Four days a week, Bob Taylor arrives at the Lincoln Veterans Affairs clinic off 70th and O streets at 8 a.m. to open up his tiny, one-room barbershop.
His mornings are filled with a steady stream of loyal customers — some full of lively banter and belly laughs, some happy to sit in silence and listen to the sound of Taylor’s clippers — all with heads of grey or white hair in need of a trim.
While he works, dozens of men peek in the door to see if he’ll squeeze them in between appointments, or just to say hello. Some walk right in and pick up his handwritten scheduling book to see when he’ll have time in the next month. The barbershop phone rings constantly and he simply answers, “It’s Barber Bob.â€
Come March, Taylor will have been the VA’s barber for 25 years. His hands are steady as he trims the hair of his fellow veteran customers — and he estimates there are about 600 regulars. He turned 89 this month.
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“He’s a monument in this facility,†said Ed Malk, a faithful customer and friend of nine years. “It’s not going to be the same coming out here without his barbershop.â€
It’s the same thought that’s on everyone’s minds: counting down their last visits to Barber Bob’s chair. The new Lincoln VA clinic is slated to finish construction in spring of 2020, and a barbershop will not be included in the new building.
“I feel bad that they're not going to have a barber shop at the new place,†Taylor said. “There's been a barber shop here forever, but they said they just didn't have room. So I guess I have to retire after this year. I won’t be able to stay long enough to get my picture up on the wall.â€
He points to a corner of the room that’s filled with photos of grinning men with freshly trimmed, white hair, posed up against the barbershop’s putting green wallpaper. You get your photo on the wall when you turn 90, along with a free haircut.
“You get to be 100, you never have to pay,†Taylor said. “So far, I have two of those.â€
Many of the photos are adorned with a gold star. Those that have passed away are honored with one — it’s a military tradition that dates back to World War I, when families would display banners of gold stars to signify their fallen soldiers.
Taylor is a veteran himself and served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He decided to become a barber right out of highschool in Lincoln, so when he was drafted in 1952, he brought his tools along to cut his friends’ hair during his year overseas.
Upon his return, Taylor began cutting hair in downtown Lincoln. He bought the Clipper at 12th and O streets in 1965, and soon after owned El Toro at 13th and P, as well.
Throughout his nearly 70 years of cutting hair, he’s been the barber of notable Nebraskans such as former Sen. Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson. In 1956, he trimmed a baby cougar’s hair to raise money for the Lincoln children’s zoo (framed evidence of this event is hung on a wall in the shop). He met his wife, Beverly, and raised three children — and today has eight grandkids and 15 great-grandkids. He’s given countless free haircuts to veterans in need.
“I’ve got to meet a lot of different people,†Taylor said. “The rich and the poor. You just have to try to be a good listener.â€
After he sold his barbershops and retired, Taylor took on the VA clinic position as a temporary fill-in.
“I was only supposed to be here for three or four weeks,†he said. “I thought, I enjoyed that, maybe I'll stay a bit longer. And then I kept stayin’, and stayin’ ... I just like working with people and getting to talk to people. It's a lousy profession, especially nowadays. But I've enjoyed the last 24 years as much as any. You don't make a lot of money, but then I married a rich woman.â€
Taylor likes to let his deadpan jokes hang in the air before lowering his clippers, rolling back on his stool, and laughing to himself.
“That's not true, though,†he said. “I just enjoy coming here.â€
Taylor keeps a well-used spiral notebook filled with every customer’s name, address, and birthday, written in neat cursive with a ballpoint pen. Many have been crossed out over the years.
“Probably the worst thing about my job is I lose about 30-40 customers a year from just passing away,†he said.
Because of this, Taylor knows the birthdays are special. He sends each one of his customers at the barbershop a birthday card — hundreds every year. He’s already got all the January birthdays dated and in numerical order. He makes sure to send them out four days ahead of time.
“Always with a personal message,†Malk said. “Sometimes he has a sense of humor with them, too. The first year I got one it was from Coach Pelini.â€
In every card he also includes “Food for Thought from Barber Bob.†This year, the quote is, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.â€
“People really enjoy that I think of them,†Taylor said. “Some people tell me that's the only card they got sent to them.â€
Taylor has a gift for forming connections with whoever walks through his door. That’s why his chair is almost never unoccupied. Veterans will drive into Lincoln from surrounding towns to see Barber Bob, and will recommend him to five other people.
“One of the things you find is, Bob being a veteran means he can relate to the guys who come in probably better than you might imagine,†Malk said. “Being a veteran allows you to bridge the generation gaps a lot easier, and in the military there is a sense of camaraderie that's really valuable. And the other thing is, he always tries to give away fudge — I don't know if he puts that ‘wacky tobaccy’ in them, but everyone walks out of here with a smile on their face.â€
Right on time, Taylor is finishing up John Matulis’ haircut, who has been coming to see him for years.
“You gonna take your wife some fudge?†Taylor asks him.
The fudge sits in a tin box on the counter. Taylor takes a few pieces and wraps them in aluminum foil. He’s been making his homemade fudge recipe for 40 years.
“I always joke and say his wife must make the fudge because it’s so good,†Matulis said. “He’s got a big enough head the way it is now.â€
It’s not yet noon on a Friday, and Taylor has barely set his clippers down. Don Piersol has been patiently waiting for his trim. He’s been coming to see Taylor for a little over 22 years.
“He’s one reason why I quit playing golf, it got so that he can even beat me,†Taylor said.
Taylor retired his clubs a few years ago. Now they play Pitch together every Wednesday.
“He's just happy to be ahead of me in cards at the moment,†Piersol said. “That’ll change.â€
Taylor swivels him around in the chair and the buzz of his clippers fills the tiny shop once more.
“Do it like we did it last time, Bob.â€