Blood, Veins, and Towels
In the movie Rounders, just before Mike and Worm are about to get beaten to a pulp by a covey of angry municipal workers, Worm suggests to Mike that he knows “just what he needs.” Mike had been on a 36-hour poker run, and Worm’s anecdote for lethargy was a straight razor shave at a barbershop in Manhattan. As the long thin blades are peeling away the shaving cream, Mike says, “I feel like I’m about to get whacked.” That was my first thought when I asked for a straight razor shave at Old 64 Barber Shop in Sumiton, Alabama.Eric Nix, owner of Old 64 and barber extraordinaire, assured me that I’d leave with my jugular intact, so I trusted him enough not to do butchery on my throat. In all honesty, my previous experiences with barbers weren’t pleasant—“a little off the top” or “just a trim” produced finished products that resembled buzzed heads in an Army barracks, for there was enough hair on the floor to build Telly Savalas a toupee.Barbers, to me, were wormy, skeptical men who were disaffected and unfeeling. Bespectacled slayers of hair. Buzz, buzz, buzz, snippy-snip-snip, tender me 8 bucks, and NEEEEXT! And thus I began to prefer the more fragrant venues of stylists, where I could be pampered and where nails could rake across my scalp, massaging in the milky, sweet-smelling shampoo into my wet mane.Nix understands this dynamic, and why traditional barbershops are a dying breed. “Barbers learned in a time when there were three hairstyles: the crew cut, the flat top, and the business cut. They could fly through them,” he says. At Old 64, Nix insists that they cut nearly every style, including the now-popular “disconnect” hair cut that is taking America by air, land, and sea.
The purpose of Old 64 extends farther than simply trimming heads. Nix wants to bring back the era of personal grooming and style that was epitomized by men such as Gary Cooper and Douglas Fairbanks, who were lauded for their panache in smoky, black-and-white advertisements. At Old 64, you’ll discover a litany of scented products for the face and head: Suavecito Pomade, Clubman Special Pinaud Reserve aftershave, Virgin Island Bay Rum, Murray’s Wax.“I’m getting country boys to use pomade,” says Nix. “And I want to get people back to classic shaving.”Old 64, Nix insists, is also a celebration of Walker County history and heritage. In addition to old timey photographs, a fiddle and lantern resting on top of a console piano, and a rusting Heart of Dixie license plate, the shop is adorned with Nix family paraphernalia, such as a couple of old coal miner’s helmets. Even the name “Old 64” and the logo of the shop harkens back to Walker County. “I want to promote Walker County through this barbershop. I think it’s interesting that people often say they’re from Walker County instead of saying they’re from Jasper or wherever. There’s a pride, and I think we can do a lot of cool things here,” says Nix.Near the Sipsey Fork, there is a little river community called Campbellville, and this is where Nix grew up. He went to Sumiton Christian and after graduation did “a whole lot of nothin’ for a few years” and “stayed a teenager too long.” After the nothin’ phase, he worked in a body shop, dabbled in photography, detailed cars, and got married. In 2012, Nix enrolled in a Barber College extension in Gardendale, and began to learn the trade.“We learned traditional barbering,” he says. “It was a 1500 hour course. We went Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 and on Saturday from 9 to 2. If you’re a barber, you’re working Saturdays.”But Nix says the real classroom met when the director demanded that they straight razor shave men at a local assisted living home. “We had to give fourteen straight razor shaves,” Nix says. “They had loose skin and wrinkles and most of them had been shaving with an electric razor. Some of them were wincing and we had to stop. But this taught me how to shave. You learn by doing things that are difficult.”Nix has become a student of shaving and barbering, learning about the history of the trade. “I tell people that barbering is the oldest profession. Shaving goes back to the Egyptians,” he says. I will admit, imagining the blunt blades perhaps used on Pharaoh doesn’t do much to calm my nerves as my straight razor shave approaches.Nix also recounts the history of the barber pole. “A lot of people think that the red, white, and blue in the barber pole stands for America, but it doesn’t. A long time ago, barbers used to also be surgeons. Red, white, and blue stands for blood, veins, and towels—the veins being blue.”He collects old razors (he’s got one from 1929), holds true to some of the traditions of barbering, such as swiveling the barber’s chair toward the customer (with towel slung over one shoulder) as the customer jingles through the front door. But Nix looks nothing like barbers of old, with their Vitalis-slicked hair and white smock. Today, Nix wears a charcoal driving cap, and a gallery of tattoos poke out from under the sleeves of his blue plaid shirt. He sports a beard and has a very personable, calming demeanor. He doesn’t seem like the stiff codgers I once knew, and I trust him with my neck.“Alright, let’s do a straight razor shave,” I say confidently.“Let’s do it,” says Nix.As I recline in the chair, and Eric lathers warm shaving cream on my face, my upper lip, my neck, I think about the various knives that had been at the throats of movie characters: Brooks Hatlen holding Heywood hostage via knife in The Shawshank Redemption, Murron having her throat slit by the English soldier in Braveheart, Jim Carrey’s famous “ketchup for fake blood” scene in Dumb and Dumber. And I hoped mine wouldn’t fall victim next. But something pacified me and told me everything was going to be alright.Nix then produces a steaming towel and drapes it over my face like a burqa. Beneath the rag, I could smell a mint/ginger smell that was quite divine. He presses the towel against my face, daubing the cream, softening the whiskers, and with a snap, pulls the towel off and prepares his blade. He works in small, meticulous scrapes, not with a sweeping motion like the barbers in Rounders. I tried to remain steady and calm during the proceedings, and the only sensitivity I felt was when he went for the mustache area. The whole procedure was painless and my neck was knick-less, bloodless. After he had finished, he swabbed my face and neck with that Virgin Island Bay Rum (I felt like saying “Ooh Mama!” a la Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman) and after airing out for a minute or two, placed a cold towel on my face to close the pores.What an experience.Since then, I have recommended the straight razor shave to almost every man within earshot. Nix and I both believe that it is something every man should experience. I imagine this being a good gift for a buddy on his birthday, or something that happens before a prom, wedding, bachelor party, or special occasion. If you’re burned out, tired, and need to unwind, do it. You’ll feel a heck of a lot better once you lift yourself out of that chair.Old 64 is not your grandfather’s barber shop, where Sansabelt-wearing men scan the funny papers while the clientele smokes in the chairs while they’re getting snipped by Floyd the Barber. It’s the Real McCoy, 2014-style. It’s the anecdote for a 36-hour session or any hard day’s work. And trust me, you’ll feel like a man again. 78 Old 64 is located at 294 Hull Road in Sumiton (between the Merle Norman and David’s Florist). Haircuts are $12, Shaves are $15, and Buzz Cuts are $8. You can also find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/old64barbershop or schedule an appointment by calling (205) 648-5555.