When Roy Geiss was killed in a car crash, besides being a terrible tragedy for his family, it also left Richland with one fewer barber.

Now Richland did have another barber. There was a barber shop on North Race Street that was owned and operated by a man with the last name of Fromm. Sorry, but I can’t recall his first name. His wife also had a business as she was a piano teacher.

I can only assume that my parents must have had some sort of grudge against the Fromms, because whenever I needed a piano teacher, Mrs. Fromm was never considered a possibility. Same thing when Roy Geiss died. My father didn’t take me to Fromm’s barber shop for haircuts.

Early in their marriage they had lived in an apartment on North Race Street near New Street (if I recall what they once told me correctly), and that would have been very near the Fromms, so if they did have a something against the Fromms, it might have its origin in those days. I don’t remember ever hearing my parents mention the Fromms, and now that I think about it, I wish I had asked them about it. Oh, well, it’s too late now.

In any case my recollection is that it didn’t take very long before a new barber came to town to take over Roy Geiss’s barber shop. I don’t know what the specifics were. Did his family place an ad?

As I dimly recall Howard Stoltz, the new barber, hailed from Sinking Spring, but I might be wrong about that. I’m sure it was from near Reading in Berks County though.

It couldn’t have been too long before he showed up in town, as I don’t recall going to any other barbers before he set up shop in the same somewhat dimly lit space in the basement of the Richland National Bank where Roy Geiss had had his shop. And since my parents were pretty adamant that I get a haircut every three weeks or so, I’m sure it couldn’t have been very long.

There was a difference, however,

Besides being several years younger, and having a full head of dark hair, Howard Stoltz had a special policy when it came to kids. He had a candy stand in his shop, and after the haircut he’d tell the young boy to “Take a treat.” 

Also, he didn’t remain very long in that dimly lit space. Before too long he had moved his shop into a much brighter place in the same building that housed the Post Office. And his shop would remain there for years.

Remember that building, as I expect to mention it again.

By the way, when Howard Stoltz began with the “Take a treat” thing, I was ten years old and delighted. I recall hearing him saying that he did that because he liked making friends for life with young people.

Eventually I grew out of my candy eating years, but I was still getting the “Take a treat” from Howard at the conclusion of my time in his chair. I’m not sure just how old I was before that finally stopped.

Howard had children; I don’t recall how many. The only one I remember is David who was two years older than I was, but I don’t think he was an only child.

So Richland, which had a population somewhere between 1200 and 1300 people in 1960, had two barbers throughout the 50s and 60s.

Meanwhile, there was only one beautician in Richland. That is, until we moved back to town.