The year is 1945, and young Augustus Curtiss, known as Gus, is getting a haircut. It is
close quarters in Harold Colwell’s barber shop tucked away in a small room in the Royal
Arcanum building (now the Norfolk Pub). Next to Harold’s fedora, a bottle of 7up sits on
a bench in the lower right corner of the photograph. A calendar on the wall tells us it is
October. World War II has ended and on the 24 th of the month the United Nations would
be officially established. The Detroit Tigers have beaten the Chicago Cubs to win the
World Series and the first functional digital computer weighing 50 tons is in the process
of being built at the University of Pennsylvania. The cost of a first-class postage stamp is
3 cents and the cost of a haircut not much more. After the haircut, Gus probably raced
over to Doc Cook’s soda fountain, located next door, for an ice cream.

Ann Havemeyer