Whats the Deal With the Barber Pole, Then?
The history of the barber pole is intertwined with the history of barbers and their bloodletting practices. Patients would grasp a rod or staff tightly so that their veins would show, and the barbers would cut open their arms and bleed them until they fainted (nasty but true). Later, when leech therapy became popular, as they allowed for more controlled bleeding, the leeches were applied directly to the vein areas. After the procedure, the washed bandages10 were hung outside on a pole to dry11, and to advertise the ghastly therapeutic specialities offered in the barbershop12. Flapping in the wind, the long strips of bandages would twist around the pole in the spiral pattern we now associate with barbers. This early barber pole was simply a wooden post topped by a brass leech basin. One source speculates that the poles were painted red to mask the bloodstains. Later, the basin was replaced by a ball and painted poles of red and white spirals took the place of the less tasteful pole with
