91-year-old barber a cut above
Jan 31, 2022 10:41AM ● By Becky GinosBOUNTIFUL—When Doug Winn’s sister-in-law suggested he try barbering 65 years ago he thought he’d give it a go. Now all these years later it still brings him joy.
“I’m 91 years old and still working,” said Winn. “It’s the best job I’ve worked in. I found something where I can get along with people and they can get along with me.”
Winn has been working at the Town & Country Style Shop in Bountiful since 2007 but has worked at several locations over the last 65 years. “I started in Ogden and worked there for two years,” he said. “I was in Kaysville for a year then worked in a shop in North Salt Lake. I bought the business from him. Then I moved out of North Salt Lake to Bountiful in part of the Carmack’s building and then moved across the street and worked there for 30 years.”
“He’s great,” said Town & Country Style Shop owner Lori Holman. “The customers love his stories.”
It’s almost like being a psychiatrist, Winn said. “I’m a good listener – but I’m a gabber too. You have to listen the best you can.”
Over his 91 years Winn has seen a lot of changes. “The cell phone is unbelievable to me,” he said. “We had a four party line. You were lucky to have a phone in your house let alone a cell phone.”
Winn served in the Korean War and lived through the Depression. “At Christmas you were lucky if you got one gift,” he said. “We didn’t know anything different – we thought we had it made.”
Growing up, Winn didn’t have a gas furnace until 1947. “Before that we had a coal range to cook on,” he said. “There was a coal burner stove in our living room but no heat in the bedrooms at all. We’d wake up some mornings with ice on the windows. My mom would slip a brick in the stove and wrap it in newspaper and put it at the foot of our bed so we could put our feet on it.”
Holman said if Winn takes more than a few days off he goes crazy. “He feels like he’s being lazy. He just loves what he does. Getting him out of here isn’t easy. One customer said he’s been cutting his hair since he was in the fourth grade. He’s 70 now.”
“I’ve been keeping busy in my old age,” said Winn. “I wouldn’t hear all those great stories if I retire. I’m still working. How much longer I have no idea. If my heart stops and I die behind the chair – call Russon brothers.”