Barbers! The barber you remember is back, alive and well!
Actually, not him! A distant descendant of… very distant!
Let’s see how much…
First of all, the profession of barber appears for the first time in 3,500 BC. The word “barber” comes from the Latin word “barba”, meaning beard.
Most of the information we have is from the Middle Ages, and especially from Central Europe where the profession really flourished in an impressive way and went through various changes and improvements that show the needs of the time. But the barbers themselves have changed a lot over time and are far from what we have in mind today.
This is because barbers in the past were a bit like nurses because they served the medical needs of the time. Yes – yes, you read that right…
Inside the spaces, which were shaped like baths, the barbers and the barbers were together, and it was something very different.
Everyone in some way had medical roles, especially the chief curators and the surgeons – barbers, who served only the common people, while the real doctors served the upper social strata.
The medical issues, as you can understand back then were many and hair and beards were the easiest of all … and these were catered for by the barbers who appear as we know them now.
All this shows us that the professions change competences over the years.
However, some basic concepts and perhaps even figures in the more recent past remain unchanged,
Perhaps that is their value.
Yours sincerely,
Synioraki Mina