Advertisement Grandpa Isidore “Izzy” Michalski and father Florian “Izzy” Michalski operated Izzy’s neighborhood barbershop at 1511 S. 16th St., La Crosse. In 1955, Grandpa Izzy purchased the site and continued his career there until his death in June 1972 after a 46-year career. Dad Izzy joined grandpa in 1956 and continued the business until his death in June 2002 after a 46-year career. “They were a great team, and the last of a dying breed,” Janine proudly says.
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Janine Hansen has enshrined her fathers and grandfathers barbershop, formerly “Izzy’s Barber Shop” in La Crosse, in the basement of her La Crosse home. PETER THOMSON photo |
Their craft lives on because of Janine’s gargantuan undertaking to reconstruct their 9-by-14-foot barbershop in her home. It’s in a basement room that is 9 by 12. Hers is a mission that began in earnest after her father’s death.
“In our youth, my sister, Kathy, and I reminded Dad several times to keep everything that was in the shop — don’t throw anything away. After his death, I decided it would be ridiculous to keep everything in boxes. I wanted to enjoy this piece of history and let others enjoy it, too.”
I walked into Janine’s shop awed by its Izzy completeness. The two original hydraulic barber chairs are centerpieces. Anchored above and between them is the original signature from Izzy’s shop. Across the room at either end of the barbering area are poles — one the familiar spiraling red, white and blue barber-shop trademark of the 1950s, the other in 1920s deco-style with red and white stained glass framed in zinc. The chairs and poles are in mint condition.
Should you have the opportunity to browse this marvelous “museum,” you’ll find a vast array of tools cherished by yesteryear barbers. A partial list is: razors, clippers, massagers, instrument sterilizers, comb cleaners, shaving brushes, a paper towel dispenser for neck comfort, a hair-growth stimulator, a container with blue liquid known as Barbicide (germicide), and numerous tonic bottles. All are neatly displayed openly or tucked away in dresser drawers.
To lower a child’s ears, there’s a seat designed for placement across barber chair arms. And let’s not forget a peanut vending machine that has piqued the interest of many a young customer.
The dresser is crowned with a miniature version of a barbershop. Also in a drawer is a stack of business licenses obtained over the years by the Izzys, together with an antique cash drawer. There are ledgers from the 1960s, and nearby is a tool storage case.
Other notables placed strategically throughout the shop are a customer counter (Janine continues to look for a glass globe to cover this priceless item), a spittoon, a smoke stand and a wooden hat/clothes hanger complete with the younger Izzy’s personalized coat and his wallet.
Adorning the walls are several wooden plaques about a barber’s trade, including one with a list of pre-World War II hair-care prices heralding such spiffs as a tonic shampoo for $1, and a plain shampoo and head massage, each for 50 cents. Another advertises Local Barber’s Union No. 21 in which both Izzys held memberships.
For Janine, the restoration project is a labor of love. She is thankful for help from John Russ of Chaseburg, her father’s friend. Russ carefully built metal bases to safely attach items to walls: the customer counter, the Izzy’s sign, the barber poles. And he fixed hydraulic fluid leaks occurring when the chairs were moved from the shop at 1511 S. 16th.
When Grandpa Izzy passed away, Janine was in her early teens. She remembers most her father. A fur buyer, his main focus was on love of family and his customers. A union barber until his father’s death, Florian chose not to raise prices according to union requirements because he was keenly aware his customers were on fixed incomes. He made “house calls” to customers when they moved into nursing homes. He knew people from all walks of life and was a friend to all.
Many customers have shared memories in writing. Among them is La Crosse’s Ken Kempf. “I was in the chair when a man brought in a fresh deer hide and put it on the floor. (Young) Izzy paid him and he left. It was then that I knew Izzy was a ‘renaissance man’ of many talents and interests. Besides being a great barber he was a farmer, a woodcutter, a hide dealer and a landlord. Most important, he was a gentleman.”
Janine, a surgical technician at Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, is doing her grandpa and father proud. Is a family tradition continuing? Kathy Michalski, Janine’s 18-year-old niece, begins cosmetology studies this fall. Perhaps there is an Izzy’s beauty salon in the works.
