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A step back in time
Carwile’s barbershop still going after 65 years
y Sonny Turner
aurice Wayne Carwile was a
young lad when he joined
his father at Carwile Barershop
in 1951. He didn’t start out
utting hair either. He was the shoe
hine boy.
It was my first job, and it was a
ood way for me to get out of the
ields from chopping cotton. I
hined shoes here,” Carwile said.
1964,” he said. “But it started
falling off when The Beatles came
in.” The Beatles, as you will recall,
was the long-haired English singing
group that took American by storm
in 1964.
Mr. Bill cut his first head of hair at
the barbershop on March 7, 1947.
He died in 1992.
There were several other wellknown
Athens barbers who cut hair
Wayne’s shop still has the original cash
register. He said you can see one just like it
when Floyd the barber cuts hair on the Andy
Griffin Show television reruns.
ayne was a student at Athens Colege
in 1959 when he joined his faher,
Bill Carwile, for good in 1959.
ow, he is the only barber at the
arbershop located on Marion
treet in Athens just north of the
imestone County Courthouse
quare.
arwile’s Barbershop was once a
ooming business in Athens. Wayne
nd three other barbers cut hair,
ut now it’s up to Wayne because
e is the only one left. He still loves
is job even though the hair cutting
usiness is not what it used to be.
It was best here from 1950 to
at Carwile’s. One was Bobby Davis,
who was well known for his flat-top.
Davis went on to start his own barbershop,
Bob’s Place, that is now
run by his sons, Joe and Mitch
Davis, that is located one street to
the west of Carwile’s. Another was
Alvis Shireman, who also later
started his own business, Shireman’s
Barbershop.
“I’ve been getting my hair cut here
for quite a while,” said Daniel
Morash, of Athens. “The reason I
come to him (Wayne) is because he
is the best man in town for a flattop.
I like the way he cuts my hair.”
Wayne Carwile cuts the hair of Daniel Morash this week at Carwile's Barbershop.
Morash is one of only a few men who still get the 1950s Flat-Top cut.
This old cash register is still being used
at Carwile's Barbershop. It was first
used by Wayne Carwile's father, Bill
Carwile, when he first started the
business decades ago.
This shows some of the antique hair tonics still on the shelves at Carwile's Barbershop on North Marion Street.
Wayne said Morash is one of a few
who still come to him for a flat-top,
which was popular back in the
1950s and 1960s.
“As a matter of fact,” he said, “last
week was only the second time in
53 years that I cut four flat-tops in a
row.”
Wayne still remembers his first paying
customer, Rudolph Allen, who
he said came back three or four
years ago to get his hair cut again.
He said the most famous person to
stop by his barbershop was Alabama
Gov. George Wallace, who
stopped by in the early 1960s for a
shave.
Wayne’s shop still has the original
cash register. He said you can see
one just like it when Floyd the barber
cuts hair on the Andy Griffin
Show television reruns. Also, many
of the first hair tonics used at the
barbershop, are there on display,
along with some of the famous flattop
grease.
When you visit Carwile’s, it brings
back a lot of memories of days gone
by.
Page 4 the valley star June 28, 2012