The end of an era unfolded quietly in downtown Arlington Heights on Friday, as longtime barber Kenny Callahan gave his last haircut before shuttering First Arlington Barber Shop, which has been serving customers since 1928.
“I’ve had men in here crying after they heard we were closing this week because they say this barbershop was the only place left in town to remind them of their childhood,” said Callahan, who recently lost the lease on the old-fashioned barbershop at 11 E. Campbell St.
The landlord of the property has said it is slated for re-development.
As he prepared to close shop Friday, Callahan said he will be opening a “mini barbershop” on Tuesday down the road within the Hair Jazzers salon at the Westgate Park & Shop, 1541 W Campbell St.
“Everyone is excited that I’ll be working at another location in town, but we’re all so sad to leave behind so many memories of all those generations of fathers and sons, and grandfathers coming in to the shop together for haircuts,” he said.
Callahan said village officials, including Michael Mertes, business development coordinator for Arlington Heights, and one of his customers, offered him assistance in finding a new venue in town when they learned the barber’s lease was not being renewed.
Still, as Callahan rang up his last customer at the clunky, 1970s-era National Cash Register machine, the nearly empty storefront was notably bereft of the eclectic memorabilia and charm that loyal customers had come to love over the barbershop’s nearly nine decades in business.
If only the old barbershop walls could talk, they likely would tell tales of its golden years, when barber and local police magistrate William F. Neumann opened the business in 1928.
The barbershop’s back room at the time served as a mini-courthouse every Wednesday, with residents stopping by to discuss their legal infractions with the same man who provided them with a shave and a haircut.
From the slicked-back, center-parted men’s hairstyles of the 1920s to the infamous 1980s-era mullets, the family-owned barbershop continued on even as national chain salons sprouted up across the village.
Earlier this week, a woman dropped by the barbershop to show Callahan a clutch of 1960s-era pictures of a little boy’s first haircut at the shop.
Callahan’s final customer, Allen Wilson, 78, said he was sad to hear the vintage barbershop was closing. But he said he still plans to visit his longtime barber when he moves over to the new salon.
“Downtown Arlington Heights has changed a lot, but they do need to go after all of the young people who have moved to town because they’re down here, spending money and enjoying all of the new restaurants and the Metropolis (Performing Arts Centre),” Wilson said. “As a business owner, you’ve got to do what you gotta do, and when change occurs, you just have to roll with the punches.”
kcullotta@tribpub.com
Twitter @kcullotta
