Vintage Barbershop Shaving Sign with Hand-Painted Barber Pole Motif
Viridian Eclection
The Piece A barbershop trade sign in the vintage idiom, built as a tall arched plaque with hand painted typography and a dimensional barber pole mounted at its center. The barber pole is carved and...
The Piece
A barbershop trade sign in the vintage idiom, built as a tall arched plaque with hand painted typography and a dimensional barber pole mounted at its center.
The barber pole is carved and painted and projects from the face of the plaque rather than sitting flat, which gives the piece more presence than ordinary wall art and brings it closer in feel to architectural salvage.
The lettering reads Shaving, Hair Cutting, and Mustache Trimmed Waxed Curled, set among ornamental scroll flourishes. The palette runs red, blue, yellow, cream and black against natural wood tones, and the finish is distressed rather than polished.
The body of the sign is wood or a composite wood-style panel, with the raised pole applied as a separate mounted element.
History & Provenance
The sign carries no maker's mark and no date, and it is described as a vintage-style piece rather than a documented period original. A firm date is therefore to be confirmed.
What can be said with confidence is the tradition it works in. The wording belongs to the old service board convention, in which a barber listed his offices one beneath the other so a customer could read the shop from the street. Mustache trimming, waxing and curling were priced services in that trade.
The painted scroll work, the arched top and the saturated primary palette are the standard vocabulary of American barber and storefront signage, carried forward into folk art and Americana decorative work.
The distressing in the finish may be intentional or consistent with age. Either way it reads as honest surface rather than as a polished reproduction.
Product Details
| Item Type | Decorative wall sign in the vintage barbershop trade sign idiom |
| Era | Not dated. Described as vintage style rather than a documented period sign, so the date is to be confirmed |
| Subject | Barbershop, shaving and hair cutting |
| Form | Tall arched rectangular plaque with a raised barber pole mounted at center |
| Materials | Wood or composite wood-style plaque with a dimensional mounted center element |
| Lettering | Hand painted or hand painted style typography reading Shaving, Hair Cutting, and Mustache Trimmed Waxed Curled |
| Color | Red, blue, yellow, cream, black and natural wood tones |
| Marks | None noted |
| Dimensions | To be confirmed |
| Condition | Pre-owned, with distressing, finish wear and surface character visible in the photographs. The distressing may be intentional or consistent with age |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
Trade signs work in a room because they bring language and scale at the same time. This one is strongly vertical and strongly graphic, so it holds a narrow wall, the space beside a door, or the end of a hallway where a framed picture would be lost.
It suits a powder room, a bar area, a hallway or a collected interior, and it is equally at home in a working barbershop or salon, or in an eclectic retail display.
The dimensional pole is what lifts it. A flat sign reads as decoration, while a sign with a projecting element reads as salvage, and that difference is what keeps a room feeling layered rather than themed.
Every piece is packed with professional-grade materials: multiple foam layers, double-boxing, directional and fragile handling labels. For large furniture we use custom timber crating. We photograph packing before dispatch and can provide images on request.
White-glove delivery is complimentary within 100 miles of Reno, NV. National shipping quotes provided at checkout. All shipments are photographed and documented. Damage claims must be filed with the carrier; we provide all documentation needed to support your claim.
Local pickup is available at Viridian HQ (Reno, NV) with 2–4 days notice. Contact us to arrange. Private viewings also available.
All antique and vintage items are sold as described and all sales are final. Each listing includes detailed condition notes and photographs so you can make a fully informed decision. We encourage buyers to ask questions — about condition, dimensions, finish, provenance — before purchasing.
Antiques are irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind. Carrier handling is outside our control once a piece has left our facility, and major carriers including FedEx do not insure antiques. We do everything within our power to ensure safe transit, but cannot accept liability for carrier damage. If damage occurs in transit, we will provide full documentation to support your carrier claim.
Have a question? — we're happy to provide additional photos, condition detail, or discuss the piece directly.
