The Art of Hollin Hall Barbershop

When Art Blakey was in the military, he cut hair. So when time came to talk to his dad about potential work after the service, the advice he got was to do what he had already been doing well. So, he enrolled in the Richmond Barber Academy where his instructor’s parting words upon Art’s graduation were: “Barbering can be good for you. Remember that.”

“I have been at the Hollin Hall Barbershop for 44 years, but it only took me a few of those years to figure out that my instructor got it right," Art recently recollected. "Barbering lets you build relationships with people in a way few other professions do. Those relations keep you going, even when you’re my age."

The Hollin Hall Barbershop, located at 7944 Fort Hunt Road, has been a community fixture since it opened its doors in 1952 in the first section of the Hollin Hall Shopping Center, and Al has been the lead barber and store manager for many of those years.

“My friends Tom Norris and Allen Nightingale, both local boys from Beacon Hill and Del Ray, are the other two barbers and Mr. Harold Smith, is the store owner.” The men cut both women’s and men’s hair, but specialize in men’s cuts.

The shop’s clientele is mostly local and eclectic, but also counts substantial visitors from a bit further out, such as Gum Springs, Old Town, and Springfield. “We get a lot of the kids from the high schools, West Potomac and Mount Vernon.” The three clients who were present when Patch visited were local regulars who admitted to enjoying their “visits with the guys.”

The three, older gentlemen in search of trims to already short haircuts, provide the balance to the changing hair-styles the barbers have to keep up with to service their younger clientele.

Adults tend to stick to what works for them after experimenting for a while, but kids who want to try different looks tend to be in the experimental longer stage these days. In the '50s, Tom and Al remember, kids wanted a neat look and the moment they got off the barber’s chair, they would pull out combs and make sure each strand was in place. “Today,” Art says, “they get off the chair and they run their hands through their hair. You know, looking for that tousled look, like they don’t want their friends knowing they were at the barber’s.”

Another trend Art has noticed is what he calls the "Microsoft Boys." “You see, it used to be, in the '60s and '70s, even in the '80s, guys would come in here early on a Saturday to get their cuts before they ran home to their 'Honey-do chores.' But today, they saunter in around 10 a.m. with a half-eaten pastry and the dregs of a large coffee from the pastry shop next door and by the way they linger they’re taking their time getting home.” Art thinks, and Tom concurs, that technological advances and the area’s economic affluence have yielded a more genteel existence for many of his young-to-middle-aged-father clients.

Art won’t admit to the lines that form for his services on weekends, lines that others who frequent the store have attested to, but he will admit to his fondness for a good conversation about the seasonal foibles of his Redskins. “Maybe we get talking and I take a little longer and that’s what the lines are about,” he says with a turn away of the head that hides a large smile caught in the mirror’s reflection.

As the jazz suffuses the small barbershop, augmenting the interior’s cool in what is fast becoming a hot outdoors—as seen via the large store-front windows—Art prepares to seat his next customer. The moment the man with the barely visible hearing aid bent to reach for the door handle, Art began conducting his symphony: he swiveled to his left to start adjusting the chair’s height and then shuffled right to turn the radio knob a tad higher. By the time the newcomer was seated and draped, Art had calibrated the vibe just so, making it good for all.