I made this wooden barber pole back in 1982 and turned it into a lamp (a lamp shade is not included). The lamp shade in these photos is for display purposes only and will not be included. This lamp was a display model for my wooden barber pole business that I started in 1982. The pole is hand-turned on a lathe and hand-painted by me. This antique-looking pole is made of pine and was made to look like an old cracked or checked barber pole from the 1800s. Most wooden poles back then eventually cracked with age, so as you can see, this pole is checked or cracked, which gives it the look of being over 100 years old. I added an antique finish over the pole to age it. The pole by itself is 18 inches tall, while the total height (barber pole plus lighting fixture) of the lamp is approximately 30 tall. The barrel (where the red, white, and blue stripes are) is about 3 3/4 inches in diameter. The base of the pole is about 6 1/4 inches in diameter. The red ball or globe on top measures 3 3/4 inches in diameter. The lamp is in great condition because it was packed away for more than 40 years. It would make a perfect display piece in a home, office, a collection, or a barber shop. While this pole is over 40 years old, it is not classified as an antique since that designation requires it to be at least 100 years old, but it does qualify as vintage. A quick history of the barber pole: Originally, barber poles in the USA had only red and white stripes, but before there were barber poles as we see them today, the barber had a tall pole (usually white) outside the shop. Back in those days, barbers not only cut hair, but some were also surgeons and dentists. If you had high blood pressure, they would bleed you, and then they would wrap the wounds with long cloth bandages. Since the bandages would get soaked in blood, the barber would hang them up to dry on the pole outside before they were either washed or thrown away. If they didn’t dry them first, then they would start to smell like something had died. When there was a breeze or wind, the now red bandages would wrap around the pole in a spiral pattern. Eventually, barbers started painting a red spiral stripe around a white pole, which signified they were a barber-surgeon. Many years later, American barbers started adding a blue stripe to the pole, either to represent blood veins or to Americanize the poles with the flag colors. As we know now, barbers can only cut hair and do shaves but they still basically use the same sign as they did centuries ago. A little history about me and my barber poles. As far as I know, I was the only wooden barber pole maker around at the time and probably the last company in the US still making wooden barber poles as a business. In 2005, I closed my shop and packed away all the barber poles that I had left. They’ve been in storage and haven’t seen the light of day until recently. There are probably around 20 poles left, plus a barber’s clock. The tallest pole is around 5′-4 tall. I want others to enjoy them rather than keeping them packed away in a storage unit, unseen. I registered it clear back in 1998 when the internet was still very young.
