Small Talk: Polito finds balance in barbering and memorabilia

Working as a reporter for the Daily Local News is my dream job. I enjoy being the eyes and ears of the community.

It’s been said regularly that newspapers are the first draft of history. How cool is that? And, I get to work for my hometown newspaper.

So, it was with great joy that on Monday, I held in my hands a brittle copy of the very first Daily Local News.

Volume 1, Number 1, was dated Tuesday, November 19, 1872. It sold for one cent. Although the Jeffersonian came first, what I held was an original copy of the daily paper with the same name on the masthead as the one I now work for. Think about all that history.

Tony Polito, 83, a barber for almost 65 years, is the guy to thank for showing me this piece of history. And Polito lovingly displays all his “stuff,” like old newspapers, at his barber shop and museum at 1501 Wilmington Pike, Chadds Ford near to Jimmy John’s.

Polito has hundreds of copies of old newspapers, some which are falling apart a little more than others, including that very first Local.

That ink shows so much. There’s everything from railroad schedules to discussion of a “glandared” horse in Steuben, NY (with poison mucous) in the pages of that first Daily Local.

You can also read that in 1872 “a bushel of potatoes in Michigan sells at the circus rate of 25 cents.”

Take a look at the advertisements. There is one for cabinet maker and undertaker Theodore F. Nields, at 22 South High Street in West Chester. Or, how about a dentist who advertised “nitrous oxide gas administered.”

Current Daily Local court reporter Mike Rellahan could have sunk his teeth into a courthouse story. This case from more than 150 years ago centered on a flock of sheep that died because of something called “the rot.” The person who sold the sheep had to pay up $200 to replace most of the flock.

I asked Polito if he fits the typical barber stereotype and is a constant  conversationalist.

“I’m not a talker when working,” he told me. “I’ve swallowed too much hair over the years.

“You’re a psychiatrist or a psychologist. The barber shop is where people sound off.

“You listen and then forget somebody’s problems, with their wife or of a child on drugs. People tell me they have cancer when they don’t tell other people. They just want to get it out.

“You hear just about everything.”

Polito tells a lot of jokes.

“I like to make people laugh, especially when they are in the dumps,” he said.

Small talk is an art that we might be losing.

“I see young people, they don’t know how to talk to people,” he said. “They’ve been playing with their cell phones all their lives.”

Polito cuts his own hair, and doesn’t discourage it when others do the same. A fellow barber occasionally touches up Polito’s doo.

“When cutting hair, you want to make that person look good,” he said.

Polito will suggest a new style.

“You want to convince them that what they have isn’t working,” he said.

But he usually works from memory as many customers visit every two to three weeks.

At the barbershop/museum, Polito houses about 100 American flags, hundreds of photos, about a dozen sets of handcuffs, helmets, uniforms, hats, holsters, pins, badges and he is an expert on bayonets.

“I’ve got too much “stuff,” to be honest with you,” Polito said, with a smile. “I keep too much stuff.

“I save everything.”

He even has a 45-star flag, which was first issued on July 4, 1896 when Utah became a state.

Polito said he is not fascinated by war, but rather is intrigued with the equipment.

“It’s like camping, what do you have to take with you?” he asked.

He then showed me a soldier’s brown colored toilet paper. A fighter does not want to flash white paper to the enemy, so brown paper was used in battle.

Polito is married with four grown children, 11 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. He has lived in West Chester for his whole life. He doesn’t know every one living in the borough, like many old timers will tell you they once did, but he can place most everyone based on their family tree.

The barber loves to ride in his Humvee in parades and wave to spectators. Many years ago, for his first parade, he placed crepe paper in his bike spokes to make noise.

He is patriotic but will tell you that patriotism is fading. Residents don’t hang American flags like they once did, he sadly told me.

Polito has worked for the borough for 50 years: 35 years for the police civil service commission; 11 years on the zoning hearing board; and 4 years as a councilman.

He has worked the past 33 years serving warrants (mostly for unpaid traffic tickets) as a constable for the district court and he is still at it.

“With warrants you bring in the body or the money,” Polito said.

With civil service, he tested at least a couple thousand candidates to serve as new officers and helped certify the top candidates, while presenting names to the mayor who interviews and makes the ultimate choice.

Polito said that West Chester never lowered its standards when choosing new cops.

“I take great pride every time I see a West Chester police officer in action and that I had a small part in building one of the finest police departments anywhere,” the barber said. “Of all the jobs I’ve had that’s probably the one that meant the most to me—it gives me a great deal of satisfaction.”

The name was changed to mayor, and since Charles E. Lucas Jr. served as the last burgess in 1961, Polito has worked with many mayors.

“I have to thank every one of them because both the councils and mayors let me stay there,” he said. “I might have disagreed with them, but it’s easy to disagree with some decisions.”

Polito told me he’s never bored at work. If not busy cutting hair, he has his collection to examine. Jimmy John’s is close by. Just don’t stop for a haircut at lunchtime.

There’s often guys who stop by just to chat.

And, be aware, you might find that Polito is a bit more talkative then he will admit.

Entrance to the museum is free and you don’t need to get a haircut to see Polito’s “stuff.”

Bill Rettew is a weekly columnist and Chester County native. Right about now, he could use a good haircut. The best way to contact him is at brettew@dailylocal.com