The first barber shop in Sellwood, located at SE Umatilla Street between SE 13th Avenue and SE 11th Avenue, circa 1900.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, A2004-002.11007
SE Umatilla Street, circa 1900
Vintage Portland
The first barber shop in Sellwood, located at SE Umatilla Street between SE 13th Avenue and SE 11th Avenue, circa 1900.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, A2004-002.11007
Vintage Portland 
There’s an interior shot of this shop in 1912 at:
https://vintageportland.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/sellwood-barber-shop-1912/
The same photo was published in the Portland Tribune in 2010 at:
https://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=39123
in an article with the title: “Barbershops have a long history in Southeast” which calls it Trites Barber Shop
Another Portland Tribune story (2008) at:
https://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=70318
says, “Further south on the block, at Please Be Seated, 8309 S.E. 13th Avenue, owner Laurie Austin says… that the business in her space used to be a barber shop, but it’s now an outlet for ‘fine linens, dinnerware, and beautiful things for the home’.”
Moderator – I didn’t realize that the first version was waiting moderation — so I reconstituted my contribution, but looking over my second version I see I left out this paragraph:
The accompanying story says:
Sellwood’s first barber, C. A Williams, started haircutting around 1901. Listed in the Portland Directory of the time, Williams most likely serviced his customers in a small shop along the commercial district on Umatilla Street, close to the river.
Could you use the second version, but reinsert that paragraph after the phrase “Trites Barber Shop” please? That will make my contribution complete.
Many thanks —
What are the plants growing on the strings? Beans? Peas? Pictures of my grandparents show the same set up? And that’s a fancy chimney pot on that cute little house!
The vines on the strings look like clematis.
Great detail on the porch posts.
Good location for a shop,13th the first Oregon City streetcar route and Umatilla the street down to the Sellwood Ferry.
Wood sidewalk and wood street, quite a luxury to be out of the mud ~
I did a little research, I think they’re pole beans, which makes more sense than a non-edible vine.
Using Susan’s logic than it wouldn’t make any sense for me to plant shrubs and flowers in my front yard or around the house.
God I wish I could go back in time to 1900 working as a logger and living in Sellwood. On Saturday nights, I’d go to this barber shop, grab a hot bath, a shave and a haircut (The ‘quarter shingle’, the ‘military cut’ or the ‘commodore’), then maybe go to a dance before heading to the Yukon Tavern, and just getting lit.
Today’s photo made me recall and earlier photo on Vintage Portland, also of a barbershop near the same corner. I wonder if the owner of the one in today’s photo flourished enough to open the bigger operation seen here in 1912? https://tinyurl.com/y6vyybl4
Dave, they did plant flowers for looks only, but everyone also grew vegetables in their garden and the front porch was a perfect location for pole beans because of the ease of setting up the strings. https://books.google.com/books?id=wptAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=front+porches+pole+beans+on+strings&source=bl&ots=C4QCm7tMZm&sig=IIc4A0Irk_N-q8u0Ec-562hzcUY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWi9ush4TdAhUHCDQIHYZ8D3kQ6AEwFXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=front%20porches%20pole%20beans%20on%20strings&f=false
Very early this morning I sent in a multi-paragraph comment with historical information about the barbershop, but it hasn’t appeared. I’m going to take a guess that it was due to the links I had embedded in it. I’ll leave out the links and break down my message into a couple of parts, hoping that works.
There’s an interior shot of this shop in 1912 at the link provided by VP under “related” (above). The same photo was published in the Portland Tribune in 2010 at:
in an article with the title: “Barbershops have a long history in Southeast” which calls it Trites Barber Shop.
The accompanying story says:
Sellwood’s first barber, C. A Williams, started haircutting around 1901. Listed in the Portland Directory of the time, Williams most likely serviced his customers in a small shop along the commercial district on Umatilla Street, close to the river.
Another Portland Tribune story (2008) says,
“Further south on the block, at Please Be Seated, 8309 S.E. 13th Avenue, owner Laurie Austin says… that the business in her space used to be a barber shop, but it’s now an outlet for ‘fine linens, dinnerware, and beautiful things for the home’.”
Is the house supposed to be the barber shop in 1900? Or is it the clapboard building next door?
The dude wearing the derby, vest and coat looks overdressed for the weather that day.
Men commonly wore woolen suits, with a vest, tie, and hat, in 90 degree or hotter weather. In our modern, much more casual times these folks may look over-dressed but it was the cultural norm in those days.
And I was told by a woman who worked at the Oregon Trail center in Oregon City that on the hot days she dressed in period clothing, she felt cooler than when she wore shorts and a t-shirt. Must be some insulating effect.
Those strings appear to be attached to the roof! If those are beans the bean picker will have to be a pretty fearless harvester. Use the magnification tool to see those strings.
Pole beans planted like this are great for shade and food, I assume these shade the south side of the building ~
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