Scheinkopf, Ben
Ben Scheinkopf Soundex Code S521
The Historian, Vol. 28 No. 1, Winter 2012, pages 6-7
Ben the Barber—A West Ridge Success Story
Based on an article that appeared in the RP2000 newsletter in 2009.
Sixty years ago the local barbershop was alive and well. So was the corner drugstore, The Ed Sullivan Show and The Saturday Evening Post—an endearing portrait of America in the postwar years. Back in those days, West Ridge was still mostly prairie, but not for long. Shops began dotting a stretch of Touhy near California; a butcher shop here, a grocer there, a toy store, a restaurant and, of course, an old-fashioned barbershop. New homes were built and young families with children moved in. Soon their backyards would be filled with swing sets, sandboxes and inflatable wading pools. By the mid-60s those same kids would be asking for the car keys and thinking ahead to college.
The days became years and the years dissolved into decades. When time passes, it always leaves behind a trail of change, for better or for worse and some things inevitably disappear along the way. Gone today is the corner drugstore. Gone are Sunday nights with Ed Sullivan and gone are the local barbers. Except for Ben. At 91, Ben Scheinkopf is still cutting hair five days a week at Ben’s Barbershop in West Ridge. He has witnessed the evolution of a neighborhood over the past 60 years, all from the corner of Touhy and California.
Ben began his new life in Chicago in December of 1949 when he left Germany for America. Like many others from Eastern Europe, he went searching for opportunity and a better life. After only three days he had a job at Sid Miller's Barber Shop, on Touhy, just west of California. In 1949, haircuts were $1 and shaves were 50 cents. The community was growing and Ben was busy giving haircuts and shaves from morning till night. The 60s brought Beatle mania, long hair and ultimately a decline in business. Eventually Sid’s Barbershop downsized to a smaller space around the corner and when Sid died, the shop was renamed Ben’s Barbershop.
In the earlier years, a guy’s routine usually included a haircut every two weeks – an opportunity for barber and client to develop a friendship. Ben’s Barbershop became one of those wonderful old-time establishments where people stopped by sometimes just to talk. Some customers have been going to Ben for 50 years. Others are so loyal that they continue to have Ben cut their hair even though they’ve moved away to places such as Waukegan and Buffalo Grove. And then there is a special group of clients – those who were just little boys when Ben first cut their hair. Today those “little boys” have grandsons of their own who also have Ben cut their hair. A marvel. Three generations in one family – grandfather, father and son. Ben often gets the question “So, was my grandfather a good boy?”
When Ben tells me this, I envision a little boy dwarfed by a barber’s chair. There he sits in my imagination with his little feet dangling over the edge of the seat, far above the floor, too big a jump to make a run for it and escape his first haircut. Then Ben pumps the chair up even higher so he doesn’t have to bend down when he’s giving the haircut and he can tell the kid is afraid. Ben knows how to fix this. He tells the little guy that he has nothing to be afraid of. He’s done this many times and he hasn’t lost a customer yet; not even a little one. Ben is face to face with his little customer and brushes the hair out of his eyes. The bangs are the first to go. Now he can see where he’s going!
Three generations! How often does something like this happen? I marvel at Ben. I think of how many guys sat in that chair over the years and all the stories he’s told and the friends he’s made.
And even now, after all these years, Ben’s Barbershop still offers the same kind of experience along with a sense of camaraderie not easily found in grooming salons today. This place is much more than the sum of its parts, but then Ben is an extraordinary sort. He always sees his glass as half-full. And his strength has been tested by the worst conditions imaginable. Ben spent three years in Auschwitz during World War II and lived through all the horrors of The Holocaust. His life was spared because of his trade. The camp needed a barber to give haircuts to the other prisoners. Sadly, seven of Ben’s eight siblings were not as fortunate. Of the 6,000 Jews who lived in his hometown of Płońsk, Poland, only 30 survived.
When the war ended, Ben was hired as a barber by the United States soldiers who were stationed at an army base in Germany (haircuts were 35 cents back then). The army gave him a place to stay, fed him, gave him clothing, and for the next four years he was welcomed into their group like family. “Good years,” Ben says. This is also where he learned to speak English. Then in 1949, he got word that his number was up to come to America; the soldiers were very sorry to see him go.
Ben dwells more on the wonderful life he has created here than he does on his experiences in Auschwitz. He has a wife and three grown sons, a livelihood, his health, and a loyal following. He does feel that all future generations should be aware of the Holocaust and the years that preceded it. They need to remember that once, when a ruler tyrannized an entire nation, millions of innocent people died. When all the survivors are gone, there will be no one left to tell it. Ben’s Barbershop is located at 7204 N. California Avenue in West Ridge. His phone is 773-465-1669. He’s there cutting hair Tuesday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Even if you don’t need a haircut, you may want to stop by just for the conversation.