How Much is The Price Of A Good Haircut? Ireland 1968

How much should it cost for a man to get his haircut? A barber puts the case for the hairdressing profession but Frank Hall is unimpressed.

Frank Hall puts himself a the mercy of hairdresser Benny Blaney while discussing the price of a haircut. A man can expect to pay four shillings and nine pence for a haircut in County Dublin, with the city centre hairdressers being more expensive at five shillings and six pence.

Frank Hall observes that men seem to frequent the hairdressers more often now, and there also seems to be all manner of treatments for hair. Benny Blaney explains,

At last we’re educating gentlemen to look after their hair.

Hall is unimpressed,

We used to give the old thatch a scrub with the carbolic soap on a Saturday night, now everybody has their head in that basin at five bob a go.

Overheads have doubled in the last fifteen years, according to the man with the scissors. Hairdressers have to move with the times, and this means having the latest products available for customers. Benny Blaney does not agree with tipping, as staff should be paid properly in the first place. And unlike other professions, there is no pension plan. A good haircut comes at a price,

This is precisely why we are looking for a living wage and a living price for our haircut and our work.

This report for ‘Newsbeat’ was broadcast on 8 May 1968. The reporter is Frank Hall.

'Newsbeat' was a half-hour feature programme presented by Frank Hall and ran for 7 years from September 1964 to June 1971. 'Newsbeat' went out from Monday to Friday on RTÉ television and reported on current affairs and issues of local interest from around Ireland. The final programme was broadcast on the 11 June, 1971.