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A Barber’s Job
Did you know that once upon a time, the work of the barber was similar to that of a surgeon? And that they both belonged to one organisation, with their work intertwined? Sounds incredible, doesn’t it?
The barber’s trade is an extremely ancient one. It happened that a long time ago in England, as far back as the fifteenth century, the barbers were registered as a guild. Some time later, their guild was merged with the guild of surgeons.
You may ask, why? Well, you see, in ancient times, doctors didn’t want anything to do with surgery. Astounding, to say the least! So, it was the barbers who performed surgery on patients. They treated the wounds, and some of them even extracted teeth!
In fact, the red and white stripes that one commonly sees abroad on a barber’s pole are indicative of the work they carried out in those olden days. The red stands for blood, and the white for bandages. The origin of the barber’s pole is associated with his work of blood-letting (an ancient medical practice involving the withdrawal of blood from a patient in the hope that this would cure the disease. Leeches too would be used in this process).
The original pole had a brass basin at its top representing the vessel in which leeches were kept and also that which received the blood. The pole represented the staff which the patient held onto during the operation.
In the sixteenth century, however, the king of England forbade the barbers who cut hair to practice surgery. The masses heaved a sigh of relief, and in the next two hundred years, the work of the barber was separated more and more from that of the surgeon. And, in time, thankfully, all that the barbers were allowed to do was give haircuts.
The word ‘barber’ comes from the Latin word ‘barba’ which means ‘beard’, referring to their job of trimming beards.
Today, barbers not only cut hair, but also colour, perm, straighten, streak, gel and mousse hair into various styles according to the latest trends.
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