Yet another vanishing symbol…
by Jack Grant
…this one courtesy of Ann Althouse.
Barber poles…
Barber shops, as in men-only, not “hair stylists”.
Memories of drug stores with real snack bars…
…and unfortunately, other, more unpleasant legacies of my childhood in the South, such as the “Whites Only” signs…
…legacies and heritage, some pleasant, some repulsive, some fondly remembered, some forgotten in a shame that is not recognized nor acknowledged.
All vanishing.
Time marches on, as it always has, and nostalgia triumphs over the shame, and the dark legacies forgotten in the comfortable, sentimental, and yet somehow lonely tinting of our past.
The South, where the air can be as thick as molasses even today, and the dust can hang as a shroud over events both commonplace and tragic.
A region where the word “gothic” has true meaning in the New World (see definition 5 of the adjective or definition 4 of the noun), despite the weight of age that the word carries.
Perhaps some things will never change.
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Perhaps it will interest you to know that the last remaining barber pole manufacturing company, William Marvy & Co., is alive and kicking on St. Clair Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. :)
By Scott Ferguson on 07.23.05 22:14
I miss beautifully built classical and neo-classical architecture that lasts centuries. I miss cherry-vanilla-cokes from the drug store (although I can get that at Sonic, it’s not quite the same, they don’t even roller skate to your car anymore). I miss being naive……..really naive. Sometimes, rarely, I even envy people who are oblivious to the world around them.
The barberpole……an odd Americanism like the Indian Cigar Chief or the Black Horse Butler. The barber pole reflected blood and surgery more so than a haircut and a shave - you were more likely to get your gullet split open! Cigar Chief related to tobacco and ofcourse the neglected story of genocide perpetrated by this nation. The Black Horse Butler - some people still actually put NEW Black Horse Butlers in their front yards. I’m always astounded and never quite know what to say, other than my respect for that person just died. I do ask them if they know what the statue is and means and if they understand the symbology of what this little statue in their front yards tells other people about them and their values.
By Sinequanon on 07.23.05 22:43