Fine & Dandy
From longhairs to crew cuts, State Street's favorite barber, Don Fine, has done it all with style.
By Josh Orton x'04
It's possible that no one — not students, not the band, not even Bucky — has more to say about the style of UW-Madison than Don Fine.
Fine, the seventy-three-year-old proprietor of the College Barber Shop, at the foot of State Street, snipped his first head of Madison hair in 1953, and since then, he has seen campus life unfold from a prime spot at the window of his shop. A Mineral Point native who attended barbering school in Milwaukee, Fine started working at the barbershop when it was owned by Fred Lee.
He bought the business in 1969, and although over the years he has seen the campus morph in both physical size and enrollment, his shop has preserved its classic attitude, even if a shave and a haircut in 2003 cost slightly more than two bits.
To passersby not in the know, the shop may seem rather unassuming: barber pole out front, a display of shampoos, and a handwritten sign announcing hours of operation (8-5, Monday through Friday, 8-noon on Saturday).
By Josh Orton x'04
It's possible that no one — not students, not the band, not even Bucky — has more to say about the style of UW-Madison than Don Fine.
Fine, the seventy-three-year-old proprietor of the College Barber Shop, at the foot of State Street, snipped his first head of Madison hair in 1953, and since then, he has seen campus life unfold from a prime spot at the window of his shop. A Mineral Point native who attended barbering school in Milwaukee, Fine started working at the barbershop when it was owned by Fred Lee.
He bought the business in 1969, and although over the years he has seen the campus morph in both physical size and enrollment, his shop has preserved its classic attitude, even if a shave and a haircut in 2003 cost slightly more than two bits.
To passersby not in the know, the shop may seem rather unassuming: barber pole out front, a display of shampoos, and a handwritten sign announcing hours of operation (8-5, Monday through Friday, 8-noon on Saturday).
But inside, Fine heads a row of nine barbers who cut, style, and shave a steady stream of UW-Madison customers, from freshmen to emeriti professors. Students, who always have been Fine's favorite clients, know that sitting down in his chair is a minivacation: a great view of the action and a sympathetic ear for ten or fifteen minutes. Even today, before a recital, a big game, or a blind date, many people on campus know Fine can give them an outlet — and shorter hair.
"They tell me everything," Fine says proudly. "Exams, spring vacation, sports …"
And during all those years of listening, he has done nearly 600,000 haircuts, Fine estimates.
While his quiet demeanor might not suggest a campus news hound, Fine has always kept his finger on the pulse. During the demonstrations of the late sixties and early seventies, Fine had a front row seat — although perhaps a precarious one. Yet he says the floor-to-ceiling windows of his shop have never been broken by students, even during the most intense of parties or protests.
Few things have changed for Fine during the past half century. He still arrives at the shop by six every morning to shave himself and get ready to open. He leaves at six each night. He gives shaves with a straight razor, a rarity these days.
"They tell me everything," Fine says proudly. "Exams, spring vacation, sports …"
And during all those years of listening, he has done nearly 600,000 haircuts, Fine estimates.
While his quiet demeanor might not suggest a campus news hound, Fine has always kept his finger on the pulse. During the demonstrations of the late sixties and early seventies, Fine had a front row seat — although perhaps a precarious one. Yet he says the floor-to-ceiling windows of his shop have never been broken by students, even during the most intense of parties or protests.
Few things have changed for Fine during the past half century. He still arrives at the shop by six every morning to shave himself and get ready to open. He leaves at six each night. He gives shaves with a straight razor, a rarity these days.
You could also mark time with Fine's deadpan humor. As he wraps a hot towel on the face of a customer before a shave, the famous tongue-in-cheek quips kick in: "Better enjoy it now — before the blood starts flowin.' "
But that doesn't mean he hasn't seen styles ebb and flow. Back in the day when a good trim was about a dollar, not everyone wanted a buzz. Fine says he misses the time when he had more work to do, when people invested more in longer hair, or at least still wanted a part. The style that held the longest, he recalls, was probably the Ivy League, or "Princeton" cuts - where the style was like a crew cut, but still parted in front. Even flattops presented more interesting challenges.
These days, Fine laments, "everyone just wants it real short, something they can just shove a hat on top of."
Given that its owner is a notorious Badger and Packer fan, the shop often bristles with sports chatter above the intermittent noise of vacuums and electric razors. It boasts a sprawling collection of posters, programs, and autographs from players and coaches, many of whom are regulars in Fine's chair. But the barber doesn't get the inside scoop he once did during those cuts.
But that doesn't mean he hasn't seen styles ebb and flow. Back in the day when a good trim was about a dollar, not everyone wanted a buzz. Fine says he misses the time when he had more work to do, when people invested more in longer hair, or at least still wanted a part. The style that held the longest, he recalls, was probably the Ivy League, or "Princeton" cuts - where the style was like a crew cut, but still parted in front. Even flattops presented more interesting challenges.
These days, Fine laments, "everyone just wants it real short, something they can just shove a hat on top of."
Given that its owner is a notorious Badger and Packer fan, the shop often bristles with sports chatter above the intermittent noise of vacuums and electric razors. It boasts a sprawling collection of posters, programs, and autographs from players and coaches, many of whom are regulars in Fine's chair. But the barber doesn't get the inside scoop he once did during those cuts.
In the past, players and coaches often talked strategy with him. Now, says Fine, "coaches tell [players] to keep it undercover … they won't tell me much."
But that doesn't mean he's out of touch. In fact, you get the sense that Fine relishes his role as the one who has seen it all. When a customer kids him by asking if State Street still had horses the year he started, he vehemently denies it.
"No way!" he exclaims. "That was the year before I got here."
But that doesn't mean he's out of touch. In fact, you get the sense that Fine relishes his role as the one who has seen it all. When a customer kids him by asking if State Street still had horses the year he started, he vehemently denies it.
"No way!" he exclaims. "That was the year before I got here."
