Armed with scissors, razors, talcum powder, combs and water, John Cantu, Paul Denova and Lawrence Cutrone wait patiently for bushy-haired students to walk through the door of the LSU Barber Shop.
Nestled in a corner on the Union’s first floor, the three sit in their chairs flipping through the pages of the morning paper.
It’s 8:50 a.m. – 20 minutes since opening – and the LSU Barber shop still is vacant of any customers.
“It depends on what the weather is like outside,” Cutrone, a four-year LSU barber, said. “Sometimes there are students waiting outside to come in, and then other times we are just waiting.”
At 9 a.m. Denova rises from his chair with view of the first customer in sight.
Luke Siddall, a music education junior, strolls through the door and heads straight for Denova’s station.
“What can I do for you today?” Denova asks.
Siddall describes how he wants his hair cut and 10 minutes later leaves satisfied.
It’s convenience that has Siddall coming back to the LSU barber shop once a month, he said.
Cantu, “the old man of the clan,” as described by Denova, has seen thousands of students just like Siddall throughout his 30 years of working in the LSU barber shop.
He started at the barber shop in the early ’70s, back when it was located between the present McDonald’s and Tiger Pause.
“I have been here so long, it is almost like home,” Cantu said. “I spend most of my time here.”
Cantu got into the business after watching his father do it on a part-time basis in the early ’60s. Cantu’s father also worked at the LSU barber shop.
Cantu said he vividly recalls coming to the University when he was young and bowling in Tiger Pause.
Denova is similar to Cantu in that he also is a second-generation LSU barber. His father worked at the barber shop in Broussard Hall between 1948 and 1951.
Denova has been on board at the barber shop since 1989. Before that he worked at and owned several other barber shops throughout the northern Baton Rouge area, but the entrepreneurship was not for him.
“It’s a lot of headaches having your own business,” Denova said. “Here you just come to work at 8:30 and leave for 6.”
The best part about cutting hair at LSU is the different cultures of students he gets to work with on a daily basis, Denova said.
Denova has used his multi-cultural connections to further his favorite hobby – coin collecting.
The wide array of foreign students who pass through the barber shop doors provide him with more opportunities to collect coins.
Denova said through the help of foreign students, he has been able to obtain coins from 49 countries ranging from Australia to Ecuador.
Cutrone is the newest member of the three-man group. He is in his fourth year of cutting hair at LSU and said the relationship among the three men is outstanding.
He said conversations among the three typically revolve around sports throughout much of the day.
Right now the hot issue is the No. 3-ranked LSU Tiger football team.
But unfortunately for the LSU barbers, they do not get off until 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
“It’s bad when they have a 2 o’clock game like this week because we are open,” Cutrone said. “So we are usually forced to watch them on TV.”