`It's not about the haircut, it's how you treat your customers'

"It's all about relationships," Larry McCarty said of his barber business that he just retired from June 30.

He's retiring after 61 years as a barber mainly in Kiowa, Kansas."It's been a very sentimental week," McCarty said with a quiver in his voice during an interview on the next-to-last day in his barber shop. "It's really emotional for me and and my customers. No longer being here and seeing my customers is going to be a big adjustment."

Rick Harden of Attica said, "Larry cut my hair for 23 years. I liked him so well he could have given me a bad haircut and I would have gone back. He is a fine man – a very fine man. He thinks of everybody. The camaraderie in that shop was fun. I was sitting in the chair getting a haircut and everyone else was just there to visit. I'm going to miss him."

McCarty has cut the hair of generations of numerous families – for instance, the Cantrells of Kiowa; the late Pete and his sons Harold and Howard; (Howard's) son Matt, and (Matt's) sons Grant, Gage and Garen.

When asked about McCarty, Howard said, "I have gone to Larry for haircuts for at least 40 years. My dad Clifford (Pete) went, too, for many years. My brother Harold really enjoyed visiting with Larry during his haircut outings from the manor. My son Matt and his three sons carried on the tradition. We will certainly miss him."

Matt shared his memories. "I've been getting my haircut there since I could remember. Larry has cut my family's hair from my grandpa to my sons. I could always could count on him for a warm welcome and a good conversation. A memory I have is that Larry's son Duane and I grew beards for the school play in high school. The day after it was over, Larry shaved our beards off with a straight razor! First and only time in my life that I was shaved a with a straight razor. He kept telling us "don't move or it could be bad!"

McCarty Tells His Story

McCarty started barber school in 1961 and graduated in April 1962. He did an apprenticeship in Liberal, Kansas, when men could get a haircut for $1.25. Before that McCarty met Joyce when they were in junior high and she invited him to a Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) event – theirs was a young love between Hardtner and Kiowa teens. They went to the movie together "and we hit it off," he said. They dated from then on and got married when he got out of barber school June 10, 1962.

Moving to Hardtner, he cut hair as an apprentice with Ray Olson at the Prairie View Hotel. McCarty bought him out, tore down the hotel and worked in a trailer. Then in 1967 he joined Johnny Myers in Kiowa and they had M&M Barber Shop located next to the current liquor store (Homer's Wine and Spirits) on west Main Street. "I took over my present location at 627 Main Street in 1984." When McCarty opened his own shop haircuts were $9 and as he retires cuts are $12 with a shampoo $4. "I have lots of fixed income customers and didn't want to charge them more."

Thinking back to popular haircuts, McCarty said, "Probably the Flat Top was the most popular through the years. But I have given 'just a regular, normal haircut' more than anything."

Larry's Barber Shop sits next door to Bob Cox clock repair and print shop. Cox said, "I bought my building in September 1994 and we usually talked about every day. If we had to be gone we let the other one know. Larry was a good neighbor and I have already missed him being there, but he has been in a couple of times. He cut my hair many years – I went to him even when he was down by the liquor store." McCarty said he sold his building to Cox.

McCarty said he had customers from Burlington, Alva, Cherokee, Enid, Fairview, Oklahoma City, Medicine Lodge, Sharon and "lots of locals."

"It's not about the haircut – it's how you treat your customers," McCarty said. "It's going to be a big adjustment. I did generations of family's hair. So many of my best friends I gave haircuts to are gone now. I treated all my customers equally." He told about going to funeral homes to trim up the hair of former customers for their final rest.

"There are lots and lots of stories. Many customers confided in me. What goes on here stays here – cause I can't remember," the 80-year-old McCarty said with a chuckle. Customers at Larry's saw his shop was filled with antique barber shop memorabilia collected over the years.

McCarty still cuts the hair of lifelong Burlington resident Bob Kraft, now age 97. When asked how long, Kraft replied, "probably at least 50 years. I like Larry – we talked about fishing." Kraft is known for making beautiful wooden signs as gifts for people. He made one in three pieces that's sat in the window of "Larry's Barber Shop." Kraft has made over 100 signs for friends and family. That's for Bob and Frances 43 grandchildren which includes all the greats, he said.

The barber told of an anonymous "fussy little kid who wouldn't sit still – I still cut his hair as a man!" He's still known as the "bubble gum barber" as he gives a piece of the popular pink poppin' favorite to all the kids who were in his shop. Now a grown woman, Bayli Hyde remembers as a little girl she came in routinely with her daddy, the late Robert Hyde, and Larry would give her a piece of bubble gum. His last week before closing McCarty said Bailey came by to say goodbye to him. Bayli took a selfie of herself and Larry with a piece of the expected treat.

"Making memories is what it's all about," McCarty said. "It's been a rough two months to say goodbye."

Larry and Joyce have three children. The oldest is Deb Wiens, a retired teacher at Wichita and has two daughters. Their son Dan, born in 1971, also resides in Wichita. His wife Andrea is also a doctor and they have two boys. Larry told proudly that Dan hasn't let anyone but his dad cut his hair or the hair of his two sons. Their son Duane is a teacher and live in Wellsville, Kansas and has a daughter.

The McCartys have six grandchildren and are expecting their first great-grandchild. McCarty said, "We are blessed."

For 42 years Joyce worked at the Farmers State Bank in Hardtner. "She started as a teller and ended at the top," McCarty said proudly of his wife who retired in 2007. She still loves to sew and he said, "I have a list that will last till I'm 105." "We've always loved to travel but can't now due to health."

During this interview, an out-of-town woman walked in with a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls for McCarty and said, "Thank you for taking such good care of my dad."

Kiowa retired educator and farmer Max McGee remembers when he started having McCarty cut his hair, he paid $1.25. "I never tipped till my son-in-law told me years later that I should. Now I tip!" he laughed. "In those early days I remember Wes Marsh cutting hair in the barber shop with Larry. They were so busy they were open all day Saturday. There was usually a group of men waiting for their turn."

Through the years during haircuts, McGee said, "I would always ask him what was going on. We'd catch up on local news. We talked grandkids,weather and sports. I taught his son who became a doctor. I always told Larry I taught him a lot! Larry was a big fan of the Royals and the Jayhawks and he went to most of the high school games. The coach Lloyd Stout would come up to have Larry cut his hair."

"Larry will definitely be missed on Main Street."