how Black men wore their hair according to the latest fad that actually set them apart in their social and even professional lives. White would mention the "George Stevenson" style, that according to him, was the cut starting across the crown, where the hair was cut low on the sides, but the middle was bald. The hair could eventually grow back covering the middle, maybe not as full. I remember as a young lad, we called that a "bald head". White also remembers how barbers used to treat customers who had "tatters" on their scalps, the salve that was used to treat them. Nevertheless no one who had tatters on their scalps would be allowed to get their hair cut because of health regulations. Today at 81 years of age, White still cuts hair, though by appointment. It is usually by customers that he has known over the many years he has come to know as their barber. He recalled the names of the many barbers that he has known, as well as many of his customers. He remembers the time when barbershops were unionized where rates were set. As far as he knows, those days are long gone. White says that he is thankful to God for letting him do what he wanted to do. White, mostly cuts hair around the weekend (Fridays/Saturdays) by appointments. So, if you are in the neighborhood on Renwick Street and know Melvin White, stop, get a haircut and talk about the old days. Also, for the younger barbers, stop and get a taste of history from someone who has been there. Barbershops have always been a place where men associate with one another and also where boys when they pay attention, can also learn how to be a man.