When I was a young boy, I always went with my grandpa, Charles Crawford, to get my hair cut. Our barber was Phil Luginbill, the owner of Time Corners Barber Shop. Phil's shop was at Westland Mall, the small nearly deserted indoor shopping center that I posted a photo of a few days ago.
When I was a teenager, I grew my hair long and stopped going to the barber. Grandpa eventually started getting his hair cut by a barber in Roanoke, the small town where my uncle lived.
Last week, I drove by Westland Mall and noticed that the barber pole by the mall entrance near the barber shop was still there. I decided to stop in and see if Phil was still there after all these years. A woman and a young man were working there, and they turned out to be Phil's daughter and grandson! He wasn't working that day, but they told me to come back a few days later.
I went back yesterday afternoon, and introduced myself and my son to Phil. He remembered my grandpa and I after all these years! It had been about 25 years since he had last cut my hair. I made some portraits of him and did some photographs of the shop, which has changed very little since I was a kid.
The entrance doesn't have a door like the other storefronts in the mall. It has an old-fashioned wrought iron gate that can be locked to keep people out when the shop is closed.
As long as I can remember, this ancient vending machine has sold old-fashioned glass bottles of Coke to Phil's customers. It was already old when I was getting my hair cut here as a child. I have not seen another one like it still in operation in many, many years!
I have a couple of portraits of Phil to finish editing, and I'll post them once I have them done.
