Getting a shave in a barbershop was already something of a novelty 25 years ago when a group of adventurous and fun-loving young reporters would go to the barbershop at the Drake Hotel and get shaves.
We did this about once a month for about a year but on every visit we would find one of the other chairs occupied by Judge Julius Hoffman of Chicago 7 trial infamy.
We were told in a whisper that he was a daily shave customer and he had what appeared to us to be a most difficult face for the straight razor, all jowly and frozen in what seemed like a perpetual frown.
There are still a few places in the area where you can pay a person to shave your face. The act is viewed by most as an exotic, indulgent experience, perhaps something you would buy as a gift for that proverbial “man in your life.”
“But they are a great experience,” says Peter Vodovaz.
Vodovaz shaves people, perhaps 10 a month (not including himself, doing the deed in Osgood’s photo).
He learned this “craft” in his native Russia, from which he emigrated in 1990. He arrived in Chicago with $1 in his pocket, but thanks to some cousins who put him up and fed him, he was able to go to Truman College and learned to speak English, which led to a job cutting hair and giving shaves at the Drake Hotel barbershop.
In 2000 he opened his own shop (again see Osgood’s pic). It is not easy to find, tucked on the sixth floor of 67 E. Oak St. But it’s a great place, often filled with lively conversation. I had a nice talk one afternoon about hockey, high finance and politics with a gent who drives in for haircuts from DeKalb.
It is certifiably barbershop rather than salon, a fact punctuated by its name, Mr. Barber, which is as marvelously straightforward as its slogan/claim: “We make you handsome.”
Through word of mouth, Vodovaz has built a long list of loyal clients, including some big names from the worlds of sports, business and politics. Among the biggest is that of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“He’s a super guy,” says Vodovaz. “Yes, he has a lot of hair, but cutting it is easy and a lot of fun.”
Vodovaz lives in the northern suburbs with his wife, Stella, and their daughter, Emily. His shop is open seven days a week. Asked what he and the governor talk about, Vodovaz says, “Many things, but I am always telling him, `God bless America’.”
