The unofficial mayor of Woodlawn has died.

Vincent Oliver's Hippodrome Barber Shop, the oddly named shop where 'Mayor' Oliver since 1966 dispensed $10 haircuts, Magic City history lessons and amassed a museum-quality collection of toys, stood empty Tuesday.

A black wreath, a few flowers and a sign apologizing for the inconvenience of Mr. Oliver not being behind his chair as usual, all adorned the door of the First Avenue North shop that has served one barber after another since 1904.

Mr. Oliver, 77, died Monday at 11:46 a.m. at UAB Hospital after a brief illness, according to John Oliver, one of his three sons. He would have celebrated his 52nd anniversary in the Woodlawn shop in October and was there cutting hair until the very end, his son said.

"He got pneumonia and went to St. Vincent's East and from there to UAB Hospital," John Oliver said Tuesday. "He had great doctors, but he just couldn't beat it. From start to finish, it had been three weeks."

It was a quick end to a long and colorful life, one with family, music, and a deep and abiding love for Woodlawn, the community that came to embrace him as 'mayor.'

"Vincent was half Sicilian, half Neapolitan, and all American," his family wrote in an informal obituary. "Vince's family often called him a saint, and like many saints he had a conversion of sorts. Though he was always a devout Catholic, his devotion became more fervent and his life more exemplary after his youngest son Christopher encountered health problems as a toddler."

He was also "a dedicated musician and began playing saxophone and clarinet early on in his life. He was an avid saxophonist for local groups such as the Nomads and played with Phil Cay and the Blue Notes," the family remembrance states.

After graduating from Woodlawn High School in 1958, Mr. Oliver sold his car to buy a train ticket to Jacksonville, Florida where he followed family tradition and attended barber college.

While there, he played at a teen dance concert and met his future wife, Betty Carolyn McLeod, John Oliver recalled. The couple marked their 58th wedding anniversary on July 2, a week before he died.

He kept his love of music throughout his life.

He played saxophone with Phil Cay and the Blue Notes on their 1959 recording of "Meet Me in the Barnyard" produced by Hart Records, a record that was pressed in Birmingham. In later years, he started a family band ("The Family Reunion") that included Betty and his three sons.

Opening the shop at 5530 1st Ave. N. in 1966, Mr. Oliver pondered what name to give his place of business, knowing he wanted the name to stand out from other barber shops.

He presented his three sons with six potential business names, including Hippodrome, Keystone Cops and Roaring 20s, according to a 2007 Birmingham News interview. Hippodrome prevailed.

John Oliver said that was because the Hippodrome was the name of a New York theatre where Houdini performed and Mr. Oliver knew his son loved magic.

It wasn't just the name that set the place apart.

The small shop is full of action figures and vintage lunchboxes. Fading plastic Mickey Mouse and Batman figures were stored under a glass counter and plastic boxes are filled with toys that were never displayed.

"One of his customers brought him something to hang on the wall. And then another did," John Oliver said. "Pretty soon, it became not only a watering hole and a great barber shop -- it turned into a museum."

Little changed in the shop over the decades. There was no Coke machine, no telephone, no appointments, no credit cards. The neighborhood outside the shop, however, changed mightily as 10 American presidents came and went.

"Oliver shows pictures of Woodlawn from the late 1940s, when people packed the streets. It looks like a bustling downtown," a 2015 AL.com article states.

"He remembers the neighborhood's glory days, when there were four barber shops and a dozen barbers within a block and a half. He remembers the days, years later, when he had the only business in his building.

"Oliver has stayed through dramatic changes. Woodlawn High School was all-white until 1965, when six black students started attending the school. In 1970, Birmingham City Schools ended the system of black schools and white schools....

"White residents left for "over the mountain" suburbs and created their own school districts. Many business owners stayed for a long time, but that didn't last forever.



"Most of them just got old and died," Mr. Oliver said at the time.

In recent years, Mr. Oliver welcomed a resurgence of the neighborhood. "People kept moving further away," Mr. Oliver said in 2010. "Now they're moving back in."

However, near the end of his life, Mr. Oliver was puzzled when he suddenly started getting more new clients, mostly young professionals he had never seen before. He finally asked how one found him and he called his son to share the answer.

"He said, 'Do you know what Yelp is?'" John Oliver recalled with a laugh. "That's where I'm getting my new customers," his father added.

One five-star review from a San Antonio man raved: "I came in after a long flight to have a friendly gentleman with a white coat warmly greet me. He gave me a great haircut, including a neck shave, for only $13!

"The place is filled with history and character. If I lived in Birmingham this would be my go to barber."

What will happen now to the Hippodrome, home to barber shops for 114 years, and the many mementos still inside? The family says it is too soon to know.

Vincent Oliver was preceded in death by his parents John Vincent Oliver and Josephine Accardo Oliver, sister Katherine Oliver Garrison, and brother Joseph Charles (JC) Oliver. He is survived by his cherished wife of 58 years, Betty, sons John (Miranda), Anthony (Melissa), and Christopher (Bethany), six grandchildren, two great-grandsons, and sister Mildred Oliver Condello.

Mr. Oliver's funeral arrangements:

Thursday, July 12th

Kilgroe Funeral Home

1750 Ashville Road, Leeds

Public Vistation: 6 - 8 p.m.

Friday, July 13th

St. Theresa Catholic Church

8101 3rd Avenue, Leeds

Rosary/Mass: 2 p.m.

Followed by Grave Site Service at

Cedar Grove Cemetery

(next to Kilgroe Funeral Home)