At one time, barbers dotted the streets of every town, with one on every corner and sometimes in between. In fact, when Marlin Pokrzywinski joined Harry Pfeiffer at his established Crookston barbershop in 1956, he was the 15th barber to set up practice. He took Phil Olson's place, who went on to open his own shop after working for Pfeiffer for three years.
“It's kind of ironic, but Phil and I are the only ones left here now,” said Marlin. “Together, we've put in 115 years of barbering.”
Now semi-retired, working about 16 hours a week, on Saturday afternoon he reminisced about his years as a barber while sitting in his shop of 30 years on East Eighth Street, all but six months of them spent in Crookston.
Through the years
Marlin, who was raised in Alvarado, attended barber college in Fargo right out of high school, becoming a full-fledged barber after putting in 1,200 hours in six months. He got his feet wet in the profession for six months in Grand Forks before the opportunity in Crookston came up. He and his wife, Bonnie, quickly established themselves in the community and raised their seven children here.
“This was probably the best job you could be in to get acquainted with the town,” he said. “A lot of people came through those doors at one time or another.”
At the time, “Climax had three barbers, Fisher had two, Euclid even had a barber, and we were all busy,” he said. “Back then, a guy wouldn’t be caught dead walking into a beauty shop. And women weren't allowed to cut men's hair at one time.”
He's worked at seven different locations, the first on Robert Street in the Eagles building, where Gary Whalen ran his last barbershop. Then Marlin opened his own shop in the basement of the Rhuettel's Clothing building on the corner of Main and Robert (now demolished). From there he partnered with George Schafer on Second Street (next to LeMar's Photography), moved into the former State Farm Insurance building on Sixth Street that later housed dentists and was since demolished, operated from the building that now houses Crookston Paint & Glass and, finally, ended up where he's at now, in the former Fitzsimmons Grocery Store.
“It was kind of a scary move,” he said. “It was the first barbershop out of the downtown district and into the residential area. I didn't know how business would be, but it turned out just fine.”
As the times changed, so did popular hairstyles. When he first started, crewcuts, also called hinies, were all the rage. Then guys started growing out the sides and formed ducktails in the back.
“They were real cool cats with their D.A.s (slang for ducktail cuts), zoot suits and penny loafers,” said Marlin.
"We just learned as we went along,” he said. “We never went back to school to learn how to do them.”
While men and boys made up the majority of his clients, he figured about 10 percent were women in the earlier days. Then came the sexual revolution with the 1970s.
“Long hair came in like gangbusters in the 70s,” said Marlin. “It was really tough on barbers. Half the nation’s barbers quit. It was difficult times for us.”
Men young and old just weren't getting their hair cut like they used to. Either they didn't get it cut as often or they started going to hair salons, which advertised “hairstyles, not just cutting. We barbers just didn't do that and couldn't compete.”
While fancy coiffures, highlights, perms and such weren't on his price list, Marlin, like other barbers, could offer things salons didn't typically, like a shave or a refreshing face massage with creams. And still managed to make a living, as he does now, with regular clients as well as new ones.
“I've met a lot of fine people,” he said. “You treat your customer right, no matter what their age is. I've had four generations of haircuts with some families, and still have 25 to 30 customers that I started with. I really appreciate all the customers I've had.”
Barbershops are perhaps better known for their social offerings as services, and the Headquarters, and Marlin's shop is called, is no exception.
“This morning I had three haircuts,” he said. “But there were 15 people here, having coffee and just shooting the bull.”
That's how it's been for years, he added, with a lot of adult jokes and friendly banter being kicked around.
Marlin did find himself taking some time off a couple of years ago, as he suffered from serious health problems he wasn't sure he'd make it through. But he survived and is now doing well.
“I'm happy to be alive, happy to still be active at my age and embracing life,” he said.
Doing hair seems to run in the Pokrzywinski family, as Marlin's brother has been barbering for 52 years, his sister operates a beauty salon and three granddaughters are also beauticians.
“It seems to be a little on the upswing, with more people getting into it again,” he says of the barbering profession. “I would like to see both of shops in town stay open after we're done, but someone would have to come in and take over.
“I'll tell you one thing, even though I might have complained a little through the years about the negative aspects of having your own business, if I had to do it all over again, I would do the same thing. It's been just a great career.”
