Simon Ybarra started cutting hair in Hollister when Eisenhower
was president
Don’t tell Simon Ybarra he was a just a barber. For 53 years
Ybarra has cut hair in Hollister with a flair
– call it an artistic flair.
”
There used to be an art to cutting hair,
”
said the 89-year-old Ybarra, who retired just this year.
”
It’s different today; now you just cut it all off. Today there
are some terrible looking haircuts.
”
Simon Ybarra started cutting hair in Hollister when Eisenhower was president
Don’t tell Simon Ybarra he was a just a barber. For 53 years Ybarra has cut hair in Hollister with a flair – call it an artistic flair.
“There used to be an art to cutting hair,” said the 89-year-old Ybarra, who retired just this year. “It’s different today; now you just cut it all off. Today there are some terrible looking haircuts.”
Ybarra started his trade after he went to barber college in San Francisco. However, when he was through school he quickly returned to Hollister to start his career.
Ybarra started as an apprentice barber in Watsonville in 1954 before there was an opening at Johnny’s barbershop in Hollister. Back then the barbershop was more than a place to get a haircut; it was a social parlor and a hotbed of local happenings.
Back when Ybarra was first starting out he used to give shaves as well as haircuts. He’d use a strap and a straightedge, but he said that he stopped giving shaves when he moved into his own shop, around 1960. Back then Hollister still had quite a few barbers sharing space.
One of the things Ybarra recalled fondly was developing lifelong relationships with his clients. He remembers mothers bringing children to the shop and then watching those kids grow up and bring their own children for haircuts.
In that way he says he was very fortunate because he made some terrific friends through his shop.
Back in the 50s and 60s there were only a few ways to get your hair cut, but Ybarra did them all, from the butch to the flattop to the chuco; he suspects there were about nine different styles. Some of the miners from New Idria used to come to Ybarra’s shop for a haircut; they’d come into town and while they were here they’d stop for a haircut.
Some of his former customers still come to him looking to get their hair cut, but his days of cutting hair have passed.
Ybarra misses the work, but most of all he misses the friendships.
“I miss the customers the most. You get attached to them after you spend so many years together,” Ybarra said.
