- Editor’s
Note:
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- This
column is a regular feature in the Wayback Times in which my
husband takes interesting people out to lunch … and sends
me the bill.
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- (It's
a tough job, but someone has to do it!)
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- Send
us an e-mail if you have someone in mind for one of Peter Neilly's
interviews over lunch.
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- Peter Neilly is Out
to Lunch
- Breaking bread with
interesting people
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- Out to Lunch!
- with Peter Neilly
 I originally met
Tony Klompmaker, this issue’s Out to Lunch guest,
several years ago when he was in our antique shop purchasing
a few vintage barber related items, including a glass-topped
Gillette razor display case.
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- We got talking and he mentioned he owned a barbershop in
Bancroft that was full of barbering-related antiques and that
the entire shop was created to reflect what a barbershop looked
like in the early 1900s.
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- It took me a number of years, but I finally got up to see
it - and it was well worth the trip.
Peter: I’m glad you invited me up, Tony. This place
is amazing. When did you start this business, and where did you
find all this stuff?
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- Tony: I started this from scratch back in 2003 and
have been adding pieces ever since. Before that I hadn’t
worked as a barber for almost 30 years. Most of the pieces were
purchased from antique shops. Some of the more rare and harder
to find pieces were bought on eBay and some people brought in
items to the shop when they knew what I collected.
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 Peter: You
have two full-size adult barber chairs and you have one child’s
that must be fairly rare. I have never seen one like that before.
How old are the chairs?
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- Tony: The large chairs are from the 1920s and the
child's chair is a little newer. It’s probably from the
1940s. The same company manufactured all three. Some of the things
here are newer, like the barber poles. They would be from the
1950s. The oldest item here is the lather dispenser. It would
be from the 1800s and a barber back then would place it on top
of the wood-burning stove in his shop to heat up and dispense
hot shaving lather.
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- Peter: You have acquired a huge collection of different
vintage shaving mugs. Some have unique designs and some have
names on them. Can you tell me about the different types?
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- Tony: Back in the old days, many businessmen would
go into their local barbershop two or three times a week to be
shaved and if you were a regular customer the barber would have
a shaving mug with your name on it along with your brush on the
shelf. The rarest type of shaving mug and hardest to find is
what is called an occupational mug. A blacksmith’s occupational
mug might have a horse design, or a picture of his tools on it.
A carpenter’s mug might have a saw or hammer image on it.
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 Peter: Thanks
for talking the time to show me your shop. You have a great collection.
It's certainly worth the drive to Bancroft to see it.
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- I wasn’t able to take Tony out to lunch because he had
a steady stream of customers while I was there. Just as I was
about to leave, a customer arrived and removed his hat to reveal
a mostly bald head and asked Tony, “How much to cut my hair?”
Tony looked up at the nearly bald man and answered, “Not
much for the hair cut, but I’ll have to charge you a finder's
fee.”
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- If you are ever in Bancroft, Ontario, drop in to see Tony
at his shop. It is located at 15 Station Street right in town.
He doesn’t sell items from his collection, but he is more
than willing to show you what he has collected.
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- He also gives great haircuts and 10 weeks ago added the expert
services of his daughter, Sarah, to his unique business.
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