The colors of the barber pole

You don’t see as many of the good old fashioned red, white and blue poles outside of barber shops these days. Have you ever wondered why you may see one of these striped decorations outside of a barber shop?

According to the History Channel, this pole’s colors hearken back to the medieval times when you not only went to the barber for a haircut or shave but also for various so-called medical treatments including bloodletting. Believe it or not, this was a common procedure that was thought to cure everything from the plague to the common cold!

Originally monks had the duty of caring for the poor and sick and often required help from barbers since they were skilled with sharp instruments. In 1163, Pope Alexander disallowed monks to perform bloodletting, so this chore was passed on solely to the barbers. The funny thing is that doctors considered bloodletting to be such a common menial task that they had no interest in performing this service and left it with the barbers.

Many barbers expanded their services to include setting bones, pulling teeth and other minor surgeries and wound care. As you can see, the barber pole red color represents the blood, the pole represents the stick clutched to make patients veins stand out and the white color symbolizes the bandages. Most barber poles are red and white in Europe but somehow in America, blue was added. Scholars are not sure if this was added to represent the flag or that blue represented the veins.

Thankfully England banned barbers from performing surgeries and bloodletting in the middle 1500s. Most other countries soon followed suit. Bloodletting however was still a popular medical treatment until the 1800s and actually is still used on rare occasion for a small number of diseases today.

A lot of barbers collect vintage barber poles. Many lit up, rotated or were metal signs covered in porcelain. The 1920s through the Second World War were considered the hey day of collectible barber poles, and they are not the easiest thing to find. New poles can be purchased for around $75 but vintage ones can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars!

Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 31 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com.

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