In addition to training about 5,000 men and women to become barbers and stylists over the last half century, Simon "Cy" Avara saved the careers of countless older colleagues who believed they were doomed by the Beatles.
Mr. Avara opened his first hair academy in West Baltimore, where he grew up, in October 1960. In those days, male hair was short — low-maintenance, "Mad Men" hair — and American barbers, armed with clippers, kept it that way: crew cuts, buzz cuts and wiffles. Aside from minor mood swings here and there, American male hairstyles had not changed in a generation or two.
But then the Beatles arrived, in 1963-64, and suddenly long hair was the rage. The old-school barbers panicked, or at least became really, really grouchy. They had to adapt or their businesses would suffer.
In Baltimore, a lot of them turned to Cy Avara, a young man who'd had the foresight to not only establish a hair academy but become a Roffler franchisee. That was huge, Mr. Avara will tell you. Edmond "Pop" Roffler brought European methods to American haircutting in 1958. It was a new and different approach that involved a straight razor and recognized each head of hair as an opportunity for style and design.
Having embraced the Roffler method, Mr. Avara knew how to deal with demands for long and shaggy styles, and he helped other barbers keep their livelihoods during the British invasion. They cut hair during the day and came to Mr. Avara for retraining at night. That's about when barbers started to become "hair stylists," and they could charge more for a "style" than they could for a mere cut.
Mr. Avara, a Baltimore institution, has had many accomplishments over the years, but helping the old guys deal with the youth movement of the 1960s sometimes gets overlooked in the telling of his story. Same with his role in teaching white guys to cut black hair and black guys to cut white hair; the barbers' union hired him to do that in the 1960s.
I thought I'd mention those things as I report the following splendid news: Simon "Cy" Avara, teacher and mentor to generations of barbers and hairstylists, is about to be inducted into the Barbering Hall of Fame. From Baltimore, dubbed "Hairdo Capital of the World" by John Waters, Mr. Avara is the first.
The National Association of Barber Boards of America established its hall of fame in 1965, inducting one new member each year. Mr. Avara's is a well-deserved honor, and it's not surprising that the staff and students of his hair schools nominated him.
He's a businessman, but a generous one. I've heard numerous stories over the years about Mr. Avara's efforts to help young men and women, some of them on parole, get their licenses, even establish their own shops. He's provided scholarships to several students who couldn't afford the tuition at his two schools, one on West Pratt Street in the city, the other on Dundalk Avenue in Baltimore County.
"His Pratt Street barber school is really a social services agency in disguise," says Frank DeFilippo, the longtime political commentator who has been an Avara customer for three decades. "He turns lives around, takes street thugs and, yes, even an occasional convicted felon, and makes solid citizens out of them. Cy not only teaches them a trade but also insists that they pray before and after class."
More than 40 years ago, Mr. Avara took under his wing a neglected 8-year-old boy. "He took him in, made him go to school, and started the 8-year-old shining shoes in the barber shop," Mr. DeFilippo says. "He used to shine [former Maryland Gov.] Marvin Mandel's shoes." That boy, Nate Smith, grew into a man, opened his own shop at 20, then became one of Mr. Avara's teachers.
"Another street urchin who Cy straightened out not only became a successful barber but is also a respected preacher in the black community," Mr. DeFilippo adds. "He credits Cy with turning his life around when everyone else told him he was a bum and would never amount to anything."
For years, Mr. Avara, his staff and students have been collecting clothing for the poor, and they've raised money for St. Vincent's Center in Timonium, specifically its treatment program for abused children. Mr. Avara sends his students there once a month to give free haircuts. That's hall of fame stuff, indeed.
Dan Rodricks' column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. He is the host of Midday on WYPR 88.1 FM. His email is dan.rodricks@baltsun.com.