Ottis Bean got his start as a barber in a small shop on the outskirts of town at the intersection of Highway 25 and Highway 155 (The Jemison Shortcut). When he returned from service in the Navy during World War II, he picked up where he left off and soon opened his Ottis Bean Barber Shop on Middle Street, just across the alley from Carpenter Brothers Garage. Bean’s became a Montevallo institution and kept local men and boys looking their best for 59 years, from 1947 until 2006. One hallmark of Ottis Bean’s shop was that throughout his entire run, he always opened at 5:00 a.m. in order to provide haircuts to working men who had to be on the job shortly after sunrise.
For this week’s “Throwback Thursday” we’re presenting an article written in 1995 by Clay Nordan for Southern Living magazine’s “Southern Journal” column that captures what one of Ottis’ customer’s might have experienced during a visit to the shop on any hot summer Saturday in the 1950’s or 1960’s. The article has been modified slightly from the original.
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