Ninety-eight years
Salvatore came over in 1921 and cut hair out of a back room on Union Street for seven years before he could afford a storefront. He took this one in 1928, put in two Koken hydraulic chairs, and painted the sign himself. His hand is still on it.
His son took the second chair in 1946, straight out of the service, and ran the shop from the mid-sixties. His grandson took the first chair in 1994. That is Joe, who is in here six days a week and would like it noted that his grandfather worked seven.
Three generations is the sort of thing that goes on a sign because it sounds good. What it actually means, practically, is that the man cutting your hair learned it from somebody who learned it in this room, and that there has not been a year since 1928 when this door did not open.
What has not changed
The chairs. Both original Kokens, rebuilt twice, and the hydraulics still work better than anything you can buy now. The mirror. The bell on the door, which Sal hung the day he opened and which is louder than anybody would choose in 2026.
The absence of an appointment book, which was not a decision at all until about fifteen years ago and has been a deliberate one since.
What has
The prices, mostly. A cut was thirty-five cents in 1928 and it is thirty-eight dollars now, which is roughly what a cut has always cost in the money of the day.
The block. Court Street in 1928 was Italian, working, and closed on Sunday. It is not that now. We are still closed on Sunday.
And the third chair, which was a storeroom until 2019 and is the first time this shop has had three barbers at once.