#2 Barbershop Povijest

Dragi prijatelji MR. RAZOR-a,

Iznimno sam Vam zahvalan što ste mi se pridružili na ovome velikom putovanju. Ja ću dati sve od sebe da ispunim Vaša očekivanja i da Vam budem najbolji mogući vodič. Naše današnje odredište će biti neke crtice iz povijesti barberinga. Možda niste voljeli povijest kao predmet u školi, no obećavam Vam da naš današnji let neće biti dosadan ni naporan. Ukoliko želite saznati nešto više o barber poleu, molim Vas, vežite se. Naš avion uskoro polijeće.

Ne namjeravam Vam ispričati cijelu povijest barberinga. Barem ne danas 😉. No, mnogo toga se dogodilo prije nego što se pojavio barber pole. U srednjem vijeku, jedino je barberima bilo dozvoljeno da izvode operacije. U to vrijeme, rad s krvi nije bio u skladu s kršćanskim naukom što je dovelo do važne točke u povijesti barberinga – pojave barbera kirurga. Jako dugi period vremena, barberi kirurzi bili su zubari. Kladim se da niste znali ovu informaciju koja Vam može poslužiti na sljedećem pub kvizu na kojem budete sudjelovali

Druga važna zadaća barbera-kirurga bilo je puštanje krvi. Ta vještina zahtijevala je mnogo timskoga rada: osoblje je čvrsto držalo pacijenta dok bi barber-kirurg našao venu pogodnu za puštanje krvi.

Ako pažljivo pogledate barber pole, ispred moje brijačnice, vidjeti ćete jako puno simbolike. Započeti ću sa samim poleom koji predstavlja osoblje koje pridržava pacijenta za vrijeme operacije. Vjerojatno se pitate što predstavljaju boje. Kao što ste mogli i pretpostaviti, crvena boja je krv. Plava boja predstavlja vene, a bijela zavoje koji su se stavljali kako bi se zaustavilo krvarenje. Dno polea predstavlja vjedro (maštrapan ili maštilo u Dalmaciji) u koji je otjecala krv.

S obzirom da se naše današnje putovanje približava zračnoj luci, vratimo se u sadašnjost i završimo današnju povijesnu lekciju.

“MR. RAZOR, a gdje je barbering danas?”, čujem Vaše glasove.

Najprecizniji odgovor bio bi da je barbering lifestyle: puštati i njegovati bradu ili imati najbolji fade u bradu su samo jedan maleni djelić barberinga. Barbering je umijeće biti džentlmen u dvadeset i prvom stoljeću: smart odijevanje, izvrsna pića, zanimljiv nakit. I na kraju, ali ni u kojem slučaju najmanje važno: manire. Moderni barber i džentlmen su ljudi u čijem društvu želite biti.

Dragi prijatelji, u svojoj sljedećoj objavi pripremam nešto što ne želite propustiti – jedinstvenu priliku da bliže upoznate mene - MR. RAZOR-a, a ja ću s Vama podijeliti neke tajne.

Vaš prijatelj,

MR. RAZOR

Dear MR. RAZOR's friends,

I am so grateful that you joined me on this great journey. I will do my best to fulfill your expectations and be as good a travel guide as I can be. Our destination today will be some bits and pieces from barbering history. You might not have liked History as a school subject, but I can promise you that our flight today will be neither dull nor exhausting. If you want to find out what does barber’s pole mean, please, fasten your seat belts. Our plane is about to take off.

So, I do not intend to tell you whole history of barbering. At least not this time 😉 However, a few things had happened long before the barber’s pole appeared.

During the Middle Ages, barbers were only allowed to perform surgeries. Working with blood at that time was thought to be contrary to Christian doctrine, and this led to an important milestone in barbering history – the occurrence of barber surgeons. Barber surgeons were dentists for a long period of time. I bet that you have not known this fun-fact up to know which might be handy at your local pub quiz.

Another important role of barber surgeons was bloodletting. It was a skill that required lots of teamwork: the patient had been held tightly by the staff while the barber-surgeon found the appropriate vein to perform the bloodletting. If you look carefully at the barber’s pole outside my shop, it has a lot of symbolism. To begin with, the pole represents the staff holding the patient during the operation. You may wonder what three colors mean. As you might have hypothesized, red stands for blood. Blue represents the veins, and white is for the bandages that were put on to stop the bleeding. The bottom end of the pole is the basin used to catch the blood.

As our today’s journey comes close to the airport, let’s come back to the present and finish our history lesson.

“MR. RAZOR, where is barbering today?” I can hear your voices. The most precise answer would be that barbering is a lifestyle – it is not only about growing the beard or having the best fade in the town. Barbering is the art of being a 21st century gentleman: smart clothes, fine drinks, and interesting jewelry. And last, but certainly not least: the manners. Modern barber and gentleman are a company you want to join and hang out with.

My dear friends, in my next post, I have something that you do not want to miss. You will get a chance to meet MR. RAZOR himself more closely and I will share some barbering secrets with you.

Best wishes,

MR. RAZOR