Nort Dakota barbershop, 1928

This is my grandpa, Aaron Betsch, in his barbershop in Streeter, ND. The date on the calender says 1928, so he would have been 24 and fresh out of barber college.

He is a classic example of an American success story. He was the son of dirt-poor, German-Russian immigrant farmers and only had a 3rd grade education. He decided there was more to life than breaking your back under a hot sun, so he worked his way through barber school (Mohler Barber College, Fargo, North Dakota. It's still there!) and quickly bought his own shop. My grandma did the bookkeeping, and he retired as a very successful businessman. He is proof that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.

He passed away in 1995, and he had some great stories from back in the day. He said he used to keep his barber shop open until 2 a.m. or later on Saturday nights, because the farmers would come to town, get drunk, and then need a shave and haircut for church the next morning. So they'd all leave the bar and come across the street to his shop and wait their turn.

The shop had a coal-stove for heat, and in the winter, he had to wake up at 3:00 every morning, walk the two blocks or so to his shop and throw more coal in the stove, otherwise the hair tonics and lotions would freeze in their bottles. This was every night, despite how cold or snowy the weather was. He once said to me "They call it the good old days. Well, I tell you, boy oh boy ... I sure wouldn't want to go back to those days!" View full image.