Andrew's Barbershop

Ashley: Violee, Where and when were you born?

Violee: I was born here in Rocky Gap, VA, up Dry Fork. I was born 1915, April, 1915.

Violee: I was raised here in Bland County, Rocky Gap, VA.

Ashley: How did teenagers court when you were young?

Violee: Oh my! We walked and our friends would come see us at our house. Sometimes we would just walk up and down the road or go to one of my friends houses.

Ashley: How did you meet your husband?

Violee: I grew up with him. He lived here too in Virginia. He came from West Virginia and they lived here.

Ashley: Where were you married?

Violee: I was married in Bland, VA. The reverend Raymond L. Boothe, I never will forget that name. I sometimes wonder if he's still living.

Ashley: What was the ceremony like?

Violee: It was very plain. I don't remember nothing only you may salute the bride. That's all I remember.

Ashley: What is your husband's name?

Violee: Andrew Ferguson.

Ashley: What was Rocky Gap like when you were growing up? Were there any businesses around that you can remember?

Violee: Yes, Mr. Honaker's store was a big business to me I thought. Mr. Conley's store across the bridge at the old bank building. They used to have, where the school is, along there was just a few houses. It was quite interesting I thought.

Ashley: Where was Andrew's barbershop in Rocky Gap?

Violee: In the beginning his barbershop was at the old bank building near the Conley Store.

Ashley: Can you describe the outside and the inside of the shop?

Violee: It was in real good shape. It was like a barbershop. The outside was brick and then later he moved beside of the Honaker store in a little ole building there. On the inside it was painted white.

Ashley: Did he have a barbers pole?

Violee: Yes, he had a barbers pole.

Ashley: How many chairs and barbers were there?

Violee: He had two chairs and then times he had two barbers. Maybe sometimes he had three. He had a barber from Bluefield and he had a barber from down Wolf Creek near Narrows. I can't think of his name and I really can't think of the name of the barber in Bluefield. He also had Roy Ferguson, his nephew and he had two chairs.

Ashley: What kind of hours did the shop keep?

Violee: He didn't have no certain time. If his customers wanted him to wait for them because they were going to be late he would wait and he always opened up by nine o'clock every morning but he didn't have a certain time to leave.

Ashley: What kind of haircuts did people get back then?

Violee: They got these close haircuts. Sometime I think Andrew would give you call a mohawk. I think one or two of his little customers said they weren't coming back anymore after that. He would cut the hair and it looked like he would try to get every hair in place. I told him he didn't have to do all that because it looked good like you had it. He was real particular about his haircuts.

Ashley: Did Andrew also give shaves?

Violee: Yes, he gave shaves and used straight razor and then later on he used a safety razor. He always kept a straight razor near him and he had his razor sharpener that he always sharpened his own razors.

Ashley: What did the barbershop smell like?

Violee: It smelled like a real barbershop. He always kept his hair tonics and shaving creams around and shaving lotion.

Ashley: Were there any other barbers besides Andrew?

Violee: Yes, there was another barber before Andrew went there. I'm thinking it was Glenn Hare.

Ashley: Can you describe Andrew and his personality? Was he a talkative person?

Violee: Yes, he was very talkative. I think he would set up at home and think of jokes and things to tell his customers when he would go to work. He like talking and meeting people.

Ashley: Did he tell good stories?

Violee: Yes, at times they were good!

Ashley: Did people hang out at the shop?

Violee: He had several that liked to come to the shop and set down and talk. Johnny Bogle, he liked him. Just quite a few of them. They would talk about trading and going hunting.

Ashley: Was the barbershop a kind of social center of Rocky Gap?

Violee: I thought so.

Ashley: Was there alot of gossip?

Violee: Well yes sometimes.

Ashley: Were politics discussed?

Violee: Very much so.

Ashley: Do you think the town of Rocky Gap lost something when Andrew closed the barbershop?

Violee: I think they lost alot.

Ashley: Did people traveling through ever stop at Andrew's barbershop?

Violee: Yes, once in a while they would stop.

Ashley: Was there ever a barbershop before Ferguson's?

Violee: As I said over there at the bank building Glenn Hare. I take that back, he was there or over in the little building where Howard Stowers is now. I know he was there somewhere before Andrew.

Ashley: What about after Andrew retired?

Violee: I don't think anybody was there. There was someone up here at Mr. Carol's store.

Ashley: Did black people get their hair cut at Ferguson's barbershop or was it segregated?

Violee: It was segregated in the beginning so Andrew didn't cut any blacks hair. After it became a law to cut hair so he cut black hair, but you know before he didn't cut black. After the law changed he abided by the law.

Violee: Yes, hid hair tonic and stuff like that. Sometimes he would get his customers some and he would always go to Roanoke and buy his materials and things.

Ashley: Did Andrew trade alot with different people?

Violee: Yes, that was his hobby. He would trade anything off, it didn't matter to him. He would go the next day and probably needed what he traded so he would go the next day and try to buy it back. He was a trader.

Ashley: Did Andrew ever do anything else in the community besides cut hair?

Violee: He served as Justice of the Peace for one year. He was active in his church.

Would you care to return to the top of the page?

Ashley Akers interviews her father,Junior Akers, and Grandfather, Charles Akers.

Ashley: Do you remember what the barbershop smelled like?

Junior: Smelt good! Some days it smelled like moonshine and others it smelled like hair tonic. Plus that ole oil stove, it killed the scent.

Ashley: Were there any other barbers besides Andrew Ferguson?

Charles: Yes later on there was.

Ashley: Can you describe Andrew? What was his personality like ws he talkative?

Charles: He was extry talkative, he done plenty of talking.

Junior: Never did stop talking.

Ashley: Did he tell good stories?

Junior: Some of the best in Rocky Gap.

Ashley: Do you remember any of them?

Junior: He told some good ones.

Charles: Well he told about selling a man tree dog and the man brought it back and told him that he wouldn't tree a coon and he told the man he made sure he could tree a coon because he couldn't tree nothing else.

Ashley: Did people hang out at the shop? Like any notable Rocky Gap personalities?

Junior: Johnny Bogle hung out there alot. Dick Rooker hung out there a little bit.

Ashley: Do you remember any funny stories, can you describe any of them? Any of the people that hung out there?

Junior: Ah Johnny Bogle he used to carry on a little bit he used to run Andrew around the barber chair. Andrew would have to holler and tell him he was going to have a heart attack before Johnny would quit running him around the barber chair. He would see Mr. Newberry come by and Mr. Newberry always blew his siren at Johnny and Johnny didn't like that siren. Everytime he would hear that siren he would go plum off. He would go to cursing and calling him every kind of name you could think of and then when Mr. Newberry would walk in the barbershop Johnny would be the first man to shake his hand. Hello Mr. Newberry how are you today? Mr. Newberry would take him out and by him a bottle of peo and they were best of friends as long as he was with him, but when he went down the road blowing that siren he was a different man.

Ashley: Was the barbershop a kind of social center of Rocky Gap?

Junior: Very social.

Ashley: Was there alot of gossip and politics discussed?

Junior: Heavy politics.

Ashley: Do you think the town of Rocky Gap lost something when Andrew closed the barbershop?

Charles: Yes they did.

Junior: They lost the heart of Rocky Gap.

Ashley: Did people traveling through ever stop?

Junior: Yeah every once in a while.

Ashley: Was there ever a barbershop before Ferguson's?

Charles: Glenn Hare.

Ashley: Do you remember where it was?

Charles: Right in the same spot..

Ashley: What about after Andrew retired?

Charles: Ray Williams had one up here in his shop after he retired.

Junior: There was also one at Palmer Carrol's but I don't know who run it do you?

Charles: Didn't Ray, Ray Williams, run it for a while then moved on up here.

Junior: Then he moves up to Sutphins and opened up one in that little building there at the end of the store. Andrew also cut hair up Sutphins. He moved up there at the last before he retired.

Ashley: Did black people get their hair cut at Ferguson's or was it segregated?

Junior: No everybody got their hair cut at Ferguson's. Women too if they wanted their hair cut.

Ashley: How was the barbershop heated in the winter?

Junior: He had an ole oil stove sitting in the back and I believe he had a little tin heater. Most of the time there wasn't any heat, it got pretty cold in there.

Ashley: How did he keep the shop cool in the summer?

Junior: He had no trouble keeping it cool in the summer he just opened all the doors.

Ashley: Did traveling salesmen ever stop there?

Charles: Yeah traveling salesmen stopped there, Yeah.

Ashley: Did Andrew sell anything in the store?

Charles: Yeah he sold hair tonic and stuff like that.

Junior: Traded shot guns all the time. Traded coon dogs.

Ashley: Did you ever trade with Andrew?

Junior: Sure did.

Ashley: Do you remember what you traded?

Junior: Traded him a Black & Decker skill saw for a radio.

Ashley: Charles, did you trade with Andrew?

Charles: Yea, I've traded with Andrew. Traded guns with him.

Ashley: How did you first meet Andrew? Do you remember the first time you met him?

Junior: When I went to get a hair cut.

Ashley: In the midst of all Andrew's trading and gossiping how long did it take to get a haircut at his barbershop?

Junior: Well it took anywhere sometimes from thirty minutes to two hours. Andrew might start cutting your hair and he might cut on it for about three minutes and then somebody come in talking trade he'd talk trade and then he would cut them back on and make another swap or two. Then he'd cut them off and trade a little bit more, just depended on who wanted to trade. He never did get in any hurry. Sometimes you could go in there when he wasn't trading you might get a haircut in thirty minutes but if he was a trading it might take two hours, but you always got a good haircut. Come out looking good.

Ashley: Did Andrew have any animals in the store?

Junior: Well if somebody ordered a special dog or something he'd bring one down and tie him up back of the shop there, and if a man wanted a coon dog, he had a coon dog, and if he wanted a rabbit beagle same dog would be a rabbit beagle. Just whatever the man wanted that's what that dog was.

Ashley: Did Andrew do anything else in the community other than cut hair?

Junior: Yeah, Andrew was also the Justice of the Peace here in Rocky Gap for I'd say a couple of years. Done real good job.

Would you care to return to the top of the page?

Ashley: This is Ashley Akers interviewing Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Stowers.

Ashley: How long have you been living in Rocky Gap?

Raymond: We've been living here in Rocky Gap since August of 1944 and I've been here ever since 1924 and that's way before your time.

Ashley: How did you first come to know Andrew?

Raymond: Well Andrew Ferguson I guess come in here and I was Registrar back there years ago for about twenty-nine years and I guess the first time I knew him ws when he came to register. I registered him on September 26, 1946.

Ashley: Where was the barbershop in Rocky Gap?

Raymond: He cut in all three of them. There was three barbershops here in Rocky Gap. There was one down here where he cut most of the time was down here where Howard Stower's store is. There used to be a big grocery store and the post office and things were down there where that little white building is below Howard's Store and it was in there. His building set up here a little piece about where Howard's Store is.

Ashley: Can you describe the outside and inside of the building?

Raymond: It was a building about maybe a 12 x 14 or something like that and the outside of it was sorty a buff colored like these buff brick, but it was just siding you know. I think it was red at one time and had red roofing around the side of it. Inside he must of had this ply board and was sorty painted. He had alittle space behind there where he had one of these hot water heaters. He had to have hot water all the time for where he shaved people. It was a nice little building.

Ashley: Did Andrew have a barber's pole?

Raymond: He had a wooden one. It wasn't one of them that would turn though. It was red and white and was on the outside of the building.

Ashley: How many chairs and barbers were there?

Raymond: Just one barber chair and about three or four other chairs and Mrs. Ferguson had a rocking chair in there. Doris, when she was little, used to always want to go to the barbershop with me to get my haircut. She come several times and mother asked her, "Why do you want to go to the barbershop for" and she said the lady takes me and rocks me in the rocking chair. She said she sings.

Ashley: What kind of hours did the shop keep?

Raymond: He mostly come in up in the morning maybe ten or eleven o'clock and most of the business was during the middle of the day and then on up in to the night. He stayed there and maybe when the business got slack why he could go home maybe five o'clock, ten o'clock, or eleven o'clock. He really didn't have any set hour but he was regular to be there.

Ashley: What kind of haircuts did people get back then?

Raymond: See mine that's about like it is. Them old timey ones. You never did back that day and time they always had your hair trimmed pretty close and a little hair on top. They sure weren't like some of them do today.

Mrs. Stowers: There was no much thing then as styling for the men, but a haircut period. Now they get their hair styled and some of it is quiet attractive.

Ashley: Did Andrew give shaves?

Raymond: Yeah, I think the last when he was about to quit. up Sutphins. there used to be a barbershop up there, and he would charge $.75 for a shave and maybe $1.00 or $1.25 for a haircut. Now it's about $6.00 or $7.00 and by the time you tip them it's about $8.00.

Mrs. Stowers: I think back in the old days Andrew didn't get any tips.

Ashley: Were there any other barbers besides Andrew?

Raymond: Glenn Hare, you don't remember him but your grandfather does. Glenn Hare was the barber down here in this same building in the same location. Maybe up there at Palmer's. He was a graduated barber. He even went to barber school. Ray Williams barbered later.

Ashley: Was Andrew a talkative person?

Raymond: Well Andrew was a sorta serious person, but when you got to talking to him he was one of the nicest, joliest fellows you ever talked to.

Ashley: Did he tell good stories?

Raymond: He could tell plenty of them and you get him startyed you couldn't hardly get him to stop. They weren't the kind you would want on tape.

Ashley: Do you remember any of the people that used to hang out at Andrew's barbershop?

Raymond: John Bogle Honaker and of course now when Bobby Newberry would come along and blow his whistle it would just tear John all to pieces. He said there goes that Newberry and shook his arms and had a fit.

Mrs. Stowers: At the time there was no Rescue Squad in the county and Bobby Newberry run an ambulance service for the county.

Raymond: The sheriff of the county would always stop in and the local people such as the officials of the county would stop.

Ashley: Was the barbershop a kind of social center of Rocky Gap?

Raymond: Yes it was.

Ashley: Do you think the town of Rocky Gap lost something when Andrew closed the barbershop?

Raymond: Oh yes, Yes they did.

Mrs. Stowers: They lost an interesting personality as well as a place to socialize and get there hair cut.

Raymond: He knew about everything that was going on in the county and if he knew anything about anybody he would tell you.

Ashley: Did people traveling through ever stop at the shop?

Raymond: Yes, quiet a few travelers did. See that was a main road before they had the interstate through here.

Ashley: Was there ever a barbershop before Ferguson's?

Raymond: Oh yes, there was other barbers before Ferguson. Glenn Hare was at the same place. I believe his barbershop was some place else before it was moved up there. It was this side of where the bank building is now and Andrew barbered over there for a long time.

Ashley: Was there ever anyone after Andrew retired? Raymond: Andrew retired up there from that other place and I think Ray Williams maybe barbered after he did, but I'm not for sure.

Ashley: Did black people get their hair cut at Ferguson's too or was it segregated?

Raymond: Black people did too, but not as many as the white. He would cut black people's hair too.

Ashley: How was the barbershop heated in the winter?

Raymond: It was heated by a little wood stove and up there at Sutphins I think he had electric heat. He had a little electric heater you know and maybe a baseboard.

Ashley: How did he cool the barbershop in the summer?

Raymond: Raising the window and opening the doors. You didn't have airconditioning like that then.

Ashley: Did traveling salesmen ever stop by?

Raymond: Yes, very much so. Alot of them stopped to get their hair cut too.

Ashley: Did Andrew sale anything in his store?

Raymond: Well just mostly hair tonics and stuff like that. He sold combs and little stuff.