Curt Brown discusses "The William Marvy Company of St Paul"

The sign of a good haircut and shave starts in St. Paul.

The William Marvy Company’s barber poles, encased swirls of red and blue above a rounded stainless-steel base, hang on street corners around the country. The company began creating the vibrant signposts in St. Paul three generations ago. Modern versions of the bloody rags used by surgeon-barbers in the Middle Ages, barber poles are well-known icons, but the Marvy family story is largely unknown. From his humble beginnings as the son of a Latvian émigré carpenter through the growing pains of his namesake company, Marvy showed business acumen and innovation that culminated with his invention of a shatterproof barber pole, ensuring the company’s continued success. From crew cuts and the Beatles up through today, barber poles have remained an easily recognized social constant.

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Curt Brown earned degrees in history and American studies from Macalester College, around the corner from the William Marvy Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has worked for the Fergus Falls (Minnesota) Daily Journal, the Associated Press and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and spent twenty-six years at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. His 2008 book, So Terrible a Storm (Voyageur Press), chronicled a nasty 1905 gale that prompted the construction on Split Rock Lighthouse. Brown lives with his wife, Adele, outside Durango, Colorado.