Tag: Bloodletting Poles

The issue is important enough to state Sen. John Gleason that he has introduced legislation that makes it clear only licensed barber shops should have the right to display a barber pole.

When he was in high school, he and his friends would go to the barber shop every Saturday morning. It was the "social center" of his hometown, the Democrat from Flushing said.

"Fifty years ago, you knew if you saw the red and white pole, you knew there was a licensed barber in there," Gleason said.

Or, in other parts of the globe its a good front for brothels.

Gleason introduced a bill in November to try to ensure the barber pole is only displayed outside a licensed barber shop, not every place that offers hair cutting services. Most beauty salons with cosmetologists don't have barber poles outside, but Gleason said he wants to prevent the barber pole symbolism from being watered down.

The significance of that red, white and often blue striped -- usually rotating -- barber pole dates back to before modern medicine, when barbers performed minor surgeries, like teeth pulling and bloodletting to rid the body of disease, barbers said. Each color is a different symbol -- white for bandages, red for blood and blue for veins -- and the rotation represents how the bandages were applied.

Yessirree.  Welcome to the Michigan Democratic Party's mid 1300's vision for us in Lansing, folks.