Tom Van Ardsdale, a barber whose current shop is on Pottstown Pike in Eagle, recently celebrated a half-century of cutting hair, writes Fran Maye for the Daily Local News.

Van Ardsdale finished barber school in 1968, and after a short stint in Philadelphia, he opened his first barbershop in Parkesburg. Two years later, he moved to Marchwood in Exton before finally settling on his Eagle site.

“I loved the ’60s when I started,” said Van Ardsdale. “Men got crew cuts, and then came the ’70s and the long hair. All the guys were getting shag haircuts, and guys started perming their hair. I had to go back to school to learn how to cut long hair.”

Today, while the clippers are popular elsewhere, Van Ardsdale said his clients prefer a scissor cut.

In the five decades he has worked as a barber, he said the biggest change he has noticed is that people are now afraid to talk about sensitive topics.

“You really have to be careful about what you talk about these days, even with sports,” he said.

Read more about Tom Van Ardsdale in the Daily Local News here.

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