☞ BESPOKE: Old Barber Poles in Harlem

Having a barber pole used to be standard for all men's hair shops but this is apparently a diminishing tradition. With so many hair establishments uptown, we rarely see the traditional symbol of this grooming trade so it was refreshing to see one over at the corner of 144th and Amsterdam Avenue.  There is not much else to the basic layout of the storefront but there are some charms to the old signage and stripe awning out front.  As far as this classic aesthetic goes, Harlem lost a real gem when the original Claudio's barber shop shuttered a couple of years back on 116th Street: LINK