Mi-Wuk Village Library*, CA
On Labor Day, 2012, this post is dedicated to John Wittorf (1877 - 1959), who worked primarily as a barber but likely never complained because his work was a "Labor of Love."
After visiting some family gravesites and while driving toward the entrance of Carter Cemetery in Tuolumne, California, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw a minature barber pole on one grave.
That could only be for Johnny the Barber.
During the summers of 1948 to 1953 I and my four brothers and sisters spent our summer vacations at the home of our maternal grandparents, David and Cordelia Wilcoxson, who lived at the north-east corner of Main & Elm Streets.
At least once each month our grandmother took us to the corner of Pine & Bay Streets for a haircut; and if we went on a Saturday, our grandfather accompanied us so that he could also get a haircut as well as a shave. (It was interesting to watch Johnny give a man a shave -- especially since I had never seen anyone shaved or shave with straight razor.)
As you can see from the 1949 photo to the right he smoked cigars. However, despite having a very sensitive nose, I never detected the cigar smoke on his clothes; perhaps he used a lot of bay rum -- one of the deodorizers of choice of many barbers in those days.
Johnny only had one relative, and when he died he left a bigger estate than one might expect. Over the years he was a barber he invested in stocks. And by the time of his death in 1959 those stocks had risen in value. If memory serves, he willed the bulk of his estate to Summerville Elementary School -- though it's possible that Summerville High School also benefited from his version of The American Dream.
--
There is considerable speculation about how Johnny ended up in Tuolumne. One docent at the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum said that when John got to Redwood City by train he went to a boarding house with several other passengers. The woman at the door complained that some of them had too much luggage. John's suitcase may have looked large since he was rather short. He did an about-face and marched back to the train depot and bought a ticket to get as far away as possible from Redwood City. The end of one line, the Sierra Railway, was in Tuolumne, where, apparently, the people were more hospitable. But very little is know about what John did before he arrived in town.
--
Here's an article from pp. 6-7 of the "September/October 2009 Tuolumne City Memorial Museum Newsletter" titled "'Johnny the Barber' (John Wittorf)."
--
Fifty years after his death, the legacy of John Wittorf is still paying dividends for the local school children.
--
"Affectionately known to the community of Tuolumne as 'Johnny the Barber,' this immigrant from Holstein, Germany, came to the small mining town of Carters in the late 1800s at the age of 20, an apprentice barber. With the town undertaker, Henry Scheer, a fellow countryman, Johnny opened a barber shop, hanging out a sign advertising: 'Wittorf and Scheer -- Tonsorial Artists.'
"Even after Johnny opened his own shop in the new lumber town of Tuolumne in the early 1900s, he still attracted a loyal clientele who traveled miles for the best and least-expensive haircut in the county, just 25 cents. It wasn't until the late 1940s and early 1950s, under presssure from other area barbers, that Johnny finally raised his prices in 25-cent increments, first to 50 cents, then 75, and finally to $1.
"Local resident Tony Malgesini recalls, "When getting a haircut from Johnny you could expect to be in the chair 45 minutes to an hour. He always used scissors to cut hair, finishing with a straight razor around the ears and hairline. He also provied shaves (with a straight razor) upon request.
"His Tuolumne shop was heated with a wood stove, the fires built with wood blocks from the town box factory. He also heated his water with wood and was known to be 'very accomodating' if a woods worker came in looking for a shower. Johnny had lived in an apartment above his barber shop and both the shop and his living quarters were immaculate -- as was Johnny.
"Johnny's routine never varied. He would take a three to four mile walk around the township, then pick up the moring paper to check the stock market page. Then he would go to breakfast at the Club cafe where Marie Higuera was the cook and have breakfast. If Marie happened to be cooking at the Stag cafe, Johnny ate there.
"Also part of his routine was a visit [to] a certain tavern, selling a certain brand of cigars. He would take a handful of his favorite stogies, leaving more money than the cigars cost. Johnny would walk to his shop, ready for his first custome by 8 a.m.
"There was a barber pole sign on one of the posts outside the entrance to Johnny's shop. The posts which held up the overhanging roof over the sidewalk were hit many times when people parked their cars too close; so Johnny hired someone to reinforce them with concrete and steel. After their first encounter with the newly-reinforced posts, people were more careful in their parking habits.
"Johnny became a naturalized citizen in 1912 and was a very patriotic American, never missing the opportunity to vote. A lifelong bachelor, Johnny considered the community of Tuolumne not just his home, but his family. He was greatly devoted to the local schoolchildren, most of whom got their first haircut in Johnny's chair.
"When Johnny died in November 1959, his community 'family' learned he had invested his income from all those years of 25-cent haircuts in the stock market. His will stipulated that the stock be sold and the proceeds divided between St. Joseph's Catholic Church and the Tuolumne Methodist Church.
"And Johnny also willed 25 shares of American Telephone and Telegraph to Summerville Elementary School with the dividends used to buy Christmas presents for the students. The board of trustees felt the money should buy a gift [from which ]the whole school could benefit; so they built a library and each year the books purchased from the dividends provide a lasting gift for all students. In 1966 the grduating class presented a plaque dedicating the library to 'Johnny the Barber, Our Friend,' making it officially the 'John Wittorf Memorial Library.'
"And the school children who benefited from his generosity also continue to honor Johnny's memory. In his will he expressed the wish that 'someone take care of my grave.' Each Memorial Day a representative group from the school decorates and cleans his gravesite at Carter's Cemetery -- where a barber pole has been erected in his honor."
--
[Compiled from information written by Tony Malgesini and from a Tuolumne Prospector article, published Wed. May 28, 1969, written by David Stumpf, Grade 8]
--
Here are two articles which appeared in local papers shortly after Johnny's death.
--
Final Rites Tomorrow for John Wittorf
--
Thursday 5 November 1959 Sonora Daily Union Democrat, Page One
--
Funeral services for John Wittorf, 82, Tuolumne barber, will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. in [the] Bigelow-Heuton chapel. The Rev. Will Callahan will officiate at the rites. Interment will be in Carter's cemetery in Tuolumne.
Wittorf died in a Sonora hospital yesterday after a short illness. A native of Germany, he was a resident of Tuolumne for 45 years. He had been employed as a barber up to the time of his last illness.
....
John "Johhny the Barber" Wittorff
--
Thursday 5 November 1959 Tuolumne Prospector, Page One
--
John Wittorf, 82, Longtime Tuolumne Barber Succumbs
--
John Wittorf, 82, (Johnny the Barber) died early Wednesday morning in a Sonora Hospital.
Wittorf, a native of Germany came to the United States in 1903 and settled in Tuolumne City in 1907.
He first was associated with H.F. Screer, who ran the town barber shop and doubled as a local undertaker. Wittorf eventually took over the shop, which burned in the fire of 1918. A new building was erected at the corner of Pine and Bay Avenue where Wittorf has since conductd his shop.
The only know relative is the wife of a cousin, Mrs. L. Mehrens of Artois, Glenn County.
Funeral services will be held at the Bigelow-Hueton Mortuary in Sonora tomorrow at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Will Callahan officiating. Interment will be in Carter's Cemetery.
....
My special thanks to Lynne & Rick Jerome of the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum for permitting me to use their museum's article on Johnny the Barber. [For more on the TCMM, see the first link below.]
--
Links:
--
*Mi-Wuk Village Library's WiFi operates 24/7; there is parking in front of their building for RVs of moderate size, but not Class A's, especially with toads.
--
Sa 1 Sep Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Sonora - Wi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd
Su 2 Sep Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Wi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd
M 3 Sep Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Wi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd
T 4 Sep Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Sonora - Oakdale - Woodward Resv CG
W 5 Sep Actual Route: Woodward Resv CG - Oakdale - Manteca - Mtn House Pkway - Patterson Pass - Livermore - Del Valle CG
Th 6 Sep Actual Route: Del Valle CG - Livermore VA Clinic - Milpitas - Palo Alto VA Hosp
F 7 Sep Actual Route: Palo Alto VA Hosp - Palo Alto Library - Santa Cruz - Aptos Lib - Pinto L CG
Sa 8 Sep Actual Route: Pinto L CG - Aptos Lib - StateWide Self-Storage - Mission St Safeway - West Santa Cruz bd
Su 9 Sep Actual Route: West Santa Cruz bd - Mission St Safeway - StateWide Self-Storage - LaSelva Beach bd
M 10 Sep Actual Route: LaSelva Beach bd - Aptos Lib - State-Wide Self-Storage - LaSelva Beach bd
T 11 Sep Actual Route: LaSelva Beach bd - Aptos Lib - State-Wide Self-Storage - Aptos bd
W 12 Sep Actual Route: Aptos bd - Aptos Lib - State-Wide Self-Storage - Aptos bd
Th 13 Sep Actual Route: Aptos bd - Aptos Lib - State-Wide Self-Storage - Mission St Safeway - West SC bd
--
Finding Campgrounds:
N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.
