After 42 Years, Idaho Barber Lays Down Scissors For Retirement

KUNA, Idaho - On Main Street, between the Red Eye and Longhorn saloons, lies a fresh wound that may take a long time to heal.

In this 11- by 24-foot space, Ray Smith spent most of his working life. Now, after 42 years, three months and two weeks as the only barber in this town of 1,955 15 miles southwest of Boise, Smith has laid down his comb and scissors and screwed the cap of the Lucky Tiger hair tonic for the last time.

"The thing about Ray was that he wasn't just your barber, he was everybody's friend," said longtime customer Bill Hutchings. "He knew all the scuttlebutt. He knew all the farmers and which farms they lived on, their families, their kids, even their irrigating habits. If you wanted to know what was going on in town, you went to Ray's shop."

Smith is such a part of Kuna life that he postponed retirement for two years, working 10-hour days while trying unsuccessfully to lure another barber to take over. Now, at 70, he's finally hanging up his shears.

"My wife wants to do some traveling, and as you get older it's harder to keep up the pace. I enjoyed the work and had so many friends I hated to give it up. But it was time."

Smith's shop wasn't the only place in Kuna to get a haircut, but it was the only barber shop. The only one with a barber pole. The only one with an old-fashioned barber's chair. The only one with hot towels and razor strops.

When you walked into Ray's, you half expected to hear the Yankees and the Dodgers on the portable beside the latherizer.

One thing the shop didn't have was a sign. Everyone knew where it was.

People came from Boise, Nampa, Melba, Owyhee County for Ray's old-fashioned haircuts. Now, where to get a haircut has become a hot topic hereabouts.

"I don't know where I'll go, and my hair's getting long," said Carl German. "I don't think them girls (the stylists in Kuna's three other shops) would want to cut us dirty old guys' hair."

Hutchings also will miss Ray's, where he got haircuts for more than 40 years. When Hutchings was recovering from surgery, Smith made house calls.

"He came right to my house and cut my hair and wouldn't take a charge for it," Hutchings said. "He went to everybody's house when they were sick and never charged them. Ray is probably one of the best people I've ever known."

Smith was 28 when he set up shop. He remembers the day, Aug. 22, 1952. Kuna's streets were gravel then, and 500 people lived here.

"They're talking about putting in a stoplight now," Smith said, genuinely alarmed. "I hope they're kidding."

Business was good from the start. Smith rented for the first 10 years, then moved to the building where he spent the past 32. Two "good friends and customers" built it for him.

Haircuts were 75 cents when he started, shaves half-a-buck. When he put up the "closed" sign for the last time, haircuts were $6, shaves, $5.75.

In 42 years, Smith had one burglary. He lost $30, left in the till overnight, and wrote it off as a security lesson. Twelve years later, a young man walked in, apologized, and handed him $30.

The only other trouble was the time a drunk kicked a hole in one of the walls.

"I didn't want to bring charges," Smith said. "I was afraid he'd lose his job."

Hours varied. The shop opened when Smith arrived, usually by 7:15, always by 7:30 a.m. He worked until 6 p.m., later if customers were waiting, and skipped lunch if it was busy. He figures he averaged two haircuts an hour. That's something like a quarter-million haircuts.

In what some would find tedious, standing in the same little room cutting hair year after year, Smith found a lifetime of satisfaction.

Before he closed, Ray Smith combed through boxes in his basement and came across some relics of the trade - old clippers, rusty straight razors, bottles of tonic - Three Roses, Wildroot, Lucky Tiger. The memories were almost too much.

"I haven't had the heart to go by the shop since it closed," he said, blues eyes suddenly tearing. "I feel like I'm letting the guys down.

"If you can put something in your story for me, tell them how much I've appreciated their support. And their friendship. It's been a big part of my life."