The Compton Barber Shop

 

A Brief History and some fascinating facts!  

 

Barber Surgeon  

The barber surgeon was one of the most common medical practitioners of medieval Europe - generally charged with looking after soldiers during or after a battle. In this era, surgery was not generally conducted by physicians, but by barbers. They often took up residence in castles where they also provided medical assistance to the rich and wealthy.

Barber surgeons in the United Kingdom

Formal recognition of their skills (in England at least) goes back to 1540, when the Fellowship of Surgeons (who existed as a distinct profession, but still not "Doctors/Physicians" as they are thought of today) merged with the Company of Barbers to form the Company of Barber-Surgeons. However, the trade was gradually put under pressure by the medical profession and in 1745, the surgeons split from the barbers to form the Company of Surgeons. In 1800 a Royal Charter was granted and the Royal College of Surgeons in London came into being (later it was renamed to cover all of England - equivalent Colleges exist for Scotland and Ireland as well as many of the old UK colonies).

The last vestige of barber surgeons' links with the medical side of their profession is probably the traditional red and white barber's pole, which is said to represent the blood and bandages associated with their older role. Another link is the UK's use of the title Mr. rather than Dr. for consultants and registrars in surgery (when awarded an MRCS or FRCS diploma). This dates back to the days when surgeons gained an RCS diploma rather than a University Doctoral Degree. Even though all surgeons now have to gain a basic medical degree and doctorate (as well as undergoing several more years training in surgery), they still retain their link with the past, except for haircuts, which task the barbers have retained. The surgeons cut the parts of the body which aren't hair, whereas the barbers now cut only the hair.

 

Barber’s Pole

The origin of the barber pole is associated with the service of bloodletting. During medieval times, barbers performed surgery on customers as well as tooth extractions. The original pole had a brass basin at the top (representing the vessel in which leeches were kept) and bottom (representing the basin which received the blood). The pole itself represents the staff that the patient gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

The red and white stripes symbolize the bandages used during the procedure: red for the blood-stained and white for the clean bandages. Originally, these bandages were hung on the pole to dry after washing. As the bandages blew in the wind, they would twist together to form the spiral pattern similar to the stripes in the modern day barber pole. The barber pole became emblematic of the barber/surgeon's profession. Later the cloths were replaced by a painted wooden pole of red and white stripes.

After the formation of the United Barber Surgeon's Company in England, a statute required the barber to use a blue and white pole and the surgeon to use a red pole. In France, surgeons used a red pole with a basin attached to identify their offices. Blue often appears on poles in the United States, possibly as an homage to its national colours. Another more fanciful interpretation of these barber pole colours is that red represents arterial blood, blue is symbolic of venous blood, and white depicts the bandage. Spinning barberpoles are supposed to be oriented so that the red (blood) will appear as if it was flowing down.

 

Aviation

The term "on the barber pole" is pilot jargon that refers to flying an aircraft at the maximum safe velocity. The Airspeed Indicator on aircraft capable of flying at altitude features a red/white striped needle resembling a barber pole. This needle displays the VMO (Maximum Operating Velocity) or - at altitude - the MMO (Mach Limit Maximum Operating Speed) of the aircraft. As the aircraft increases in altitude, and the air decreases in density and temperature, the speed of sound also decreases. Close to the speed of sound, an aircraft becomes susceptible to Mach buffet - shock waves produced by flying so close to the sound barrier. Thus - as the speed of sound decreases, so the maximum safe operating speed of the aircraft is reduced. The "barber pole" needle moves to indicate this speed. Flying "on the barber pole" therefore means to be flying the aircraft as fast as is safe to do so in the current conditions.

 

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/