Pulled straight from history, Noyes Barber Shop retains the look and feel of an early 20th-century barbershop, continuing to offer the same traditional services that defined it at its founding in 1916.
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MANNY BOOGE: I think that it’s more than just a place to go get your hair cut. I think people enjoy coming here because it’s such an ongoing relationship. I learn about their families.
WALLIS ROGIN: That was Manny Booge, owner of Noyes Barber Shop, a family-owned local barbershop that opened in 1916. Pulled straight from history, Noyes Barber Shop retains the look and feel of an early 20th-century shop, continuing to offer the same traditional services that defined it at its founding.
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WALLIS ROGIN: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Wallis Rogin. This is Best of Evanston.
WALLIS ROGIN: Located just beyond the Noyes “L” stop, Noyes Barber Shop transports customers back decades. Booge said they’re trying to maintain the shop’s retro feel.
MANNY BOOGE: The chairs and the mirrors are original from 1916. The register is added in ’53, the paneling was added in the ’70s. We still wear uniforms, which the old barbers did. We still shave people’s necks, which most places won’t do. We take appointments, which is really unusual for a barbershop, but all these things have been the same throughout the shop’s history.
WALLIS ROGIN: Booge has been cutting hair for over 32 years, the seventh generation of his family to pick up a pair of scissors. Booge’s father and grandfather started working at the barber shop in 1953. Booge began working alongside his father in 1993 and inherited the shop in 2009 after his father’s passing.
MANNY BOOGE: If I need to do something at the shop, I do try to go out of my way to make it happen, just because I want to continue to have the shop run the way it has been in the past.
WALLIS ROGIN: Booge said many memories stuck with him from growing up watching his dad cut hair.
MANNY BOOGE: The day my dad cut my son’s hair for the first time, that was kind of neat, because he sat on the same exact chair that I sat on when I was his age. That was really a big memory for me.
WALLIS ROGIN: Currently, Noyes Barber Shop has three employees, including Booge. Barber Regina Berdichevskaya immigrated from Ukraine in 1991 and has worked alongside Booge for 21 years.
REGINA BERDICHEVSKAYA: I am very lucky to work with Manny and his dad, that I knew before. They treat me and not only me, anybody who works here like family. So I always said, “I come from home to another home.”
WALLIS ROGIN: Berdichevskaya said the traditional charms of the shop make it “special.” Specifically, she said she likes the music that is constantly playing while she’s cutting hair. Tuesday and Thursdays, they play ’40s music, Wednesdays and Saturdays are for ’50s and Fridays are reserved for ’60s, according to Berdichevskaya.
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WALLIS ROGIN: Booge said he loves the relationships he makes with clients and has even cut “grandpa’s as well as grandkids’ hair.” Two generations in Michelle Froeschle’s family get their hair cut at Noyes Barber Shop. Froeschle said she likes that her husband and son get haircuts at a longtime Evanston business.
MICHELLE FROESHELE: I think it’s very personable, and when there’s a lot of storefronts coming and going, this is kind of like a constant, so I think it’s important to have businesses that have a long history with the city.
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WALLIS ROGIN: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Wallis Rogin. This is a special story for Best of Evanston, highlighting a longtime business in Evanston. This episode was reported and produced by Wallis Rogin.
The Audio Editor is Ruby Dowling. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Femi Horrall, Yong-Yu Huang and Jonah McClure. The Editor in Chief is Emily Lichty.
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Email: [email protected]
X: @wallis_rogin
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