Would you go to a barber if you needed a tooth pulled or a limb amputated? Would you go to a surgeon for a haircut or a shave? Once upon a time you'd go to one and the same person for all of these treatments, and even in mid-20th century Australia, barbers were performing duties beyond haircuts and shaving. Amanda Smith takes a look.

From the 16th century to the 18th century in London, barbers and surgeons were in the same guild, known as the Company of Barber-Surgeons.

According to Oxford University medical historian Margaret Pelling, barber-surgeons were effectively the GPs of their day.

'They did virtually everything: from looking after fairly cosmetic aspects of the body to what we would now regard as major operations like amputations, reducing dislocations, dealing with ulcers on the surface of the body,’ she says.

I used to come here after school, and barbers were very different then. He sold laxatives and medicines, and everyone used to come in and have their order. It was like going to the chemist. There weren't really supermarkets and chemists, you went to the barber's shop. Ray Gissara, Melbourne barber

In particular, barber-surgeons had a major role in treating venereal disease, especially syphilis, which was rampant in 16th century Europe. Literally as well as figuratively, the doctors of the time didn’t want to touch syphilis. Barber-surgeons were also particularly known for bloodletting, which was thought to be necessary for maintaining good health.

'Physicians, if they thought bloodletting was necessary, would never do it themselves, a barber-surgeon was always brought in to do that,’ says Pelling.

'It was a regular thing; you know, it's springtime, you need to clear out the body, we all have ourselves bled to get us ready for the new season. People did actually experience something like a sense of relief from bleeding.’

The origin of the barber's red and white striped pole is generally understood to derive from their practise of bloodletting. However, according to Pelling there’s little evidence that the stripes on the barber's pole symbolise blood and bandages, as is commonly believed.

'There are these sorts of legends and stereotypes,’ she says. ‘You don't get many mentions of barber poles, but there are literary asides about them being priapic, masculine sort of symbols. They are, after all, a pole with a knob on top.’

What’s certain is that barbers did advertise putting bowls of blood in their shop windows.

As well as the bloodletting, syphilis treatment and surgery, barber-surgeons also performed a wide range of cosmetic practices such as picking ears, and brushing and dying hair.

'There's even some evidence that they starched people's beards to make them stiffer,’ says Pelling. ‘The Elizabethans spent a lot of time thinking about how they would shape their beards, and there's no doubt that barbers were the people who did that.’

It’s also clear that there were overlaps between the skills and tools of the barber and the skills and tools of the surgeon. Within the London Company of Barber-Surgeons, however, there persisted a tension.

'There were always small, elite groups of surgeons who didn't like the idea of being associated with the level of trade that barbers represented. Instead they wanted to be more like the physicians,’ says Pelling.

‘So the surgeons were forever fighting to get away from the barbers, but in fact they were brought together in 1540 and they weren't separated until 1745.’

Yet some 200 years after the Company of Barber-Surgeons split apart, barbers were still exhibiting vestigial traces of the dual role.

On the wall of Jissara Hair, a salon for men and women in the Melbourne suburb of Kensington, there are black and white photographs of Raimondo Gissara wielding his scissors and comb, looking immaculate in a white jacket and bowtie.

When he bought the business in 1954, he named it Ray's Hairdressing. Gissara is now 80 years old and still works in the salon, which is run by his son John, two days a week.

Ray came to Australia from Sicily in 1954 to chaperone his sister, who was getting married in Melbourne.

'He was only supposed to be here for a few months 'til his sister settled down, and then leave,’ says John.

Shortly after Ray boarded the TN Sydney in Messina, he was approached by the captain. The ship needed a barber. 'I started working: haircut and shave, haircut and shave,' says Ray. 'The captain paid me the wages, but the tips were tremendous!'

Ray arrived in Port Melbourne with more money than he had ever earned. He liked Australia, decided to stay, and was able to buy Vic Willoughy's barber shop in Kensington.

'He was about 39 years in these premises,’ says Ray. ‘I said, "You want to sell this business?" He said, "I want 2,000 pounds, I'll leave everything." He used to sell cigarettes, he had three chairs … and I buy this premises. I was 19 years old. Amazing.’

In those days, Ray sold all manner of products, including tobacco, aspirin and Brylcreem. John remembers: 'I used to come here after school, and barbers were very different then. He sold laxatives and medicines, and everyone used to come in and have their order. It was like going to the chemist. There weren't really supermarkets and chemists, you went to the barber's shop.’

John says that his father also offered more than haircuts and shaves: 'You wouldn't go to a dentist, you'd go to the barber to have a tooth pulled out.’

Ray confirms this with a laugh: 'Yeah, used to be no injection, no nothing. With the little fine string tied up to the teeth, pull it and before they say "ow" the tooth's already on the string!'

Ray doesn't pull teeth any more, but he's still known for the quality of his cutthroat razor shaves, which he learned back in Sicily.

'I used to shave my father two times a day, to learn with a cutthroat,’ says Ray. At Ray's Hairdressing, he also introduced European-style haircuts.

'When I arrive, Australian haircut, short back and sides like an army haircut.’

How many haircuts would Ray have done over his long career as a barber? 'I won't say a hundred but I'll say a million,’ he jokes. He won’t speculate about how many teeth he pulled, and at 80, he has no thoughts of retiring.

'No, don't talk about retiring because I love working here. I still love to cut hair and shave with the cut-throat.’

Barbers and beards Sunday 12 April 2015 Listen to this episode of The Body Sphere to hear more about the modern barber shop. More This [series episode segment] has image, and transcript

Focusing on the physical, The Body Sphere is about the ways we use our bodies to create and compete, nurture and abuse, display and conceal.

