Don't blame the ghost for the fact that you can get a great haircut— but not a shave— when you visit the Balcony Barber Shop as you head “Down Under” at the Pike Place Market.
Although the ghost may move items around in the shop, it's at night when there aren't any customers. Since she isn't among the living, she no longer uses the comfort of hot lather to prep customers for petty larceny.
The reason you can't get a shave is simple, according to manager– and barber – Andrea Green.
“It's too small a space in here – there's not enough room to move safely with a razor,” she said. “We can shave the hair on the back of the neck with a razor – if customers request it. Otherwise, we use clippers.” Green has heard some of the ghost stories too, and sometimes they get pretty bazaar. “Someone said her head (the ghost's) fell down the stairs and through the floor. The Travel Channel tried to videotape a re-enactment with an ex-employee.”
For the “official” story of the ghost – one of several who purportedly haunt the Market – Green referred us to Sheila Lyon, co-owner of the Magic Shop.
“Chief Seattle's cousin used to work here, and she told me the story,” Lyon said. “There used to be a woman here, many years ago, who used to give customers a shave with hot lather.”
Lather & larceny
But it seems the lather was laced with larceny.
“She would sing them a lullaby while she applied the later, and they would fall asleep,” Lyon said. “While she was shaving them, she would pick their pockets!”
A janitor first discovered the ghost of the woman, known before the age of political correctness as “The Fat Lady.” “He used to hear someone singing when he was working in the market area below the barber shop,” Lyon said. “Onetime, he felt someone pull his scarf off and throw it on the floor.”
There are conflicting stories as to how the smooth-voiced but sticky-fingered shaver met her demise.
“Someone said she fell through the floor before the Market was remodeled, but that has been disputed,” Lyon said.
However, a number of other people have seen evidence of the ghost of “TheFat Lady.” Green said she has come in during the morning, and items have been moved around, including a ship in a bottle which moved to another spot – when no one was in the store.
She is not alone.
“Two young women who work in the barbershop have experienced someone moving something in the store,” ghost historian Lyon said. “They have an excellent collection of razors which have been moved around, and there have been other unusual goings on.”
All appear benign.
The barbershop ghost has plenty of company, including “Princess Angeline,” Chief Seattle's daughter, and yet another ghost, believed responsible for a chilly spot in the lower level of the Market – enough to warrant a sequel in an upcoming edition of the Pike Place Market News.
Barbershop is as old as the Market itself
The Balcony Barber Shop's history is fascinating with or without the ghost story.
“It has been around, under various owners, as long as there has been a Pike PlaceMarket,” Green said. “It's one of the oldest, continuously running barber shops in the City of Seattle,” Lyon added.
The Balcony Barber Shop gets its name because it is located to the right of the staircase heading down from the Pike Street Entrance and the Main Market to the “DownUnder” area of the market. As you head down the staircase, there is a landing and a walkway that goes off to the right. There you will see a barbershop, opens even days a week.
In her six years as manager, Green has not seen the ghost yet.
Besides the collection of razors in a case by the door, you will find other barbershop memorabilia there, including a collection of old haircut signs, showing styles of days gone by.
Did we mention that you can get a good haircut?
“I'm a barber, and I like to work in a barber shop – I didn't go to beauty school,” Green said. “Most of our customers are men, although sometimes, women wander in to get a haircut.”
A regular cut is $13, and a buzz cut is $11. Beard trims cost $5. Senior citizens can get a haircut for $8. In fact, Green offers a special for senior citizens of $6 per haircut Monday through Fridays from 9 in the morning until noon.
“We wanted to help people on fixed incomes and Social Security, so we set it up,” Green said. “We also offer a discount for (Pike Place) Market employees.”
The Balcony Barber Shop caters to all age groups, not just senior citizens. The diversity of customers attracted Green to come to the market from her previous barbershop in lower Queen Anne.
“I like the atmosphere, with a mix of all different people in the market. There is always lots of excitement around the market,” she said.
The shop is open seven days a week, so if Sunday or Monday rolls around and you feel a bit long in the tonsorial, you can still head to the Balcony.[[In-content Ad]]
