Octogenarian barber has pretty much seen it all
Hill Bode has given countless haircuts, in all styles, since he started in the profession in the 1940s. Photo By C.T. Kruger
From crew cuts in the 1950s, to the shaggy styles of the 1960s and '70s, Hill Bode has watched America change one haircut at a time.
The 80-year-old barber has been cutting hair since his father dropped him off at Wisconsin Barber College in Milwaukee in the early 1940s.
So, what does he still like about it?
"Public relations, I guess, and self-satisfaction. It also gives me sort of an enjoyment satisfying people, making them good looking. I'm a pretty proud man," Bode said as he cleaned a customer's sideburns with an electric clipper.
Today, Bode rents a chair from Sandie Gumieny, owner of Splendide Salon, 17280 North Ave. in Brookfield. Surrounded by beauticians and stylists, Bode fields calls from customers on his cell phone and scribbles appointments into a book between clips.
He has seen a lot of clients throughout the decades, including during World War II when he served four years in the U.S. Navy. He lowered quite a few ears in the latrines of ships circling the South Pacific.
"A guy got through and gave me 50 cents, so that's just how the price was established. After all the years in the South Pacific, I came away with $700 because there was nowhere to spend it," Bode recalled.
When he returned to San Francisco, he was a real "Fat Freddy" with that kind of spending cash, he said.
Hill opened a barber shop on Lloyd Avenue in Milwaukee after when he returned to Wisconsin. He would run the shop for more than 40 years, putting three kids through college with the money he made there.
"The beginning of my career was all short clips and high tapers, stuff like that," Bode said. "I mean, dollars were scarce, so parents wanted kids to have a good cut that was going to last longer."
Then came the '60s - and Beatlemania.
"The young people went to real long hair. That was kind of a disastrous period for barbers doing young people. They didn't need haircuts as often, and technically, we had to be more beauticians at that period of time than barbers," Bode said.
But the better-groomed looks slowly came back into style and barbers like Bode were back in business.
When asked how many haircuts he has given, Bode shakes his head and says: "I haven't a clue."
JUST THE FACTS
BUSINESS: Hill Bode, barber
ADDRESS: Splendide Salon, 17280 W. North Ave., Suite 1006, Brookfield
PHONE: (262) 227-7970
HILL'S WORST HAIRCUT: "A guy wanted me to clip it down to a strip across the neck - ala Indian style - and then shorten the top."
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