In May of 2021 I decided to do a project with some of my Girl Scout Memorabilia from the 1960’s. I already had the shadow box frame I had picked up over 10 years ago to use for this. My husband made a new board for the back piece but everything else was in good shape. I am at a point in my life where if I don’t find a way to display the stuff from my childhood then I need to get rid of it. We are fortunate to have a country style restaurant with vintage items and antiques all over for decorations so we can easily display it there.
This Barbershop scene was started by my dad, Bennie Day, around 1955 before I was born. Recently I got it out of storage and decided I would finish it in honor of my dad. Bennie was a wood carver and loved making scenes that represented Americana. He completed a football exhibit with over 100 figurines that featured a Sugar Bowl game in 1950 with LSU and Oklahoma, a Western Saloon scene, and an old time Country Store. He didn’t complete the Barbershop scene – life with 5 children and a full time job made it difficult to get to his hobby of woodcarving. I tried to make it look like a 1940’s Barbershop by doing some research on the internet. If my dad had completed it everything in it would have been hand crafted including the figurines of people that would have been there. Unfortunately I couldn’t do that but did get my siblings involved and we all handcrafted something for it. (some items will be added later)
This is what it looked like at the beginning of the project. He had the walls already painted green, the checkered floor painted, the cabinets, shelf, and sink were done. The barber chair was handcrafted by him but not put together yet and was in about 15 pieces. So that was the biggest challenge – to figure out how they all went together. He ended up having all the pieces to it done except one – the part to connect the leg rest to the bottom of the chair. Thankfully my husband was able to attach a piece of wood for that part. The chair has a base with a small rod and it actually swivels. The window and door had been completed back in 1955 also, they just weren’t glued in yet. I love the sign he painted on the window along with the lettering that he so carefully placed on both the door and the window.
I bought miniature objects to put in the scene from Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, and ordered some from “Mary’s Miniatures” online. Some items I had to change or paint but most came ready to use. My favorite items were the shaving kit with a mug, brush, and razor. My sister and I made the aprons & capes. We have some other items that will come soon from my siblings who live away.
The Barbershop Scene is now on display at our restaurant. We happened to have an old Barbershop cabinet that we used for storage and that works well to display it on. This is my sister and I on the day it was put out. We love sharing our dad’s work and are so proud of him.
Here is a picture of one of his other scenes – the Country Store. This shows what a wonderful carver he was and how he captured the scene so beautifully. Bennie never worked from pictures, but preferred carving from a memory of what the scene should be like.
Ginger's Attic 