A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards.

They were the locations of open debates, voicing public concerns, and engaging citizens in discussions about contemporary issues.

In modern times, the term "barber" is used both as a professional title and to refer to hairdressers who specialize in men's hair.

Barbers differ with respect to where they work, which services they are licensed to provide, and what name they use to refer to themselves.

In the early 1900s, an alternative word for barber, "chirotonsor", came into use in the U.S.[2] Different states in the US vary on their labor and licensing laws.

For example, in Maryland and Pennsylvania, a cosmetologist cannot use a straight razor, strictly reserved for barbers.

In contrast, in New Jersey both are regulated by the State Board of Cosmetology and there is no longer a legal difference in barbers and cosmetologists, as they are issued the same license and can practice both the art of straight razor shaving, coloring, other chemical work and haircutting if they choose.

The barber's trade has a long history: razors have been found among relics of the Bronze Age (around 3500 BC) in Egypt.

The first barbering services were performed by Egyptians in 5000 BC with instruments they had made from oyster shells or sharpened flint.

Mayan, Aztec, Iroquois, Norse and Mongolian cultures utilized shave art as a way to distinguish roles in society and wartime.

[5] Men in Ancient Greece would have their beards, hair, and fingernails trimmed and styled by the κουρεύς (cureus), in an agora (market place) which also served as a social gathering for debates and gossip.

[6] Barbering was introduced to Rome by the Greek colonies in Sicily in 296 BC,[citation needed] and barbershops (Latin: tonstrīna, lit.

[7] A few Roman barbers became wealthy and influential, running shops that were favorite public locations of high society.

Some of the duties of the barber included neck manipulation, cleansing of ears and scalp, draining of boils, fistula and lancing of cysts with wicks.

According to Trudier Harris, "In addition to its status as a gathering place, the black barbershop also functioned as a complicated and often contradictory microcosm of the larger world.

[11] In the late 19th and early 20th century, barbershops became a common business in the United States where people would go to have their hair cut by a professional barber with good equipment.

It stood for higher education in the ranks, and the parent school was rapidly followed by branches in nearly every principal city of the United States.

[citation needed] Length – Most states require the same amount of training hours for barbers as they do for cosmetologists.

[citation needed] The barber pole, featuring blue, red and white spiraling stripes, symbolizes different aspects of the craft.

[28][29] In Forest Grove, Oregon, the "World's Tallest Barber Shop Pole" measures 72 feet (22 m).

[30] Because of its bright bands and colors, the redbanded rockfish Sebastes babcocki is referred to as "barber pole".

[31] The phrase barber pole is derisive jargon in craps, and refers to the commingling of "gaming cheques of different denominations".