The Barbershop Buzz: Amidst a Move, Remembering the Old Days

When he flipped the sign on the door at Ken’s Barbershop over to “closed” for the last time a few weeks ago, Ken Jurecka ended an era. He and his good friend and longtime fellow barber, 95-year-old Charlie Ripper, agree that the action represented a local milestone.

For the first time in the better part of a century, there is no longer a barbershop located on the courthouse square in La Grange.

Ken has moved to a spacious new shop at 624B West Travis, next door to Maxwell Motors. He is joined by Mary Janca, who works Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Floyd Weishuhn, who cuts hair on Fridays and Saturdays.

Ken Jurecka Knows a Good Haircut

Ken has been barbering for 51 years. While attending Fayetteville Rural High School, he began studying on Saturdays and in the summer at Houston Heights Barber School. During his training and apprenticeship, he stayed with his older brother, Gene, who also was a barber. On Saturdays in Houston for two summers, Ken was often assigned “the first chair” reserved for customers requesting flattops. He became very proficient at giving that kind of haircut.

By the time Ken graduated from high school in 1969, he had earned his barber license. While attending high school, he had met Nora Sunderhuse, his future wife. The couple has been married 48 years and has two children and three grandchildren.

For two years, Ken attended Blinn College while working in Milton Drawe’s two-chair barbershop in Fayetteville that had an overhead fan but no air conditioning. He later barbered two days a week in Industry and operated a barbershop in a small building at his La Grange home. When the city annexed the property, he moved the building near the city cemetery. For 17 years, Ken worked weekends for Birdie Schielack, whose barbershop was located on W. Colorado. After Ken purchased the barbershop from Charlie in 1988, Charlie worked for him part-time.

A people-person through and through, Ken enjoys the camaraderie of his regular customers, as well as greeting newcomers. He has had his share of unforgettable customers, including one whose obscenities virtually turned the air blue in the cramped little shop. Ken counseled the culprit about cleaning up his language, especially if any of the other customers in the barbershop wore shiny shoes. Chances are they belonged to a pastor, which made the cussing even more inappropriate.

His customers’ comings and goings help Ken keep a finger on the pulse of La Grange and Fayette County. He lets everyone have their say, gently brushing off the barbs and jabs of those with conflicting views.

Charlie Ripper’s Hair Cutting History

In 1952, Charlie started barbering in La Grange at 227 W. Travis, a shop just a couple of doors down from Ken’s Barber Shop. Charlie had attended Austin Barber College for six months on the GI Bill before apprenticing with Henry Bertsch for 18 months.

In 1955, Charlie’s aunt, Agnes Mika, who owned the 237 W. Travis building, helped her nephew establish Charlie’s Barber Shop at that location. A haircut back then cost 65¢.

Sixty-five years ago, La Grange had four barbershops and seven barbers, all with Henry as a first or middle name – including Charles Henry Ripper. The others were: Henry Bertsch, Henry Vasut, Andrew Henry Heselmeyer, Henry Dolezal, Henry W. Munke and Henry Brewton (unconfirmed spelling of the surname.)

Tucked into the front corner of the popular watering hole called Frank’s Place, Charlie’s Barber Shop was remodeled about once every decade. One of Charlie’s first updates was adding air conditioning. He pushed the wall back about another five feet during each renovation, although Charlie closed the door between the two establishments.

American journalist and former national evening news anchor Dan Rather would regularly stop on his way to Smithville, where his wife grew up. What Rather wanted was a regular old haircut, according to Charlie.

Charlie says Claude Mertz, his old friend and fellow barber for 50-plus years, was much better at cutting flattops. Another hair fashion that stands out in Charlie’s mind is the Hollywood haircut: flat on top with wings on the side.

While barbering is generally a recession-proof occupation, Charlie recalls that the hippie movement during the 1960s was hard on barbers. Many young men weren’t getting regular haircuts. If it hadn’t been for a staunch group of older customers, Charlie doesn’t know how he and other barbers would have weathered that fad.

When Charlie retired in 1988, he and his wife, Irene, sold the building and the barbershop to separate buyers. Since that time, Frank’s Place has gone through several iterations of food establishments, while Ken’s Barber Shop has remained the same until it closed at the end of June.

Familiar Props Make the Move

Ken wouldn’t dream of parting with the two 106-year-old antique barber chairs and the mirrors behind them. They were originally purchased by barber John Korenek, who sold them to Agnes Mika, Charlie’s aunt. Made by Emil Paidar Co., the chairs feature gleaming porcelain-enameled arm and leg rests, as well as upholstered seats, headrests and footrests. The Chicago-based manufacturer started producing barber chairs in the early 1900s.

Ken also packed up the giant-size blue wooden scissors that Charlie acquired years ago as part of a sewing machine promotion, even though he’s been offered $300 cash for them. Charlie says the silver vintage squeeze-style clippers that don’t make any noise were used for first haircuts for several generations of small local boys. Ken won’t part with them either.

A Norman Rockwell print decoupaged by Charlie’s daughter, Carol, along with a numbered, limited-edition sketch of a windmill drawn by artist Richard Ball will also hang in the new shop. Mr. Ball, who was showing his art on the square, went by for a haircut and was so pleased that he came back and presented the barbershop with the picture. An antique black bench, the first one ever on the courthouse square, sat outside Ken and Charlie’s downtown location for decades. Charlie estimates it is 114 years old and was originally part of a 14-footer that stood inside Werner Tramp’s barbershop on the west side of the Square. The bench moved, as well as the international sign of Ken’s craft – the old barber pole, to Ken’s new location.

Drop by to say hello to Ken soon and help usher in a new era of barbershop history in La Grange.