Clipping Hair in Harvard Square

The classic red and white swirled pole seen in front of every modern day barber shop in a remnant of the barber's past medical practices--red for the blood and white for the bandages.

Before the 16th century barbers, in addition to cutting hair, acted as part-time surgeons--treating wounds, pulling teeth and bloodletting--because early physicians didn't want to deal with the untidiness of surgery. In fact, the father of modern surgery. Ambroise Pare, began his career as a barber of sorts.

But George Papalimberis, a Greek immigrant and owner of the Custom Barber Shop on Brattle Street, a mecca for area professors and politicians, says he has never pulled a customer's tooth.

Paving a circular path through the mounds of cut hair on the floor surrounding his customer's chair. Papalimberis looks more like a commercial sculptor than a barber or surgeon. But Papalimberis's reasons for cutting hair are more practical than aesthetic.

"Being a barber you spend 15 to 20 minutes on everybody's head, so you get to talk to them and educate yourself," says George.

And George says he gets to educate himself through many types of people, including Harvard students, professors from Harvard. Tufts, and MIT, and Governor Michael S. Dukakis, Papalimberis is the governor's personal barber. "Some women at the statehouse say to him [Dukakis]. 'Who cut your hair?'" says Papalimberis. "I don't know if that's true, but that's what he says."

Papalimberis received his barber's license after coming to the United States from Greece in 1966. He originally owned the Junes' Barber Shop in Central Square, but he moved to his Harvard Square shop six years ago for better business.

The long, narrow--just six feet wide--Custom Shop sports four bright red chairs and a cozy waiting room in the back. It seems like the typical strictly male barber shop at first glance. But among the last six issues of Sports illustrated on a table in the waiting room are a few issues of Cosmopolitan and Vogue.

In fact, quite a few women visit the Custom Shop, says Bill Hattis, an employee at the shop. Hattis has a Henderson license, which is different from a barber's license in that it allows him to cut women's hair. "I do women's hair. I do crew cuts--I do everything," says Bill.

But it wasn't always smooth shaving for Papalimberis and his crew. When he owned his shop in Central Square, a bar was right next door. One night, remembers Papalimberis, a drunk marine came from the bar and demanded George give him a shave. George complied, sat his customer in a chair and promptly threw hot towels over his face. The marine fell asleep and after he woke up. Papalimberis told him that he had been shaved. The drunkard paid George and came back the next day (drunk again) demanding a shave.

"This time I did shave him, but I didn't make him pay. I told him about the night before but he didn't remember. I'm too nice a guy," says Papalimberis.

Because the Custom Shop is so popular the barbers don't get much rest. While Papalimberis says he couldn't count how many heads he cuts or how many beards he shaves in one day, he adds he is usually working the full 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift six days a week.

"If I have a customer, I cut, If I don't. I sit down and read the paper," says George.

One potential rival to the Custom Shop is the Harvard Barber Shop on Linden St.

Established in 1910, the Harvard Shop is owned by Harvard and run by Anthony Christopoulous and Ralph D'Alleva.

Between the two of them, Christopoulous and D'Alleva have 46 years of cutting, shaving and razor experience.

"In 1956 when I got my barber's license I was the youngest barber in Boston. Seventeen years old and a full-fledged barber. I was in the newspapers," says Anthony.

Things have changed around the Harvard Shop since Anthony began. It used to be located on Mass. Ave, but had to move because the lease expired. When D'Alleva first began working in 1964 he said the Harvard managers made sure he was polite to all the customers, and that he stood by his chair--even when he didn't have a customer.

"Years ago I wouldn't be able to go out of the store to get a cup of coffee," says D'Alleva.

During the Harvard strike in 1969 and the clamor of Vietnam demonstrations, the Harvard Shop was severely vandalized. Christopoulous said the police came by one day at about 6 p.m. and told him to close up because 3000 demonstrators were marching down Mass. Ave.

"I remember someone picked up a stone so big that it went through our glass window and almost put a hole in the plywood wall at the back of the store that was 40 feet from the window," says D'Alleva. "The first impression I had was that King Kong came in and broke our window," he adds.

While the two barbers are used to distinguished customers they make no distinctions between patrons. "I take pride in giving a haircut to anyone. Not just a famous person like Kennedy or Galbraith, because everybody is going to be somebody someday," says D'Alleva.

D'Alleva came to the United States in April of 1964 from Italy. He said life in America was very difficult for him at first because he didn't speak any English. One of his first hair cut customers he recalls, refused to let him cut his hair because Ralph could not speak English. "He wanted my words to cut his hair, not my scissors," says Ralph. "Actually, that man still comes here, but not to me, naturally."

D'Alleva says he likes cutting American hair more than Italian hair because Americans are less pretentious and don't worry about the quality of the cut as much.

"Americans want to sit in the chair for 10 minutes and get back to work. Italians are more restful, some of them say. 'I was born tired and I'm going to live to rest.'"