Hanging up the clippers

By Tim Trainor of The Montana Standard - 10/26/2008

Les Nelson is seen in his barber shop, Les's Headframe Barbershop, 1807 Harrison Ave., along with Randy Rodini, at left in blue, who is buying the shop as Nelson retires. Walter Hinick / The Montana STandard

In 1967, Les Nelson came home from Vietnam and went to beauty school. The son of a rancher from Zurich, Mont., Nelson wanted to become a barber in his home state. So he went to school in Vancouver, Wash., and then to Twin Bridges to work in a barbershop.

"The normal cut then was past your shoulders," he said.

Parents would bring their kids in, and the children would cry while Nelson did his job, lopping off locks.

In the 41 years since, some things have changed and others have remained the same.

"The kids still cry," he said. "But now it's because their parents want their hair long, and the kids want it shorter." Nelson is retiring next week after more than four decades behind the barber's chair. He's owned Les's Headframe Barbershop, 1807 Harrison Ave., since 2003, but he's been a fixture of the Butte barbershop scene since the early 1970s.

That's when John Whelan, one of Nelson's longtime customers, walked in the door for the first time.

He hasn't gone to another barber since.

"I've followed him through all of his shops," Whelan said. "He gives a good haircut, and he's dependable." When he began, Nelson was one of nearly 100 Butte barbers who wore white dress shirts, dress pants and a tie, were members of a union and shaved many of their customers.

At his peak, he was cutting 40-45 heads a day, spending an average of seven minutes on each.

"I could get them in and out quick," he said.

Now, Nelson is one of only a handful of men still cutting hair in the old-school, walk-ins-welcome kind of way. And he's the last union member since it dissolved.

He no longer wears a pressed shirt and tie, and he doesn't do shaves any more.

"People don't know how to get a shave now," he said. "You're just supposed to sit there and let me do the work." But it hasn't been four decades of just hard work at the barber chair. He has other interests, as well.

A self-professed rock hound, Nelson likes to spend his free time searching for rare gemstones.

He's collected loads of smoky quartz and blue fluoride, but while on a routine hunt not far from Butte he came across his prize — a massive gold nugget.

He was offered $10,000 for it, but Montana Tech professors told him it was worth a lot more.

"They tell me it's a museum piece," he said.

A gemologist in Bozeman told him "to put it into a bank vault, and quick." He's also acquired quite a collection of antique fishing equipment, including more than 300 old reels and more than a 100 bamboo rods.

Rocks and rods decorate the barbershop, which Nelson sold to Randy Rodini. Rodini will take over Nov. 1.

As for Nelson, he and his wife are moving to Kingman, Ariz., for the winter, where he can continue his hobbies on the Colorado River, Lake Mead and the Arizona highlands.

"There's lots of nice country there," he said.

He'll miss a lot of the good parts of being a barber, such as being a hub of neighborhood information.

He once informed the partner of a local business that his business had been sold.

"I told him I just cut the hair of a guy from Seattle who was buying it," he said. "He went flying out of here." But, there are things he won't miss. His wrists and arms ache from decades of squeezing scissors and holding shavers.

"It's the right time (to quit)," he said.

That's bad news for 52-year-old Mark Sever, who has been frequenting Nelson's shops since he was 17.

"I used to go to a barbershop where they were more interested in watching football games than cutting hair," he said.

So his dad recommended Nelson. Sever has been going there ever since, for more than just a haircut.

"He's given me some great advice for life, in investments, jobs, real estate," Sever said.

He still remembers the free trim Nelson gave him when he entered military service.

"What a loss," said Sever. "He's a phenomenal man." Reporter Tim Trainor may be reached via e-mail at tim.trainor@lee.net.