There won’t be any politics in my column today; only information and that, too, very interesting ones. In all stages in our lives some things come up that we did not know before. In our childhood we would hear many tales about different Pakistani personalities; like someone’s clothes were laundered in London or someone’s suit was tailored in Italy, etc. etc. We would be surprised; where from did these guys get that much money? How rich would they be?
Last week when I told my friend Sadruddin Noorani that I wanted to go to Michigan Avenue, downtown Chicago for a shave, he smiled and asked, “How would you go? There is a parking problem and you’re not familiar with the roads. So many people take a bus or train.” Noorani offered to go with me.
I called the barber shop and got an appointment at 4 PM, two days thence. Two hours before the appointment time, I reached my friend’s house. Michigan Ave was twenty minutes drive from his home but I did not want to get delayed. Before we started, Noorani asked me to move to the passenger’s seat and himself took the driver’s. When I asked the reason, he said, “The first reason is that you don’t know the way and the second,” he smiled, “is that you are a VIP today, because you’re going for a shave to an expensive place like Michigan Ave.” He asked me how much the barber shop charges for a shave. When I told him the amount, he looked at me as if I was either out of my mind or had mentioned the wrong amount due to a slip of tongue. Let me tell you, too. The barber shop charges $60 for a shave. You might think that I had gotten a coupon or was getting a free shave. No not at all.
When I reached the 6th floor of the high rise building on Michigan Avenue, the girl at the reception desk asked my name and referred me to my barber Elias. He then made me sit on an easy chair and wiped my face and hands with a hot towel. In a few minutes a girl came and offered me a cup of coffee. Then an uniformed boy appeared and took away my shoes to polish them. The shave took almost half an hour.
You must be wondering how I came to know about that place. Actually one day, an Italian American John Diterlizzi, who happens to be assistant manager at my work informed me, “Do you know there is a very old barber shop in Chicago?” When I replied in the negative, he said that this shop at Michigan Avenue is one of the oldest in the world. Then he told me that he would go there at the weekend. I requested him to let me know his experience so I, too, would go. At that time I did not know the amount we had to pay for a hair cut or to get a shave. Next week when I met him at job, he handed me a beautiful envelope. I thought it would have his photos at the shop. I was wrong. He gave me a gift certificate that bore my name. That meant, with that certificate, I could go to that barber shop for a shave. So I reached there. Americans don’t give an expensive gift without any reason, but John is a good friend of mine. We have something in common. I am a writer and he, too, has written a beautiful children’s book that has yet to be published. I am sure, when published, this book would be very popular in the United States.
When I called the barber shop and inquired about the price, I was told that a shave there costs $60.
Now let me tell you about this barber shop. This shop was established in 1805 and served the British royal family. The barber there used to go to the Buckingham Palace to give a haircut and shave to Prince Phillip. Prince Charles and Sir Winston Churchill also had visited that shop. The inner door of the shop was built in Bristol in 1878. Even today shaving brushes and razors that are used in the shop are made in Britain. French shaving cream is also sold there. The decoration of the shop is worth seeing. It has chairs made of teak wood, dark green colored marble floor, green walls on which pictures in British frames are hung. Though journalistic ethics do not allow me, but I know I will receive many phone calls after the publication of this column, and people would ask the name of the shop. So, I am writing it. It is called TRUEFITT & HILL. Its website is www.truefittchicago.com If you are interested, you can gather more information yourself.