Tine McGriff and Forest Mumma had over 100 customers

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

What might you find if you stepped into a Bluffton barbershop at the turn of an earlier century?

Thanks to a recently discovered photo of the Tine McGriff Barbershop on Bluffton’s Main Street in 1903, several photo enlargements provide an excellent look inside this business of 120 years ago. The closer you look, the more things you see.

This feature begins with the complete photograph and breaks it into several close-ups, revealing a personal look at 1903.

For starters, the photographer, probably Will Triplett, has posed the following: 

• Tine McGriff cutting a customer’s hair

• The customer is getting his shoes shined

• Forest Mumma, the barber facing the mirror, is preparing to shave his customer perfectly posed with his reflection in the mirror

• The customer to be shaved is leaning back in his chair

All of this is posed with natural light. That means everyone must sit still for perhaps four seconds. And, there was probably only one photograph taken, so it had to be correct the first time.

Now, look around the room. You’ll find the following:

For additional photos and the rest of this story click HERE.