I bought myself a gem of a book from Ebay a few years ago. My reason for the purchase was that the book contained short stories about being a barber in Portland. The barber’s name was John Todd and he also mentioned some ancestors of mine who were barbers. The book is entitled ‘Reminiscences of John M. Todd: Sixty two years in a Barber Shop’. On the title page, “A Sketch of the Life of John M. Todd and Reminiscences of His Customers”, written by himself. Portland, William W. Roberts Co. 1906
     It is full of useful information, and ironically much of it could apply to the troubles in the United States today. My next few blogs will encompass some of the material in this book. Remember that this book was published in 1906.
 This book was written during his working hours between shaves and haircuts. Most of you who go to a hairdresser today enjoy good conversation with the stylist. I am sure that not much has changed in that arena over the years. From a chapter on Socialism, he writes the partial excerpt and gives credit to someone with initials, O.F.L.:
     “Not only have the billions paid to bondholders been filched from the earnings of labor, but also the tens of billions stolen by mortgage foreclosures, vast sums of usury and untold amounts, the result of shrinkage of values occasioned by lessening the amount of debt-paying money of the country. All these pluckings of the poor by the dangerously rich would probably aggregate more than one- half of all the present wealth of the country. This sum, vast as it is, must be, probably, doubled by the loss of earnings of the millions of laborers who have been deprived of the privilege of earning anything, and hence turned into vagabonds, tramps, and, in vast numbers of cases, criminals, by this hellish policy set on foot and forced upon the country by traitorous bankers.”
     I believe his writing is powerful and passionate. Those of us who try hard to live within our means are going to pay for those who do not. Nothing is free in life and if it is, someone else has paid for it.