Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1885 — A Chinese Barber. [ARTICLE]

A Chinese Barber.

Ono of the important personages in Mott Street, New York, is Lee Ah, the Chinese barber. Unlike his American colleagues, he does the larger part of his business in the stores or residences of his customers. A reporter of the New York Sun found him yesterday and was shaved. The shave was a success. The chair is a low, three-legged stool, on which the customer si<ts bolt upright. Coat, waistcoat, necktie, and collar are removed, end a common long cloth put around the neck. The face and throat are washed with perfume water, and dried with a soft towel, and remaining moisture being removed by a vigorous fanning. The shaving that follows resembles our own style, except that almost no lather is used. After going over the face and throat, Lee shaves the back of the neck and temples, and if the eyebrows are irregular, cuts away enough hairs to produce the symmetry desired. The second part of the operation is what he prices himself upon. The razor is dried and put away; from his kit he produces two small ear razors, clippers, tweezers, scrapers, and sponges, and with these proceeds to embellish the ears. He first shaves off the down on the and then, with a dextrous sweep of the wrist, the hair on the inside of the ear. The blade of this ear razor is about as large as a match, and is into a crescent. The sensation is pleasant rather than otherwise. With his other instruments he rubs and polishes the ear until its color is a bright pink. The third part of the job is a Sweedishmovement cure on a small scale. The muscles of the face, scalp, and throat are kneaded, pinched, and pulled, even the eyelids being exercised. Then the large muscles of the arms and trunk are alternately flexed and extended, the finger joints "oracked,” and the head twisted into a dozen positions. The finishing touch consists in being patted and pounded with Lee’s fist and open hand from the top of the head to the small of the neck, and the job is complete. Time, thirty minutes, and cost, “hap dollee.”