Advice leads to 40-year barber career for Bragwell

Wallace Bragwell has been welcoming customers like Kevin and Stephen Lacey into his Barbershop for a haircut during his 32-year tenure in downtown Phil Campbell. | Nathan Strickland/FCT

The old-timey barbershops seem to be a thing of the past and are quickly fading out.

The haircutting world has now evolved more into a female dominated profession, with most men losing interest in the field.

Most of the old-style “barbers,” which is a term used to describe men who cut hair, here in the county have either passed away or hung up their scissors and turned off the striped-spinning barber pole, opting for retirement without anyone following in behind to replace them.

Wallace Bragwell has noticed the decline, but said he doesn’t plan to hang up his sheers anytime soon.

“People come in here and ask me all the time when I plan on retiring,” he said. “I tell them when I die I guess.”

Bragwell has been cutting hair for 32 years and has never thought about doing anything else. He said his father gave him and his brother, Harold, a little encouragement when they were younger and that is how it began.

“My dad was outside cutting some pulpwood and my brother and I were standing there watching him and I remember it being a really hot day,” he said. “After he finished up a little, he turned to us and said ‘Boys I don’t care what you do in life, but if your going to stay in my house you’ve got to work.’

“My brother and I talked about it and decided we wanted to go to the trade school down in Hamilton. We visited a few departments down there, but once we walked into the barbershop department and felt that cool air strike us in the face, we both decided right then and there this is what we were going to do.”

Bragwell said a lot has changed since that time when he entered into classes in Hamilton.

“I believe we were in the second barbershop class that was ever offered at what was then the Northwest Alabama State Technical College,” he said. “When my brother and I attended there was just two women in a class of about 30. I’ve been back lately to just visit and now there is maybe one or two males in a class.”

Bragwell said men used to operate barbershops and women were more established in beauty shops. Today, men and women seem to be more integrated, working together to try and give as many haircuts as possible.

“I remember when haircuts were 75 cents and you had to give a good flattop and a good shave with a straight razor to get business,” he said. “Now haircuts are around $12 anywhere you go with no shave. It’s amazing how times have changed.”

After college, Bragwell was drafted for the Vietnam War and joined the Navy serving two years active duty.

“I tried to convince them I wasn’t too good at anything, but that didn’t matter to them,” he said, jokingly.

“They put me to work by myself in the officer’s barbershop on the U.S.S. St. Paul. I believe that helped me get pretty good at giving flattops. It seems like an easy style of haircut, but it’s pretty hard to give that sort of cut until you get the hang of it, then it is pretty easy.”

Bragwell got his start in Franklin County in 1970 by jumping aboard and cutting hair with locals Dewey Hendrix and James McCullar.

In 1978, Bragwell was approached by Doug Jackson who directed him towards a shop for sale in Phil Campbell.

“I debated for a little bit whether or not I wanted to go to Phil Campbell because it was such a small town,” he said.

“Doug told me not to let the size of the town fool me because once school is in session it doubles in size. The man who was selling the shop said he was leaving no matter what and put the building at a price I couldn’t refuse and I have been here since May 2, 1978.”

Bragwell said 99.9 percent of his business comes from men, but cuts two or three women’s hair.

“People ask me why I don’t cut my wife’s hair,” he said. “I tell them that would be the quickest way for a divorce and I love her too much for that to happen.”

Bragwell is the only barber in town and takes pride in it.

“I tell folks all the time that I am the best and the worst barber in town, being the only one I think that makes lots of sense,” he said, jokingly.

“There are two or three beauty shops here but I’m the only male barber.”

Since the economy has gotten bad, Bragwell said people don’t flock in as much as they use to.

“It’s pretty busy at the first of the month then slacks off near the end and starts all over again,” he said. “I just work until customers quit coming in then I go home.”

Bragwell’s Barbershop is open on Tuesdays and Thursday-Saturday until people stop coming in. No appointments are necessary.

Bragwell said he plans on keeping his profession alive and well and “just prays everyone will still need and want a haircut for years to come.”