Editor’s note: Bob Campagna was on staff at this newspaper in the 1980s. He’s returned to his hometown and has shared this (and it’s hoped future) contributions to the Sun.
On First Street West at 122 (and ½), adjacent to historic Bauman’s, the mesh of Mount Vernon’s tonsorial history intertwines.
For years, until the early 1980s, stoic barber Art Kudart plied the hair-cutting trade in his South Side Barber Shop.
“He cut an excellent butch and sideburns,” said long-ago customer Fred Lehman of Mount Vernon. In the olden days, Kudart was one of eight barbers in town.
“Art was the last one standing,” according to Mount Vernon native Glenn Wolfe, who recalled the closure of two nearby competing shops operated by the Ralston brothers and Rick Day. All were part of a vibrant downtown where you “could get almost anything,” according to Wolfe.
Nowadays, the town has about a half dozen hair salons, according to stylist Jenni Woods. Her Shear Image salon occupies the “1/2” part of 122 First Street West.
Then, the times were different. Kudart cut hair for almost 60 years on the city’s main street. As a fledgling 25-year-old he answered a 1925 ad that said, “Barber Wanted in Mount Vernon.” His business never ceased until his retirement in the early 1980s. Often four or five men would sit in chairs, patiently awaiting their turn to be clipped. Community busy-ness was always important to discuss. No appointment was necessary.
Now, Jenni’s protocol is for no extra people waiting inside. “Appointments must be made. COVID required that people can’t wait inside,” she noted, adding “I still have my appointments solidly booked. I can’t accept walk-ins.” Both female and male customers are her clientele.
Then, the formal Kudart spent almost 40 years on the town council, including a 13-year stint as Mount Vernon mayor from 1949-1962. “Art was didactic. He kept his finger on the town’s pulse, knowing business and people,” noted Lehman. “He knew much of the town’s gossip.”
Now, Jenni Woods radiates an outgoing, bubbly personality when welcoming and treating her customers. “You look like a new man!” she cheerfully exclaimed when finishing 99-year-old Jim Darby’s haircut. She offered a wash and conditioner, but Darby declined. For him, it was the desired, no frills but requisite result.
Then, Kudart’s even-tempered personality helped him navigate customer relations. Once, true to small-town thinking, Kudart rushed outside to close the windows of a shopper’s new vehicle. A cloudburst had hit with sudden ferocity. However, that action was not well-received by the car’s owner. According to Lehman, the owner apparently reamed into well-intentioned Kudart for “violating his car.”
Woods also exudes the small-town motif. She too sees the world through her large front window. Once she saw and assisted a woman who had fallen and who was trying to stand by reaching up a fire hydrant. After high school Woods intended to study social work in college. However, she found her passion in styling. “My mother was a stylist. I grew up in the business. I like to make people feel better,” Woods concluded.
Then, Kudart’s products included Lucky Tiger and a hot lather machine. Now, a diverse, contemporary assortment of hair sprays, shampoos and conditioners adorn the tall shelf in the Shear Image studio.
Though times have changed, the barber and stylist remain central to a small town’s character.
For decades in Building 122, freshly trimmed locks fall to the floor, only to be quickly swept away before the next customer enters. Though the town’s DNA disappears in this fashion, the stories generated in the barbershop and salon remain the woven fabric of Mount Vernon’s grand history.
Jenni Woods cuts the hair of Jim Darby.