History of Barber's

The barber's trade is an extremely ancient one. Razors have been found among relics of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 B.C.) and barbering is mentioned in the Bible by Ezekiel who said "And Thou, son of man, take thee a barber's razor and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thine beard."
Shaving, either of the head or face, was not always a voluntary act, for it has been enforced by law in England and elsewhere. Cleanliness and vanity were therefore not the sole reasons for a 'clean shave', the origins lie deeper.
Barbering was introduced to Rome in 296 B.C. and barber shops quickly became very popular centres for daily news and gossip. All free men of Rome then had to be clean-shaven while slaves were forced to wear beards. It is from the Roman (Latin) word 'barba', meaning beard, that the word 'barber' is derived - and hence 'barbarians' as the name used during that period to describe tribes who were bearded.
When Caesar landed in Britain in 54 B.C. he found that the Britons wore no facial hair at all, except on the upper lip. Similarly, at the time of the Norman Conquest, Harold and his men also had their chins 'reaped' as the Saxons termed it; an expression no longer in use except by the harvester. At a later period full beards came into fashion.
The barbers of former times were also surgeons and dentists. Most early physicians disdained surgery, and therefore, as well as haircutting, hairdressing and shaving, barbers performed surgery of wounds, blood-letting, cupping and leeching, enemas, and the extraction of teeth. Thus they were called 'Barber Surgeons' and they formed their first organisation in 1094.
Barbers were chartered as a guild by Edward IV in 1462 as 'The Company of Barbers'. The surgeons formed a guild 30 years later and the two companies were subsequently united by a statute of Henry VIII in 1540 under the name of 'The United Barber Surgeons Company'. During the reign of Henry VIII the authorities of Lincolns Inn prohibited wearers of beards from sitting unless they paid certain penalties. Queen Bess went one better: in her reign a law was passed that the wearer of a beard of more than two weeks' growth should be taxed according to his station in life - a man in a lowly position was taxed to the extent of 3s. 4d. per annum for growing whiskers!
So taken was Peter the Great with this enactment that he introduced the law into Russia. In Ireland it was enacted that, in order to be recognised as an Englishman, a man must have all the hair above his mouth shaven. And this law actually remained in force for two hundred years!
In 1745 surgeons were separated from barbers by acts passed during the reign of George II. The surgeons with the title of 'Masters, Governors and Commonalty of the Surgeons of London'. This body was later dissolved and replaced by the Royal College of Surgeons in 1800 during the reign of George III.
The origin of the barber's pole is associated with his service of blood-letting. 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, with the red and white stripes portraying the bandages - red for blood stained and white for the clean ones. Being hung out to dry on the pole after washing, they would often blow and twist together forming a spiral pattern which lead to the subsequently painted barber's pole of red and white stripes.
As previously indicated, the origin of shaving the head or face was not always a voluntary act. Both law and superstition played their part in various countries. At one time, in England, cutting of the hair or nails on Sundays was considered to be extremely ill-advised, as is borne out by one old saying which held that:
"It was better you were never born, than on the Sabbath pare hair or horn"

History of the Barber pole
The barber's trade is an ancient one. Razors have been found among relics of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 B.C). Barbering is mentioned in the bible by Ezekiel who said "And Thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thine beard."
Barbering was introduced in Rome in 296 B.C. and barbers quickly became both popular and properous. Their shops were centres for dailynews and gossip. All free men of Rome were clean-shaven, while slaves were forced to wear beards. It is from the Roman (Latin) word barba, meaning beard, that the word "barber" is derived.
About 334 B.C. Alexander the Great made his soldiers shave regulary for the purpose of gaining an advantage in hand-to-hand combat so that his warriors were able to grasp an enemy by the beard, while themselves were safeguarded in this method of fighting. The barbers of early days were also the surgeons and dentists. Most early physicians disdained surgery and the barbers did surgey of wounds, blood-letting, cupping and leeching, enemas and extracting teeth. Since the barbers were involved not only with haircutting, hairdressing and shaving but also with surgery, they were called barber-surgeons. They formed their first organization in France in 1094.
In an effort to distinguish between academic surgeons and barber-surgeons, the College de Saint Come, founded in Paris about 1210, identified the former as surgeons of the long robe and the latter as surgeons of the short robe. French barbers and surgeons were organized as a guild in 1391, and barber-surgeons were admitted to the faculty of the University of Paris in 1505. Ambroise Pare (1510-1590), the father of modern surgery and the greatest surgeon of the Renaissance, began his career as an itinerant barber-surgeon. His brother was a barber-surgeon and his sister married a barber-surgeon. In England the barbers were chartered as a guild by Edward IV in 1462 as the Company of Barbers.
The surgeons formed a guild 30 years later and the two companies were united by the statute of Henry VIII in 1540 under the name of the United Barber Surgeon's Company. In actual pratice, however, barbers who cut hair and gave shaves were forbidden to practice surgery except for bloodletting and pulling teeth and surgeons were prohibited from "the barbery of shaving." In France a decree by Louis XV in 1743 prohibited barbers from practicing surgery from the barbers by acts passed during the reign of George II. The surgeons with the title of "Masters, Governors and Commonalty of the Honourable Society of the Surgeons of London." This body was subsequently dissolved and later replaced by the Royal College of Surgeons in 1800 during the reign of George III.
The origin of the barber's pole appears to be associated with his service of bloodletting. The original pole has a brass basin at its top representing the vessel in which leeches were kept and also represented the basin which received the blood. The pole itself represented the staff which the patient held onto during the operation. The red and white stripes represented the bandages used during the procedure, red for the bandages stained with blood during the operation and white for the clean bandages. The bandages would be hung out to dry after washing on the pole and would blow and twist together forming the spiral pattern similar to the modern day barber pole.
The bloodstained bandages became recognized as the emblem of the barber-surgeon's profession. Later in time, the emblem was replaced by a wooden pole of white and red stripes. These colours are recognized as the true colours of the barber emblem. Red, white and blue are widely used in America due partly to the fact that the national flag has these colours. Another interpretation of these barber pole colours is that red represents arterial blood, blue is symbolic of venous blood and white depicts the bandage. After formation of the United Barber Surgeons Company in England, a statue required barbers to use a blue and white pole and surgeons to use a red pole. In France the surgeons of the long robe placed a red pole with a basin attached to identify their offices. The barber pole - a historical link with surgery.