Museum all lathered up in barber history

Looking like a pair of black tweezers, but larger and with a handgrip at the end, an iron barber bell would ring with a loud vibrato — clear and sharp.

The sound blared from streets and lanes every day, alerting people that a barber was present. Whoever wanted a haircut or shave needed only to shout out and the barber would arrive in a minute. Old-time barbers also gave facials and massages, cleaned ears and more. Most were also very chatty.

The barber bell, huantou in Chinese, literally "calling heads," is one among hundreds of exhibits at the Carr Hairdressing Museum in the Times Square shopping mall in the Pudong New Area. From exquisite hairpins to a rugged antique barber chair, hand painted old hairstyle illustrations to varying barber sets, the museum — despite its limited space of under 40 square meters — showcases hundreds of items in China's hairdressing history.

Visitors can see a barber table with quotes from Mao Zedong's "Little Red Book" from the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), price tags of an old trendy hair salon, and vintage books and curling irons in various sizes, arranged chronologically.

"Hairdressing in China has a history of around 370 years, but it seems to me no one has much interest and knowledge of it. We know Vidal Sassoon far better than our own history," says Zhang Yunfei, the curator of this museum.

As a hair stylist in a trendy salon, the young man is so enchanted with hairdressing memorabilia that he contributed all the exhibits in the museum.

"I have 3,000 items but since the area is limited, only a small portion of them are displayed. But once a month, I will change the exhibition content," Zhang tells Shanghai Daily.

Like many collectors, he started his journey unexpectedly.

"Eleven years ago, I went to Beijing for an event. And in an antique market I saw the pair of tongs," he recalls.

He turned back and from dozens of tongs, swiftly took out one pair with a bronze body and polished wooden handle. "I liked its fine quality and appearance. Plus it felt wonderfully nostalgic," he says.

At first, he just thought it would be a nice decoration displayed in his saloon. But one led to another. Zhang started to pay attention to antique hairdressing items in flea markets, antique fairs and even junk shops. The well-mannered stylist tried to learn the use and origin of each item he bought. No matter whether it was an old facial tool or a full barber set, it was no longer just an interesting bric-a-brac but a fascinating cultural object of beauty.

Tongs are the first generation of curling iron. Starting in 1845 and lasting to 1943, colonial powers from Europe and Japan created a whole host of territorial concessions in Shanghai after the First Opium War (1839-42). Foreigners from Europe brought their culture and lifestyle to the city. They brought their own hairdressers, and fancy hair salons sprouted in concessions.

"By then, hairdressing was a way to keep clean and tidy but not so much a method of getting pretty," Zhang says. "But when the locals saw the wavy hairstyle of the foreigners, they started to figure out the method."

A foreign hair saloon was too expensive for ordinary people. So people used tongs. They put it into a furnace fire until it turned red. Then they put the tongs into cold water for a while. In one hand, they held a comb and the other hand held the tongs. Like using curling wands today, they used the tongs to pin up one's hair and started to wind. Soon, smoke swirled with the smell of burning protein.

"If done by a skilled hairdresser, the style can last for nearly three months," says Zhang.

In addition to the curling devices, Zhang collected hairdryers made in the US during the early 1930s, delicate combs from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and hair gels and cosmetics in vintage bottles that still look elegant today.

Each collection tells a story, and not all are pretty. The barber bell might summon a nostalgic sound they remember as a child or interesting anecdotes told by their parents for some people. But at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, when the nation was ruled by the Manchu, it could mark the sound of death.

"In order not to be assimilated by Han Chinese and also to destroy the dignity of Han people, the then government asked every man to shave his hair," Zhang says.

Hair in front of their head was shaved and the rest was worn long and gathered up into a ponytail, often braided. At first, the ponytail was required to be as slim as the tail of a mouse that could pass through a tiny hole.

The barbers were all government officials who carried a load of boiling water and shaving tools. And along with the barber came the executioner, according to Zhang.

"It was like a movable execution. If some one refused to shave they would be executed at once. The head would be hung on the pole of the road," he says.

According to Zhang, the Hans cherished their hair as the symbol of royalty and integrity, and when the policy of shaving hair was released, 1 million people were killed for refusing.

"It's the origin of shaving hair in China's history," he says.

Carr Hairdressing Museum

Opening hours: Daily, 10am-9pm

Address: 415B. Time Square, 500 Zhangyang Rd