Last Of The Old School American Barbershops Found In Tennessee: Come Along With Me I Need A Haircut

Hello, everyone - this is John Ward with our Appalachian Channel and I'm Angelico Tennessee today, and this is Gary Taylor's barber shop. I met him the other day and he said I could come back and film, so I'm here to spend the day with him meet some of his clients, get my haircut and go eat lunch with him come along and I spend a little time with Gary foreign Basketball, don't look like you ready, come over here, foreign, oh Larry, fultz. How did you meet uh Gary? I met Gary Taylor because of get trying to get a haircut at another place and the entire Barber Shop, everybody that was in there was smoking. I couldn't take it so a friend of mine, cousin says uh go down and see Gary Taylor. I went down talked to him. Nobody'S cut my hair since that's been about 20 years, seems like you, two become friends, maybe pretty close friends. Best friends he's like a brother to us: yeah tell them what your name is Bill up, Blaylock Bill and you you seem like you, hang out there, some too with them. Oh, yes, sir. I do end time. Gary needs anything needs to be that he calls me and I'll go do it. You said you have to maybe work on the stores, as rebuilding yeah sure did. Yeah Larry got all the drywall work and uh yeah and other stuff too. We'Ve done a lot yeah. The insulation all kinds of all kinds, a lot of the wiring yes, so I noticed when we got down here, y'all we're waiting for him to get here to pray over lunch. Is that normal? That'S absolutely normal! Here I can't say it's that way at home when they're with me, we pray first and you don't eat a bite until you get the prayer done well. How about that? That'S that's good. To hear that's! Well, I appreciate you hanging around to tell how you met Gary and why you made him. I thought it was interesting that uh he went to a place and didn't like to tell smoking in there, so they don't smoke down at Gary's place. No no smoke no smoke. He comes all the way down here from Ohio to get a haircut. How about that? Well, let's go inside and look at your shop a little bit: okay, foreign cutting hair. All morning since I've been here, we got to take a break and go get some lunch so tell us a little bit about what you've done here. I know you're just talking about this Barbara Poe, and this came out of my hometown, the father, where I grew up as a kid, so I remember this uh being on the old building there I think left of the People's Bank, possibly right up from People's Bank, Is that where it was that? Where was that? I remember that all the way back from a kid and the mayor, mayor, Stanfield at the time, was wanting that to stay in LaFollette, but he wasn't willing to pay for it. The man that owned it wanted to sell it and uh the day I bought it. He told me he said now the mayor's going to be upset because he wants us to stay on the building says it's part of LaFollette, I said: well. Is he going to buy it? He said no, and I said: what's it take to get it off the wall, he told me, I paid him and I brought it home and I've had it ever since, and it's worth quite a bit of money. It'S a it's! A coken neon, Barbacoa and they're, quite rare, so you have some more. You got a huge one over here. That'S an outside one, where'd that one come from that one come from Paris, Tennessee and uh. It was made in 1900 and uh, it's all reasonable and it works. So was it working when you borrowed it, you got to repair it. No, it was working when I bought it. We just put the double switch on it uh only all I had on it was the one switched the light and the and the pole would turn. I didn't want my motor turning all the time, because it's so old we put a double switch to where I can just leave the light on. So you've got stuff uh one of the things that caught my attention was all the different antiques that you've collected and put in here got to know what you have any idea. What year this old phone would come from, I have no idea. We should have asked Larry while he was here he he specializes in those things. That'S right. He said he had about 30 of them. He'S got a bunch of them. Yes, he does yeah. We'Ve just got a whole little case full of stuff right here everywhere. I look, you can find different uh different items and that really needs organized yeah. Well, I kind of like the way it is got you a Snoopy phone over here, yeah um I have Snoopy and on the top up there I have Winnie the Pooh. I have Mickey Mouse and uh and uh one of the other characters of the house. Well, let's just look at some of all this stuff you got over here. Um we've got a lot of different little knickknacks of this and man. I love the small stuff. I kind of collect that myself. You got a lot more of it than I've ever had, but I do do appreciate somebody that likes to preserve things in the past that we don't see no more right here. As a matter of fact, I was talking about out there, here's a picture of him back when he was about 21 21 yeah and he's at uh at a gas station, Jackie Moses, he had a so station and and Sam's there hanging out with Jack and uh. He uh he was just a local favorite. He hung out everywhere, everybody loves Sam. He I understand it's just real outgoing friendly, real outgoing, real friendly and the largest most outspoken Tennessee fan in the world, and if you joke with him about being for somebody else, he'll say who's sick in the head, yeah wow, so yeah you've got some airplane. Just talking about them earlier ones here you just you just wanted to kind of fix it up, make it like a a man cave. I guess it's exactly right. I like junk and uh with the Salem being so tall. I knew the planes would fit in really well, so I started looking and I ended up finding three of them and then the young boy here in town brought me the helicopter and uh. He first started asking a hundred dollars and I said: well I'm not going to give you a hundred dollars, but I'll make you an offer. He said, okay, I said I'll, give you 30 bucks. He said I'll take it, so I ended up with the helicopter made his day. He had thirty dollars, he didn't have and he he thought he was rich. Well, you've got uh. Quite a few barber chairs. You said you got some at home too, that you've collected that you've got in my barn. I have one more in the back room and uh that one is an animal J, padar and uh, and that's a certain brand and it's the chair that most all the other companies copied to make the barber chairs. So what year would we be looking at on? A chair like that would have been from? You know, that's probably in the 40s 40s. This is in the 50s and 60s. That'S a coken! That'S called a president's chair president's chair, yes uh, then you. I noticed this when I come. First talked to you the other day through the for the kids to get their hair cut. In you said you made this, we went down uh below Harrogate Tennessee and bought the car and uh brought it back, took all the decals off had it painted, and then a friend of mine made the made the plate that it's setting on, and we took one Of my old barber chairs used the pedestal to put that together, so does it raise up and down still, let's see there and the kids absolutely love it. Well, maybe we'll get one small enough in here before I leave today to get get some video footage of you cutting hiring one up. No doubt after about three o'clock, somebody will come in okay. The kids will start rolling in well. This is, we just got back from lunch, and this is our first break that we had and uh uh without nobody in here. So I thought it was a good opportunity to get time to talk about a few things. So, what's your favorite piece in here the The Barber Pole right here, that's one of them. Yes, yes, uh, probably the most favorite thing that I've got in here: uh, I've probably shouldn't have it. I don't know um, but I know that just looks like a bottle of water in an old Listerine bottle, but that's actually water from the Jordan River, oh yeah, and that's one of my favorite things to have in here now. How'D you come across that I have a friend who brought some home with him in a Gatorade jug and he brought me some down so and I've had that. So that means a lot to you. It means a lot and I have another lot of beer, that uh there's no favorite and uh. That'S frankincense and myrrh, Oh yeah, and when you show people what frankincense and Murray is they go, what they give that to Jesus, that's what they gave to Jesus yeah. So we was talking earlier about uh your business day here, uh, you said uh. How many haircuts did you do on a Saturday one time 62.? 62., and I don't want to do that many ever again. That was a lot of work. A lot of work now is that before Easter, you said maybe before Easter and they were coming from all directions: well, how about that mostly little kids but yeah. So you just tell me what I talked to you the other day that you originally started out with a little little Barn Building of some sort. I had a little little small shop up here. Is this it? That'S it yeah third yeah that was great yeah. That was a little uh, a little metal building that I brought to Jellico in 99, marked with 99 and uh a gentleman Mr Paul Douglas. He sat across the street one day and I wondered what he was doing. I didn't really know who he was at the time and he come in and handed me that he said I drew this shop for you and uh Paul and I have been friends ever since and uh him and his son get a haircut with me and his Son is a uh, an amateur chef and he brings lunch by quite often he'll pick something he'll bring me a plate of it, and one of his Specialties is uh barbecue and he also makes good chili good chili. Yes, he does yeah. Well, you you completely remodeled. This building, I guess, from what your friends was telling me: they kind of helped you with a little. We totally gutted it when you walked in before we started working you come in. There was a big desk of a thing here or a wall. It was a NAPA store, so you come in and you talk to the guys from Napa right here you get whatever you was going to buy, you got it right here and the rest of it was all their merchandise and it used to be a dry cleaners And some of the equipment was still back there, so we come in and took everything out. It was a empty shell when we started and we put this wall up and I kind of wish now I'd have gone about four more feet, because I've kind of run out of space but run out of space for customers or your stuff. My job good job. Well, it was kind of a full when I come in today. How many haircuts have you done already today? I think oh 10 or 15 minutes. Let'S say 15. yeah yeah. Well, I think I'm gon na get my haircut since anybody here we'll just go ahead and do that. Okay, let's get my haircut Donna if you're watching uh, I'm cheating on you getting my hair cut here, but you know I have to do it for the video and that's horrible. You never cheat on you, Barbara foreign. This is my first time ever filming and getting my hair cut and - and you don't really need to turn you around, because you've got it on film. All right is that anywhere close to what you want to think out of work buddy, I I love it and uh. How can I come to a place like this and not get my haircut absolutely absolutely all righty uh. Thank you very much appreciate it. I feel appreciate you feeling an honor to have my cut a haircut here, and I asked you what the name of the place was: it's just the barbershop just the barbershop here in Jellico and uh. You'Ve talked about your church. A little bit. You said you've been going there for a little while been going to Mountain Ash Baptist Church 42 years 42 years. How about that drove a church bus for about 21 years uh? My wife and I led the youth for about 16 years. I'Ve been a Sunday school teacher there every year, but two and those two years I dealt with cancer chemotherapy and couldn't be there, but other than that. I'Ve been doing something there at Mountain Ash for 42 years. Well, it looks like you got through the cancer that that was an ordeal, but that happened in 84 and uh. Good Lord bless me and with chemotherapy and the good grace of God, I'm still here. Well, yeah, that's right amen! So I got one question right here. I was just cutting my higher. I noticed something I didn't see when I sat on the bench. I look right down here on this bench and I see these uh Kentucky tags. You got 1975, you got 15, 15, 16 and 17 and 18. Now that story know how those came about like that: a local guy here in town uh, Mr Moses uh, went by Moe Moses. He was The Collector. He was a junker kind of like myself and he got those from a junkyard. The scrap yard down here in off 1804. - I guess the Whitley County clerk's office - they didn't distribute those that whole box that they just dumped at the scrap yards recycling center and uh Mo, would go down and go through this stuff and he got all those tags. Well, he passed away, and his son-in-law brought me those four tanks and uh, and that's how I ended up with him and the son-in-law now has passed and he had 30 of them and I'd like to have got a few more. But he gave me those four and I was happy and content to get those. When I first he told me he had some tags. I first said I don't collect tags, he said you will these and when he showed them to me, I said you're, absolutely right. I'Ll take them, so that's how they got there yeah. Well, you got some clocks over here, some old Crocs. You know anything about them. They, local or um. I don't know how local any of them are. Uh, the the whiskey jugs uh, a good friend of mine, Joe McMullen, he pulled in one day and said I got something for you him. His wife sold their home here and moved out of Knoxville and he said I've got something for you and when he opened up the back of his automobile he had those Crocs and uh. Again, my knees got weak and I started shaking and he said I'm going to give these to you and uh boy. I grabbed him in a hurry and uh, but I've got these and I've got more at the house. Um Crocs are just something I like, and I try to get everyone that I can this one here. I'Ve never seen one in this shape and it's a whiskey and uh got heroin, of course, so that was everybody that comes in they they want this one. They want that one they want to try to buy that one, and I don't sell anything so they're not going anywhere I'm about to catch that too. You got a story on that where it came from come from a flea market just down the road here, a little ways and I gave 75 dollars for it. 75. You still use it still use it. I have another one at home. It might be in the back room similar to this one, that when I bought the barber pole in in Paris, I also purchased um a 1950s soda shop bar and back bar and their cash register. It was in this man's man cave and we I brought it home, and I made that in my kitchen in my home we tore our kitchen out and now my kitchen is a soda shop of sorts, uh, 1950s soda shop. We read me and Larry: we redone it completely and covered it with fresh wood and put a little paint on it. A little stain on it turned out really pretty well, you might show it to us. Sometimes I'll show it to you something I sure will looks like you got a customer I'll, let you get to it, we'll fix them up to work here. I just don't believe I could work on that water like that uh there's no way I could do it. I got ta get my hair cut. Today, it's going to be about going to be about 40. Are you Friday? 59. 59.. I'M brought to you by a couple of three years. My boy Bill's taking his Cherokee North Carolina. Oh yeah money go, get somebody away. Huh yeah buddy, there's some good looking sticks back there, yeah yeah it isn't it. I caused that face in that one yeah, that's pretty good! All that one's a snake yeah! I didn't do that that work. I trimmed all the bark off of it. A buddy of mine done the snake. I don't have the patience for that. That'S interesting was that a it kind of looks like it was a live one. At one time: good imitation, yeah dang, I'm getting older. I got hair growing out of my ears. You still got your money like that say right now, guys I'm impressed last time. It was a fight. I mean a five with any size. It'S aggravating yeah he's doing great he's, fine foreign. You would understand just how great he's doing don't be scared. Oh he's fine! Yeah he's doing fine, wait thanks partner, you think your mom's gon na, like that haircut good job. Thank you very much partner. You did no good here. We go see you guys everybody. Now. How did you uh get into being a barber? Well, um. I'D had surgeries prior to being a barber, and I needed something a little bit easier on my body a little bit easier to do other than ride a piece of equipment or hard labor. I had a garbage business for eight years and and picked up garbage had 700 customers in the South End of Whitley County and ran it myself drove the truck sold the garbage and which I had kids from my church would help me several days out of out Of the week that I ran, they'd want to go, make a little money so that helped me. But but I ran a grater from my dad. He was the County judge for a long time around Whitney County and I ran a road grader for him and different equipment, and I had a little piece of equipment on my own, but I just need something a little bit easier. So I finally went to barber school I always wanted to. I went to barber school and been barbering. Ever since yeah I've been Angelico almost my entire career, I spent just a little bit of time in Williamsburg and then I come to Jellico. So I've been here since 99 looks like we've made a lot of friends here and there. I'Ve got a good business here, they've a lot of good folks in Jellico yeah. I draw people out of South Whitley County Jellico, of course, Pioneer White Oak LaFollette, Scott County uh, all over uh Corbin London. I'Ve got them all over that come get a haircut so so, how did you uh get into collecting all this some memorabilia stuff? Well, growing up, my parents were antique people, my mother, big antique person and my brother Larry, and I were used as pack mules. Then we'd they'd go buy something we'd, carry it into the house for them or loaded up on the truck form, but actually growing up. Like I did with my mom and dad, and they liked antiques - I kind of got into it myself and I've always appreciated the older stuff. I kind of like the older thing, even older automobiles, when I was in high school, I had a 55 Chevrolet love to have it back, but that's never going to happen and uh. That'S that's how I got started and I've got stuff in my barn up in the attic in my barn that I've not seen probably now 12 years or longer, but it's full of junk. My house has got all kinds of things in it and my wife at first wasn't into the Antiques she is now she likes the older stuff too. So in my shop, it's kind of my man cave and and the customers they appreciate coming in seeing stuff and having something look at when they're getting their hair cut stuff to talk about so we're just talking about when the pandemic hit. You loaded up your Barber, chair and what'd. You do come down, got my chair, throw it in the back of the truck. I would go into a community. I would call one of my customers that lived there and I said: hey I'm coming to your house to set up get a hold of everybody in the community that needs a haircut and we'll cut hair. So I'd go to their home, set up on the carport. In a garage anywhere, I could get electricity and get out of the Sun and and have some shelter over me in case it rained we'd, set up and we'd cut hair, and I went to White Oak Clairfield Eagan, all over the mountain up there and uh into Jellico here up on up on uh Indian mountains, set up on any mountain cut hair all day, uh went down to M1 cut hair all day and uh just anywhere. They wanted a haircut I'd, go to them and uh the rubber board had us shut down. So I went to them come on in big guy good, how you doing I'm good. This is Dwayne. This is the gentleman that follows you, oh and uh City, oh yeah, I feel like I know you, John. I do yeah you've been watching some of my videos. Huh yeah, which ones you like the best Ricky's, pretty good Ricky. Oh yeah, I, like him, oil, yeah, Ricky, he's all right, Amy yeah. He also collects oh and a lot of times. If I have something to come in that, I don't know much about. I call him and uh come over here and stand by him and I can get you both in there just a little bit talking a little bit okay. Well, probably, the main thing would be fruit, jars, fruit, jars, yeah, that's about my main thing, but a little bit of all of it. I feel like I'll rescue guy. We like it all yeah. Well, what was the last thing I called you about. I called you just the other day about something: oh, that Civil War belt buckle, didn't know. If it was legit or not it could it could have been a repop. Who knows I didn't bite, you know, let's go a little far back yeah yeah. We used to have a friend down in Pleasant View, Scotty Moses. He was the go-to guy. If you had something you want to know about, you call Scotty. He would tell you real quick what it is, what it was worth if he wanted it, what he would offer he he and, and he traded with you more than I did on script and a whole lot of things. But I went to church with him just a great guy and uh, and he grew up with my dad Scotty and my dad were best of friends and that's how I got to know him, but he passed away and uh. So now he's my go-to guy. If I have something out north anything about, I try to get him to help me out with it. Well, I'm gon na try yeah. I have a lot of things come through the shop people know you collect and they can bring it to sell it to you again. They do and then some folks just will have a pocket knife they'll get out and clean their fingernail and I'll look at it and I'm not a big knife guy, but but a lot of people are and if they all want to sell it I'll call somebody. That'S in the knives and see if they want to buy it, you know or coins it don't matter. I don't collect coins, he does and uh any kind of corn that comes through I'll call him. You know see what it is scrape, especially, and so it doesn't matter whatever whatever they got. Yeah, a lot of stuff in here walked right through that door, yeah a lot of stuff on that shelf up there come right through that door, and most of it would just give to me it's here. We brought you something I said I'll sure take it. People like to see some of their stuff, they do. They do the blue jars on top on the very top in the corner. There they were brought in last week, a young man called me, and he said, I'm gon na bring some jars down. I'Ve got here. I don't want them and uh someone give them to you, so he brought them down and I displayed them tried to buy him. He wouldn't take any money. So yeah there's a little bit of everything. Just a little bit of everything. Yep I collect Plum. Bobs. I'Ve got a collection of Plum Bobs right there in the middle on the top shelf you're. Looking right at it, yeah I'll see them up there, yeah yeah, that's crazy. It was a busy day busy busy day you work by yourself. I'Ve always worked by myself. I'Ve had um. I'Ve had three different gentlemen, come in and work a little while, but I typically just work by myself: yeah, I'm kind of I'm kind of I'll use the word ornery and uh, so I'm better off working by myself. I'Ve been here since 99.. It'S a busy little shop stay busy. I'Ve got a 14 month old grandson, he can go to my phone and go to the apps and he knows what the wzj app is. He knows what it looks like and he's a country, music, nut, he'll pushed that and said to everybody and just dance and carry on yeah. Don'T move now, Don't Close Your Eyes close your eyes. Close your mouth. Don'T move! Don'T move, don't move all right system! S he's all right. Tell you that um surgery is uh, simple and easy to get over. It all hurts. We leave bangs right. We leave some banks right, nothing who who cut his bangs. Did you do that you rascal you, you quit doing that and uh. I hadn't um, I hadn't seen a picture or anything of Mr Beaver, nothing about him for years, but he brought me those check stubs down here. Relax, relax come in a store from his store. What year I'll show you know, 30s 30s he's had he had a store in the 30s and he's still alive. Oh yeah, oh wow, no he's dead. That'D have been a good one to film. It was alive and well back in the 70s foreign going everywhere, yeah raise up here, raise up here, good and Tall. There you go. I'Ve done a lot of Fades today and uh to me. I wish the feed would go out of style. These are a lot faster to do. The Fades are a little bit takes a little bit longer, not much a little bit. What do you call this? This is just a high tide. Yeah types of the skin high high up on the head and a lot of kids will get a all the way to the skin high and tight. This here is pretty close. You can go a lot closer well, Gary we've had a fun day. I appreciate you letting me come and hang out with you. I'Ve been here about all day. Thank you appreciate you being here: yeah man, you cut my hair, appreciate that and I hope you're satisfied with it and I hope your Barber uh hope she's not too mean to you well she's hard to say I might have to come back. She might run me off yeah, but uh yeah, I'm looking forward to coming back to meet and we'll be filming that next so y'all be looking for that video, because he's a legend around here and wanting to to get Gary to tell us his story. He'S a he's a bit of a character, yep yeah, so lead girl, comment, he's located right here in Jericho, Tennessee off of Interstate 75 you're about five minutes off the interstate. So if you're traveling uh through the week stop by and say hello to Gary in time, you saw him on the video and check his place out. He could spend an hour in here just looking around and a lot of cool stuff here, he's a collector and he loves being and stuff, and I love what he loves, and so we kind of kind of got got along pretty good. Today. I think yeah real well, I I appreciate you being here. I'Ve had a great time. I think the viewers will appreciate what we've got here and what we've done here today and I do want to before I leave here - thank all of my customers that make this possible because without them I couldn't be here and I've got a good customer base and They'Re good people and uh, I thank all of them and my family. I appreciate my wife and my family. They always support me too, and I appreciate that well, thank you for being here. I hope you come back I'll, be back. Okay, we'll see y'all next time. Gary see you buddy, thank you buddy bye-bye. Thank you, foreign