End of an era for long-time barbers

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)--It's the end of an era for a couple of longtime barbers in Fort Wayne.  Between Don Conrad and Dick Michael, there’s more than 100 years of experience cutting hair.  But Friday, they laid down their clippers for good.

It's become a rare piece of Americana many would say you're lucky to find.  Inside Don Conrad’s Barber Shop, customers sit around and shoot the breeze all for a haircut and conversation with a man named Don or Dick.

“You meet an awful lot of nice people and you can pick their brains…if I could only remember it,” Conrad said.

Between the two of them, Conrad, 79, and Michael, 82, have been cutting hair for a combined 113 years in Fort Wayne.  It’s a career both of them weren't expecting.

Conrad said he needed a job when he was younger and once saw a barber with a lot of money.

“I thought, ‘Boy if he can make that kind of money.’  But I was fooled because it was all one dollar bills,” Conrad said.  “Maybe at one time I thought about getting out when the long hair was really bad.  I thought about getting out then…I was pretty broke.  When you have a wife and three kids it's hard to make a living sometimes.  But now I'm glad I stuck with it.”

Michael took up cutting hair after a couple of other odd jobs.

“I was working on the railroad and it started going automated.  So I drove a truck for a while and I wanted to get into something that wasn't going to get automated,” Michael said.  “My dad was a barber.  He said you'd never make a whole lot of money working with your hands, but he said you'll always have a paycheck and you'll never get laid off.  And it worked.”

Conrad has been in the modest building on Decatur Road since 1963.  He’s been cutting hair for a total of 56 years.  Michael didn't join Conrad until 2000 when he transferred from another shop on South Anthony.  Michael has been cutting hair for a total of 57 years.

But like all streaks, this one has come to an end.  Friday, the duo turned off their clippers for good.  The decision came when the two couldn’t decide when to close for Labor Day.

“He said to make up a sign and I said ok,” Michael said.  “He got over to the door and said to just make it up forever.  And I said that works for me.”

Conrad and Michael’s clientele has drastically changed as of late.

“A lot of my customers have passed away over the years and I've had them from 1959 on,” Conrad said.  “It's changed so much it's just hard to believe.”

On their last day, regulars came flooding through the doors for one more haircut.  Many have been around since the beginning and have a deep history with the barbers. 

“They're saying, 'What am I going to do now?'” Conrad said.  “I tell them, you're going to do the same thing I am.  You're going to look for a barber.”

As the customers said goodbye one last time, it was an unforgettable moment.  But the old-time barbers have also been impacting each other.

“All in all, he and I have been pretty good friends,” said Conrad, referring to Michael.  “We've played golf together and when you're this close together, it's almost like being married to him.”  Michael subsequently groaned.

The two plan to stay in Fort Wayne, maybe play some golf, and for Michael, maybe do some woodworking.

They've gained not just customers over the years, but friends.  Once people walk through the doors they’re important, and once they sit in the chair, they’re a friend through the eyes of the barbers.

“I won't miss cutting the hair.  I'll miss talking to the people.  It's been a great, great, great career,” Conrad said.  “You can't imagine.  I've had millionaires sit in this chair and I've had people sitting in this chair that didn't have a nickel.  [I] just give them a haircut.”