Document text
Approximately 3,500 words
SOUTH CAROLINA WRITERS' PROJECT
Life History
TITLE: HOW MR. QUEEN BECAME "KING" BARBER BUSINESS
Date of First Writing uary 20, 1938
Name of Person Interviewed John R. Queen (white)
Street Address 126 N. Walker Street
Place Spartanburg, S.C.
Occupation Barber and Beauty Supplies
Office Address 112 Magnolia Street
Name of Writer
Elmer TUrnage
A glass case, the dimensions of which are about four feet high and
two feet square, stands inconspicuously at the edge of the sidewalk, in
a narrow passage between two buildings on Magnolia Street. It contains
two or three song books (hymnals), a hair brush, a Japanese comb, several
bottles of hair tonic, a variety of razors, and a few other articles such
as are found in a barber shop. Painted in bold lettering on the front of
the glass case are the words "J.R. Queen Beauty and Barber Supplies
Upstairs."
An old iron stairway in the alley leads to the second floor of one
of the buildings. The padlock on the outside of the door is unfastened,
but the door is securely fastened on the inside. A sheet of tin, which
has been substituted fof the broken glass in the door, rattles and rever-
berates in the narrow opening between the buildings as a self-Opled
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preacher raps loudly for admittance. He shifts his weight alternately
from one foot to the other as he impatiently waits in the cold, brisk
morning air.
"Just a minute," calls the soft, typically southern -toned, bass
voice of Mr. Queen.
The lock clicks and the heavy door on the landing of the stairs
opens with a screak. The smiling, 6 -foot and bespectacled Mr. Queen,
his 200 pounds radiating with unusual vitality for his 66 years, receives
his visitor with a "Good morning, Brother. Come right in to the fire."
The little room through which Mr. Queen led his visitor, Mr. Smith,
was filled with supplies which well represented every phase of the beau-
ty and barber business. Boxes of creams and lotions were stacked along
the walls; and sun lamps, electric clippers, and new and used barber
chairs so filled the room that one of tilem had to trail behind the other
/I\
in going to the office room.
"Here, take a chair and rest yourself," said Mr. queen in his mono-
tone voice. "What can I do for you this morning?"
A glowing fire in the open grate lent the only semblance of a homey
atmosphere in the little office. On one wall hung a variety of combs,
brushes, razors, and other small articles which represented in part the
supplies sold by Mr. Queen to the barber trade. A large draftman's table
incongruously adapted for the use made of it was piled high with
bePuty aids of various description hair tonics, massage creams, depil-
atories, etc. Some of these concoctions were made from Mr. Queen's own
formulas and manufactured for him in New York. A few other tables, each
e,lually disarrayed, added to the jumbled appearance of the room, but the
sparkling reminiscences of Mr. Queen were more than sufficient to draw
attention from surrounding conditions.
"Don't guess you smoke," Nt. 1.1een said laconically as he lit a
cheap brand cigarette. "I'm not so particular about the kind I use, but
I smoke lots of them light one off another sometimes."
He got up and started rummaging through a stack of books and papers
that lay in confusion on a table in the corner of the room.
"Now lei me see, let me see you want one of the new song books.
it's hare some place, I'll find it in a minute. Ah, there they go all
over the floor!
"'Sparkling Songs,' Here it is a brand new book, put out by
The A.L. Showalter Company of Dalton, Ga. You will notice, Nt. Smith, that
this book was copyrighted this year."
While thumbing through the pages Nt. Queen hums the tune of the song
he is looking for; then suddenly he says:
"Oh yes, number seven; the name is Since Jesus is Living in NA. No,
no, that is not the only song I've written. I have songs in seven differ-
ent song books."
Mr. queen adjusted his spectacles and ran his fingers through his
thin hair; then clearing his throat, he said, "Now listen, Brother.
ileresthewthistilinggoes—d000,solsnima, me,d000."
After a while he forsook the old-time symbols for a gutie-ral hum to
indicate the tune, occasionally supplying words where they belonged.
"Mt. Smith, I'm glad you folks over there like our songs; nine out
of every ten churches do, whether they use them or not. The only one in
town that fights us is that little jack -leg Paptist preacher over there
on Green Street, and because he doesn't like them, he's always trying to
say something to hurt the books. The reason that church don't use my
books is because they don't know how to sing the songs.
"Oh yes, I've been fooling with music all my life. It's just a
sort of hobby with me. I used to play cornet and several other instru-
ments, but all I do now in the music line is to sing just a minute,
somebody's at the door."
Mr. queen's heavy voice rose above the loud rattle of the tin on
the door. "Come on in, the door's unlocked."
72ralent later after stumbling over some obstruction in the other
room a young man peered in at the door.
"I just wanted to get some more of that massage cream," he said; "it's
the best I ever used."
4149-4fitt)
-A:moment-later the young fellow left the placeA with a 16 -ounce jar
of the pink -colored creatyawl .1..t had cost him only 50 cents.
"Now that's some of my own make," Mr. 4ueen said proudly. "You see
what it says on the label J.11. queen, Spartanburg, S.C. I have it made
in New York, for they can make it lots cheaper than I can because they
make so much of it at a time. It's my own formula though; made from pure
cow's milk, just before it clabbers. Of course it has a little oxalic
acid and a few other things in it."
Mr. queen picked up another jar of the cream and reached over and
took his visitor by the hand.
"You think your hand is clean, don't you? Well, just let me show
you something. I'll rub a little of this massage cream into the pores
now you see, it brings the dirt right out. Oh no, your hand wasn't really
dirty it was just as clean as you can get it with soap and water; but
the cream brings stuff out of the pores that water can't reach. That jar
really cost me 47 cents, but I sell so much of it that I can afford to let
it go almost at cost. In fact, I used to have a large crew of girls who
did nothing but sell my cosmetics.
.1•••••
5
"Now, getting back to the singing business I've been messing
with it regularly for thirty years. In the spring of 1909 Judge Burnett
and I decided to form an association from the old-time singing custom,
where people in the old days used to get together and have all -day sing-
ings. We met at Cunningham's school house, about 12 miles from here, with
a group of people and formed what we called 'The Spartanburg County Sing-
ing Association.' Soon afterwards, people from more distant parts became
interested and we had to form another association. We met every Sunday,
usually in a school house, but sometimes we would use the courthouse when
it was available.
1There ar forty associations in upper South Carolina and part of
North Carolina. Each has a president, vice-president, aecre-
tary, and treasurer. IAD: Wee president of four different associations.
We don't have an organised membership; anyone who wants to can come, and
'everybody has a right to vote in the election of the officers. A free-
will offering takes care of all miscellaneous expenses, and no one receives
kny compensation for his services, other than the pleasure he gets out of
attending. Attendance varies from 40 to 150, according to the number of
people in the community. SOMA of the smaller counties have only one asso-
edition, but there are several in this county.
*Five or six singing associations beet periodically and have a rally,
or convention, and every year we have a state convention, when all 40
associations come together.
"Each association meets every Sunday morning at 10:30. Sometimes
two or three use the same meeting place, each alternately taking the lead.
A piano or other instruments, when available, are used in the meetings,
but the chief activity is group -singing. Sometimes we have quartet-
singing, especially on every fifth Sunday, when the convention meets for
an all -day singing. Often 30 to 40 quartets take part in these special
meetings. Usually there are several hundred people present. The meeting
is opened with prayer, followed by several short talks. Each person brings
his own basket, and members of the community in which the meeting is held
take charge of the dinner, spreading it on long tables from which all eat
together.
"The st te con/ent on meets very August, Amseekt at Olemovn ‘4,12ege.N
Cie&
Besides the singing and talks, business tters are taken up at the state
convention. Music publishers are there to display their hymnals; that's
hhw I got into writing songs and selling books. The attendance at the big
convention runs around 2,000.
"The first book used by the singing associations was the old Chris'
tian Harmony, written by the noted William Walker of this county. Two dif-
ferent books each year are used. They are collections of about 150 old-
time songs and 50 new ones. The publisher selects and compiles the songs;
then submits them to the presidents of the various associations before having
the book published. The books now used are Sweet Heaven, and Priceless
Pearls. It the request of the presidents of the other associations, I col-
laborate with the publisher in getting out all the new hymnals. I also pur-
chase the books and sell them to the members of the different associations.
The wholesale price of the books runs about 18 cents per copy, and the re-
tail price is 35 cents, but no profit is made, for many of them are given to
members who are unable to pay for them. Local music writers often contri-
bute compositions to the hymnals an example is Mi. Sam Bishop of Saxon
mills, who has contributed several of his own compositions."
W. Quo= was born October 2, 1873 in Burk county, N.B. He came
of a family of four boys and four girls, three of the girls being half-
sisters to him. His family was considered "big farmers" in the section
from which he came. His father died at the age of 47, and his mother at 74.
On the large farm where Mr. queen spent his early years, everything
was raised, and all that had to be bought was "a little snuff, sugar, cof-
fee, and the like.* The country was richly adapted to the growth of tobacco,
and several acres of...ld were always planted in this commodity. And ã.e-
"We also raisedArice, i,ch looked very much like
4 4. 1,14
oats when it was still in the raw form)1\al* ,ahe usks were removed .1a-abge*-12e-
C.
.4amsed a 4tbeatler:* wildetrlam made from the stump of a tree, which had been
sawed off about four feet from the ground. The stump was hollo ed ou f*04
414-1,
k reeeptarft-for the unbeaten rice. A stick, made
flatistalalee. a base -ball bat, was used to beat the rice. It took about am
hour to beat out two pounds.
A
About 4,000 bushels of corn and 6,000 bushels of wheat were raised
every year on the farm. Thirty-five to forty small hogs were killed each
year to furnish meat for the family and the hired hands.
The first school attended by Mi.. queen was a small one -room log cab-
in. He said that it was so well ventilated that "you could throw a dog
through some of the cracks." His first teacher was Walter Fearis, from
Charleston, who boarded with the queen family. His salary was 420 a month.
Mr. queen's father was a suparintendant of the school. Money on which to
run the school was appropriated by the county. It wa onlr
three months a year, these usually being the winter months.
ope
about
A
The hundred or so 4scholars wba-aswir-ta-laslokao were divided into
d 7)).4 C.4.,....+t."4-4.0.4
several different classes, ,'Reading, spelling, geography, and mathmatics
were the main subjects taught in this country school. The one -room, log
00,••••
building contained a series of long benches, the front one being used by
the reciting clams. each class was questioned on its lessons it would
move to the bench at the back of the room, and the next class would move
forward to recite. SOMA of the first books used at this school were
the blue -back speller, Winston's reader, and Webster's dictionary.
Mk. Queen was 11 years old when the family moved to the little town
of Glen Alpin, N.C. Here he attended the Glen Alpin academy. Tuition was.
$1.50 a month. said that his teacher, R.L. Patton, was the finest
man he ever saw.
told his class of 36 students tiat when he
was a small boy he was once severely 'hipped by his father, and the4 later
in the day when he was sent to get some wood, he ran spay from home. After
roaming about awhile he went to Philadelphia, where he worked his way through
school. The philosophy of this old teacher was always a guiding light for
Mr. Queen. He said of him;
"I shall never forget how the old man looked when he told to the
story. He said, 'Now boys, don't think that just because you are poor you
cantt get to the top of the ladder; and I hope to see all of you there some
day.' And every one of his 36 students did get to the top of the ladder in
one way or another. Bk. R.E. Simpson of the Southern railway was one of
those boys; Ed. Pee, senator from North Carolina, was another; and one of
them was the great Baptist missionary, Tom Blalock. I got to the top of the
ladder in the barber business, too. I started with a one -chair shop in 1901
and in 1918 I owned the biggest single barber shop in the world a thirty
chair shop, all in one room."
Mk. Queen began his career as a barber while he was still in school,
at the age of fourteen. He soon went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he
studied barbering under J.L. Jones, a national own teacher. He graduated
from the barber college when he was 16 years old. Up to this time he had
made little money, only about enough to defray his expenses. He came home
and stayed for a year; then went to Chicago,twOre4e took further training
4.1440/4,0-•upelt4;-vit(Lq,)
in the barber business. -Elmiscalling some of his experiendes in the alindlibs4
i\ 0-
as2me army, Mi. queen said:
"When I was 19 years old I went to Columbus, Ohisjand signed up with
the 4th infantry. From there I was sent to Port Spokane, Washington. Dur-
ing my first two years in the wrwr I received private's pay of 413 a month,
but, according to regulations, was raised to 414 the third year. Of course,
this did not represent all that I made while I wasiin the army, for the gov-
ernment allowed me 412 extra each month for teaching school, and with at
I made barbering, the whole amount was something like 4150 a month. My of-
ficial duty was drum major, but I also did other things. For awhile I
clerked in the commissary department, and at another time I worked in the
adjutant's office. One time when the colonel was away, the adjutant took
his place and I took the place of the adjutant; that was only for about ten
days, though.
"The army has changed in a lot of ways since I was a soldier. At that
time New York had as many militia as the national government had regulars.
There were only 9 divisions in the United States. This represented 25 reg-
iments of infantry, 10 of cavalry, andOlight artillery. A regiment con-
sisted of 12 companies, and had as officers a colonel, lieutenant -colonel,
major, 12 captains, 12 first and 12 second lieutenants, and so on, down to
the sergeants and corporals.
"One of my most interesting experiences while in the army was a hunt-
ing and fishing trip I took with some of the boys. We left Fort Spokane and
went 65 miles up the Columbia river, crossed over and made our camp on the
Canadian side. WS stayed up there in the wilderness for ten days. Besides
10
myself, the group cOnsisted of Dr. Culp, Chas. Bulb (captainls son), Private
Davis, Mr. Gardner (an old hunter and trapper), and Thomas Edison. Mr. Ed-
ison joined UB after we set up our camp; he was an intimate friend of Dr.
Culp. I remember that he had several of his inventions with him. He had a
little static machine I wasn't familiar with the mechanism and when
he turned the crank the sparks would fly in every direction. I ask him what
he thought electricty was, and he replied; 4Electficity is just electricity,
that's all I know." He also had a talking machine which had attached to it
about a dozen listening tubes. Je sat around camp at night with those tubes
in our ears and listened to the music. One piece that Edison liked to play
was The Sidewalks of New York. Another thing he had with him was a machine
into which we could look and see pictures in motion; it also was operated by
turning a hand crank. I believe it was the earliest type of motion picture
machines.
"None of us got more enjoyment out of our outing than did Mr. Edison.
We all slept together, and when one turned over, all had to turn. Like each
of the others, Edison took his turn watching at night for coyotes and other
wild animals. I still have a picture-whreir-wes taken of as he sat in
front of our tent.
"I was discharged from the army at Fort Sheridan, Ill., in 1897. Dur-
ing my three years service I saved 42,700, and it was this money that gave me
a start in the business world."
After leaving the army Mr. Qneen went to Nashville, Tenn., where he
joined the city police force and remained for seven or eight months. He re-
ceived .;,.60 a month for his services. From Nashville he went to Chicago and
rented a beauty and barber establishment;, he employed several men and ten
girls, all of whom worked on the commission basis. He did no actual barber-
work himself; Armilwhe was engaged in other activities. In reply to questions
concerning the nature of his "work on the side," Mr. Queen said:
"I did special work for the post office department and also for pri-
vate detective agencies, but I don't want to give out any information about
that: SOO they want things like that Ao-4e kept under cover."
For several years NY. Queen did this special work, besides that of car-
rying on his barber business. During his ten months in Chicago he made "a
good deal" of money, but his expenses were dear and he saved only about 4800.
For about two years after leaving Chicago, Mr-r-Qneen resided in North Caro-
lina, ifire most of the time being spent in Caroleen, where he ran two shops.
During this period he cleared about 44,000, and Ate invested most of his sav-
ings in barber equipment.
In 1901 Mr. Queen went to Clifton, S.C. and set up a email one -chair
barber shop he also kept those in North Carolina. His reason for going
to Clifton was to get situated in the midst of a manufacturing district,
where he had visions of building up a big trade among the mill employees.
At that time Clifton was a thriving cotton mill town, and it proved to be
an admirable location for Mr. Queen's business. He soon had three shops in
operation a monopoly on the barber business in that section. He made it
a policy from the very beginning to employ all the help he needed and to de-
vote most of his time to the building up of his business. Among the other
activities ift-whieh,Mr.-Qussm-sces-engsget at Clifton, was the establishing
of a weekly newspaper. He also placed various types of vending machines in
all the store b ldpags. By June 1903 he was clearing about 4300 a month;
then came thaalood and destroyed all his equipment. This misfortune did
iN
not discourage him, however:. 4kmr he is not of a temperament to worry about
conditions which cannot be helped.
'With the five or six thousand dollars Mr. Queen had saved, he opened
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up business in S artanburg, S.C. in 1903. The 3 -chair Whop 'Mei& he
5
on Magnolia represented only a part of his business. Beginning on a small
t•
scale, he set up a barber supply house. He joined barber associations; want
to their conventions; visited manufacturers of barber supplies, and learned
"everything there is to know about the barber business." In referring to
what was the most important phase of his business, Mr. Queen said;
"As soon as I came to Spartanburg I started a school for barbers and
beauticians. It was the first school of its kind in the South; Atlanta estab-
lished one the next year. My school was in continuous operation for about
25 years. During that time I taught 5,464 men and women the barber and
beauty trade. My students are to be found in every state in the Union
almost every town and in five foreign countries. The thing that I'm
the most proud of, is that not one of them has ever failed on an examination.
0
During the World war I was one of the two who passed the givernment test for
the teaching of barbers. While Camp Wadsworth was located here I taught
137 soldiers the barber trade."
The 3 -chair shop which Et. Queen opened in 1903 was enlarged to a 6
chair shop within sia months. In 1904 he opened up four additional shops.
He followed the policy of opening several small shops; then closing some of
them to made a few larger ones. Et.Queen's barber business netted him a
profit of about 4100 a month for the first year in Spartanburg. Up to 1917
the increase in business and earnings was gradual. Net earnings and profits
were of course derived from several sources. The barber shops were rented
but the equipment belonged to Mk. Queen. He employed barbers to work on a
commission basis; he hired agents to sell cosmetics and barber supplies, and
some of the larger equipment, such as barber chairs, he rented. Besides
this he made a fair profit from the tuition of his students in the barber
college.
-13
The monthly profit -earnings of 4100 in 1903 gradually rose to more
than 41,000. During the World War business reached an abnormally high level.
In 1918 Mr. Queen converted his barber college into a 30 -chair shop, thus
making what he says was the largest barber shop in the world. The lafgest
day's business was ;;;982.20 clear profit. One barber earned for his day's
work 4156.20.
"Let me see if I can find some of my records," said Mr. Queen, "and
I'll show you about how the business runs now."
It was revealed from his records that Mr. Queen controls 31 barber
shops in and around Spartanburg. He also has several in North Carolina. He
estimated that he took in about 4;1,000 a day. He said that his rating in
Bradstreet and Dunn is ;75,000.
Mr. Queen has been married for many years but they have no children.
Besides the interest he has in old-time singings, his chief hobby is hunting
and fishing. At one time he was a member of 13 different lodges and secret
orders.
"I've got to go hunting," he said, reaching for his hat. "There's one
thing you might tell them I've never been drunk, and have never been put
in jail."