Dean Pittman & HuskerLand Barber Styles

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The following information is available for Dean Pittman & HuskerLand Barber Styles:

By appointment,or walk in..Speedy service.Professional,work.Laid back atmosphere Lots of Husker memorabilia. competitive prices.

IF YOUR NOT BECOMING TO YOUR SELF,YOU SHOULD BE COMING TO US...HUSKERLAND BARBER STYLES... Pawnee Hotel barbershop endures changing times Tell North Platte what you think by Kaycee Anderson (Special to the Bulletin) - 10/13/2011 Photo by Kaycee Anderson Dean Pittman trims up customer Tommy Vierya, Oct. 3. Courtesy PhotoImage Beautician Kay Bourn (owner Stylist Beauty Supply), at left, and Dean Pittman's cousin Dwayne French sit next to Dean in the shop in 1983, six months after Pittman became owner. Photo by the Bulletin graphic arts staff A barbershop has withstood the whims and fortunes of time, operating downtown since it opened in 1929, just eight days before the start of the Great Depression. On Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1929 the Yancey Hotel (now the Pawnee) made its official “Formal Bow” to the public, according to the evening newspaper. Along with Hotel Yancey, several other small businesses opened on the first floor. There was Miss Mayo’s Fairdame Beauty Shoppe, The Yellow Cab Co., C.J. Pass’s Floral Business, and Mr. E.S. Pickett’s tailor shop. The ground floor also became the new quarters of the Chamber of Commerce, with an office off the lobby and an east entrance to Pine (now Bailey) St. Next to the Chamber offices was a soda fountain that faced Pine. Also, off the lobby, a coffee shop with an Egyptian motif and decorations faced Fifth. Over the years all those small businesses came and went. So did the White Horse bar, a popular Friday-after-hours gathering place for North Platte businessmen. But one business never faltered. The Pawnee Hotel barber shop is the only business still operating since the 1929 grand opening. The shop originally opened onto the Pine St. side but later moved around to Fifth St. where it remains. The first barber was Orian L. Watkins. In the grand opening announcement, the Evening Telegraph newspaper said Watkins would manage the barber shop and oversee four experienced barbers. Watkins announced his slogan would be “You’re Next.” A small shoeshine business was set up in the barber shop. Watkins was already an established barber in North Platte, having worked for Albert Miller at his shop on 714 Jeffers St. By 1934, the name of the hotel changed to the Pawnee, according to a city directory and the barbershop was managed by Jack Boyle, with Watkins as his employee. Boyle came to the barbershop from Shakie’s Place on 412 N. Dewey St. By 1942, Watkins was gone and Boyle remained the owner until his death in 1944. Boyle’s obituary shows that he was well-respected, by the number of barbers who were pallbearers at his funeral. Sometime after Boyle’s death, Vic (Viggo) Mikkelson took over the shop but the date is unclear because ownership records are incomplete. According to story, Viggo once said he was cutting Keith Neville's (the owner of the Pawnee Hotel and Fox Theater) hair and they were talking about the shop. Neville told Viggo to go to his banker to get the money to buy it. Mikkelson went to barber college in Kansas City and got his license in 1929. He came to North Platte between 1936 and 1938, according to city directories. Vawn Stark and Larry Hatch, both popular barbers currently working in North Platte, got their start at the Pawnee Barber Shop. Vawn (Vawn’s Barber & Style Shop on E. Sixth) came to North Platte in 1973. She remembers Mikkelson well. Stark learned her barbering skills from Dutch Brown, who worked for Mikkelson for many years. She said Mikkelson was well-respected and his five-chair shop seldom had an empty seat. At that time, Mikkelson’s barber shop was considered a full-service shop. In 1960, Mikkelson bought the Pawnee Beauty Shop from Mark Stanley. That was a full-service salon, also which had five chairs. Mikkelson had a shoe-shine stand with two chairs, Stark said. Stark recollects that some national barber’s union organizers would come into the shop from time to time, but in 1975 the story circulated that some of them took off with the money and fled to South America, and that was the end of the union. In early 1983, Marie Pittman, the owner of the Grand Island Beauty Supply House, came into the shop and asked Mikkelson if he’d be interested in selling. Her son was a barber in Omaha and the relatively humid climate was causing him breathing problems. A meeting was set up and on April 1, 1983, Dean Pittman became the new owner. Pittman is a graduate from the Lincoln College of Hair Design and the Barber College of Professional Arts. He bought both the barber and the beauty shop for $25,000 and said he paid them off in seven years. Under the contract, Mikkelson kept his job as barber and worked for Pittman until his death on Feb. 8, 1991. Viggo Mikkelson was a barber for more than 60 years. Pittman also inherited long-term barbers Wayne Benzler and Julie Liewer, as well as Shelly Peterson and Sharon Gutherless. In the beauty shop, Edna Malcom and Ann Miller were full-time beauticians. Once in awhile Pittman would try to hire a third lady for the beauty shop, but it never worked out well because two women get along better than three women get along, he found. Other women who worked for Pittman were Sharon Nixon, Deb Claudson, Jo Meldgoza and Mary Wiese and countless other hairstylists. Stark said when Mikkelson took over the shop, there were 27 registered barbers in North Platte. The 1947 city directory shows 11 barber shops. Today there are only five registered barbershops, according to the yellow pages. About five years ago, Pittman changed the name of the shop to Huskerland to get away from the old image and to reflect his collection of Husker photographs. Pittman’s top photograph is a panoramic picture of Memorial Stadium. One day in the early 2000s when Tom Osborne was campaigning in North Platte, he stopped at Hobbe’s Restaurant. Pittman was there and told Osborne he wished he’d go by the shop and sign the Memorial Stadium picture. Osborne asked Pittman where the shop was located, and before Dean got back to it, Osborne had been there and done that. Edna Malcom was in the backroom and heard someone come in. When she came out of the room, Osborne was standing there looking for the picture. When he saw it hanging on the wall he pulled up a chair, stood on it and signed it. The picture hangs there today. About six months ago Mary Wiese, Pttman's last employee, resigned. The business has tapered off. Pittman said most of the clients he inherited from Mikkelson have passed away, and a lot of people learn how to cut hair and don’t go out to get a haircut, but cut hair for friends and families. Today Huskerland Barber Shop is a one-man, two-chair shop. Pittman still does a variety of haircuts on men, women, children, encompassing all fashion and ethnic styles. Pittman feels that the changing landscape in the downtown area, including the change of residents in what is now the Pawnee Assisted Living Hotel, has had some negative effects. But Pittman said hotel residents, including the mentally ill, come into his shop without disruptions, and he and customers carry on as usual. Pittman believes his career has gone as planned. When he decided to follow the footsteps of his mother and sister and get into the hair business, he had a plan to graduate and work for three shops before he owned his first, which is what happened, and where he is today. The North Platte Bulletin - Published 10/13/2011 Copyright © 2011 northplattebulletin.com - All rights reserved. Flatrock Publishing, Inc. - 1300 E 4th St., Suite F - North Platte, NE 69101 Hide Talk Back Talk Back I truly enjoyed this article. Thank you. Report Talk Back Abuse Posted by parapraxis - 10/14/2011 5:55:47 PM (0 current warnings - 4 warnings total) NebraskaLand National Bank You've got a facebook Request! click here! I remember getting my haircuts from PD Armstrong and talking with my friend Jimmy the shoeshiner. I miss them both. Report Talk Back Abuse Posted by BeanerECMO - 10/14/2011 7:15:55 AM (0 current warnings - 0 warnings total) Great story, thanks Kaycee! Report Talk Back Abuse Posted by futuredr - 10/13/2011 8:50:27 PM (0 current warning - 1 warnings total)

Opening hours

Ready for a visit? Check the following opening hours for Dean Pittman & HuskerLand Barber Styles:

Tuesday:	01:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Wednesday:	01:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Thursday:	01:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Friday:	01:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Saturday:	09:00 am - 12:00 pm

Note that opening hours may vary based on (public) holidays.

Address

Dean Pittman & HuskerLand Barber Styles can be found at the following address:

802 S Jeffers St

69101

Map

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