For Salisbury barber, 750,000 haircuts (and counting)

It's cliché to describe a venerable business on Maryland's Eastern Shore by saying it's like stepping back in time, but here goes: Getting a haircut at Dustin & Pete's Barbershop in Salisbury is like stepping back in time.

It's managed by a father and son. The shaves are done with a straight razor. A shelf perched just above head height displays 375 vintage lunchboxes around the perimeter of the Mount Hermon Road shop. 

At the center of it all is 68-year-old patriarch Horace "Pete" Tippett. He has been clipping and cutting at the shop since his father, George, opened it for business in the old Salisbury Mall in 1968. 

On the eve of the shop's 50th anniversary, Tippett talked about the ways his hometown and the business of shaping hair have evolved through the years.

How’d you become a barber?

My dad was a barber.

Just as simple as that?

Yep. Followed what he was doing as a barber and I liked it. I picked up the clippers and never put them down. My dad and I were both in the old mall for 10 years, from ’68 to ’78. He left and retired in ’72. They raised my rent, and I came over here in ’78. Been here ever since.

What makes you all unique?

We do quality work and I think for a reasonable price. Most beauty salons charge $30. You can get a quality cut right here for $18.

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What's with all these lunchboxes?

A quirk. A girlfriend was starting to collect them and she didn’t know where to get them, so I took over the collection. I used to have more, but a man brought his truck through the middle of them and tore up 102 boxes and thermoses.

What gets you up every day to keep doing it?

Wanting to come to work and be positive. Work with your hands. Stand on your feet. It’s a lot of fun actually. It’s tough on your legs, though. Weak legs don’t hang out too long. These rubber mats we’ve got on the floor help a lot. Without rubber mats, about 15 years as a hairstylist or barber, your legs are going to start to give up on you.

Has it affected you physically?

Not at all. Knees are still good. Elbows are sharp.

Dustin has been cutting for 20 years. It really runs in the family, doesn’t it?

There’s actually 24 barbers in our family. Dad started it. Then aunts and uncles and cousins came in on it and then their wives. And the kids are in it. Most of them are over on the western shore over there over in Fort Meade and down in St. Mary’s County, Lexington Park, Leonardtown and Mechanicsville. Some of them passed away, but we still count them.

If I wanted a vintage hairstyle, you’d be the man to see, right?

I promise you. Because I’ve done what they call flattops, where they comb both sides back and in the back you make kind of a duck tail with a little ringlet in the back. That was called a Detroit or a flattop boogie. They had a lot of funny names for them back then. Pretty cool.

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What’s the biggest change in the business since you started?

Price. When I hit the street and I got my license, a haircut was a dollar.

Has the clientele changed?

I’ll tell you the main thing that’s changed. In the ‘60s, a man would come sit in your chair and get a haircut with you, he’d go to sleep 9 out of 10 (times). Now, 1 out of 100 will go to sleep. That’s how much times have changed.

The environment has changed so much and not to the good, to the latter side, that people don’t sleep in the chair anymore. If a man goes to sleep in your chair, he’s usually got a gun on him. A sheriff. A deputy. A city officer.

But the regular person no longer sleeps in the chair. They’re not secure. And it’s not the shop, it’s the environment they live in.

How many heads do you think you’ve cut?

Well over three-quarter of a million.

How many do you think you’ve still got in you?

The rest of a million. ‘Bout another quarter of a million and I’ll be done.

410-845-4630

On Twitter @Jeremy_Cox