It takes a certain amount of courage for a woman to enter the man’s world of barbering in a small community like Manteca.
Gloria Edwards, formerly of San Leandro, has bought the small barbershop in downtown Manteca on Maple Avenue operated by Dan Southwick since he graduated from Manteca High School in 1959.
She first went to a beauty school while in high school, and then worked in an office losing that job when she turned 24. Edwards returned to school, and began cutting hair – 14 years ago. She worked for a shop in Pleasanton where the owner took her under his wing, she said.
There’s a transition of sorts taking place now with Gloria at her chair from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Dan on the job – as long as he wants – mornings from 8 until noon.
“Men are standoffish with a woman barber at first – but once they get to know your personality they open up,” she said. Another barber, Marianne Andrade, has also joined the team at the shop.
She soon found one of Dan’s customers who was totally against women being in the barber shop scene. He called Edwards on the phone in an angry tone, telling her his dad was a barber, and it was not a job for a woman. Edwards chatted with him on the phone for some 45 minutes winning him over in the end.
Older gentlemen have a hard time, she mused, we have to work for their respect.
One of the shop’s favorite and longtime customers, Hank Koch, sat in Dan’s chair offering satiric one-liners, for Gloria’s benefit, keeping everyone in stitches in old time barber shop comedy.
The retired steel worker originally hailed from Marble Falls, Texas. He said when a dam was built, it put the home place under water and his family had to move west. Koch added that he was involved in erecting steel beams at Delta College and University of the Pacific. Koch now works on an area ranch.
He remembers his school years back to the first grade at French Camp School where “Miss Lease” was his teacher – later married becoming Mrs. McKeon. McKeon Drive was named after her at the same time West Ranch School was dedicated. She was then 93 years old at the time, he said, and he was there in the audience.
Southwick spent countless hours delivering his wife Joan’s wedding cakes over the years to reception sites.
“We delivered so many cakes, we learned where they rode best in the car – in the trunk,” he said.
Dan and Joan took one wedding cake by air all the way back to Alabama.
“That was a challenge,” he said. “She held the cake – all in pieces – and decorated it when we got there.”
Barber Dan is now cutting hair once a month at the Prestige retirement center on East Louise Avenue, where he says his business is building. He ran into former Manteca Hardware Store owner Nick Meintasis who was quick to tell him, “Arlen cuts my hair,” but he changed his mind in minutes and opted to let Dan try his hand one time anyway.
Dan’s Barber Shop has become known as the “soda stop” for the businesses on Maple Avenue. There’s an old 1920s vintage refrigerator in the shop that he stocks with Cokes and 7-Up – it draws customers and other shopkeepers alike.
Heidi Silva, of the neighboring Silver Tea Pot, popped in for a Coke saying, “Hey, that refrigerator keeps these sodas really cold, too.” Dan bought the refrigerator from a family living at the corner of Yosemite and Washington streets, later occupied by a fortune teller. He said the woman still had an old wood stove in her home that she still used when he bought her fridge
Southwick remembers when Ed Cardoza offered to buy that G.E. refrigerator for his furniture store to use for a display conversation piece. “Good thing I didn’t sell it to him, I would have gone through three of them by now,” he chuckled.
For those who haven’t been to Dan’s, there is quite a display of old memorabilia on his walls that he has collected over the years including 1931 and 1932 license plates from Arkansas. Even if you don’t need a haircut it is worth the time to let him tell you about his collection in true barber shop style.
One thing about a barber or beauty operator who has been working in the community for 40 or 50 years – they know a lot about a lot of people. During those years Dan Played “fast pitch” ball for the Knapp Ford team.
Dan talks of his grandfather Charlie Southwick who cut hair in Stockton in the 1930s and had a wooden barber chair. The chair turned up at a flea market for sale with Southwick saying he would never have recognized it if he hadn’t seen it in a family snap shot.
The chair is 150 years old and was built in San Francisco. It is exactly the same as the one on display at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, Dan said.
Gloria Edwards, formerly of San Leandro, has bought the small barbershop in downtown Manteca on Maple Avenue operated by Dan Southwick since he graduated from Manteca High School in 1959.
She first went to a beauty school while in high school, and then worked in an office losing that job when she turned 24. Edwards returned to school, and began cutting hair – 14 years ago. She worked for a shop in Pleasanton where the owner took her under his wing, she said.
There’s a transition of sorts taking place now with Gloria at her chair from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Dan on the job – as long as he wants – mornings from 8 until noon.
“Men are standoffish with a woman barber at first – but once they get to know your personality they open up,” she said. Another barber, Marianne Andrade, has also joined the team at the shop.
She soon found one of Dan’s customers who was totally against women being in the barber shop scene. He called Edwards on the phone in an angry tone, telling her his dad was a barber, and it was not a job for a woman. Edwards chatted with him on the phone for some 45 minutes winning him over in the end.
Older gentlemen have a hard time, she mused, we have to work for their respect.
One of the shop’s favorite and longtime customers, Hank Koch, sat in Dan’s chair offering satiric one-liners, for Gloria’s benefit, keeping everyone in stitches in old time barber shop comedy.
The retired steel worker originally hailed from Marble Falls, Texas. He said when a dam was built, it put the home place under water and his family had to move west. Koch added that he was involved in erecting steel beams at Delta College and University of the Pacific. Koch now works on an area ranch.
Southwick nearing 42 years as a barber
Dan is approaching his forty-second year in barbering in January – Arlen Gomes on East Yosemite is the only barber in town with a longer tenure – 50 years. Manteca High’s Guss Schmiedt Field saw its first football game played during Dan’s senior year. Southwick played football in high school, but wrestling was his chief sport.He remembers his school years back to the first grade at French Camp School where “Miss Lease” was his teacher – later married becoming Mrs. McKeon. McKeon Drive was named after her at the same time West Ranch School was dedicated. She was then 93 years old at the time, he said, and he was there in the audience.
Southwick spent countless hours delivering his wife Joan’s wedding cakes over the years to reception sites.
“We delivered so many cakes, we learned where they rode best in the car – in the trunk,” he said.
Dan and Joan took one wedding cake by air all the way back to Alabama.
“That was a challenge,” he said. “She held the cake – all in pieces – and decorated it when we got there.”
Barber Dan is now cutting hair once a month at the Prestige retirement center on East Louise Avenue, where he says his business is building. He ran into former Manteca Hardware Store owner Nick Meintasis who was quick to tell him, “Arlen cuts my hair,” but he changed his mind in minutes and opted to let Dan try his hand one time anyway.
Barbering is family affair for new owner
Manteca’s new woman barber shop owner has three children, 18, 11 and 8 years old. The teenager is now in barber college in Stockton. Her husband, David, has been a barber for the last six years working in a shop on the other side of the Altamont.Dan’s Barber Shop has become known as the “soda stop” for the businesses on Maple Avenue. There’s an old 1920s vintage refrigerator in the shop that he stocks with Cokes and 7-Up – it draws customers and other shopkeepers alike.
Heidi Silva, of the neighboring Silver Tea Pot, popped in for a Coke saying, “Hey, that refrigerator keeps these sodas really cold, too.” Dan bought the refrigerator from a family living at the corner of Yosemite and Washington streets, later occupied by a fortune teller. He said the woman still had an old wood stove in her home that she still used when he bought her fridge
Southwick remembers when Ed Cardoza offered to buy that G.E. refrigerator for his furniture store to use for a display conversation piece. “Good thing I didn’t sell it to him, I would have gone through three of them by now,” he chuckled.
For those who haven’t been to Dan’s, there is quite a display of old memorabilia on his walls that he has collected over the years including 1931 and 1932 license plates from Arkansas. Even if you don’t need a haircut it is worth the time to let him tell you about his collection in true barber shop style.
One thing about a barber or beauty operator who has been working in the community for 40 or 50 years – they know a lot about a lot of people. During those years Dan Played “fast pitch” ball for the Knapp Ford team.
Dan talks of his grandfather Charlie Southwick who cut hair in Stockton in the 1930s and had a wooden barber chair. The chair turned up at a flea market for sale with Southwick saying he would never have recognized it if he hadn’t seen it in a family snap shot.
The chair is 150 years old and was built in San Francisco. It is exactly the same as the one on display at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, Dan said.
