For seven decades, local barber Charles Calabrese has worked in the shadow of A. J. Demarest School on Fourth Street.
“The kids whose hair I cut when they were young have grown up to be lawyers,” exclaimed Calabrese last week, waving at the sidewalk in front of his small shop near the corner of Gardner St. “They still walk by and say ‘Hey, Charlie!'”
But Friday was to be the final day for haircuts at Calabrese’s shop. His landlord, wishing to utilize the space for another business, asked Calabrese to move out.
“I’m going to miss cutting hair and the customers, and they will miss me,” Calabrese said.
Calabrese looked at the contents of his shop, three barber chairs, haircutting equipment and seats for patrons, and said, “I have to have all this out by Friday.”
Born in 1914 in Hoboken, Calabrese’s family took a trip to Italy to see relatives and was caught in the outbreak of World War I.
“My father was called into the Army and went to Albania,” Calabrese explained. “We had to wait about 15 years to come back to America.”
Once stateside, the young Charles Calabrese worked first as a bus boy and then, with the pressures of supporting a new family, went to barber school in New York City.
“I worked for another guy for seven years,” said Calabrese. “When he passed on, I took over. I’ve spent my life here in Hoboken.”
The first shop Calabrese operated was at the corner of Fourth and Garden streets and only a few feet from the location he has vacated. Calabrese worked with three other barbers for nearly 30 years and readily points out the large mirror that still hangs in the back of the store. “I put that mirror up there,” he said.
Calabrese smiles when asked about the many children who have gotten haircuts over the years at his establishment. He has developed a reputation for being able to deal with the most unruly of tykes.
“Other barbers would send the difficult kids to me,” Calabrese noted. “I had patience with them.”
In his time as a barber, Calabrese raised four children, of whom he speaks with pride. His son Carmine is a retired plastic surgeon, and Carlo is a medical researcher in Oregon.
“Carlo never went to class, and he got straight A’s,” Calabrese said.
Now that his long career is winding down, Calabrese is far from retiring. Having become a born-again Christian in 1934, Calabrese will be active in his ministry at Hoboken Gospel Hall. Calabrese taught Sunday school there when he was younger and hopes to continue his church-based work.
“I’m going to work now for the best boss in the world: Jesus,” Calabrese said. “So I’ll be busy.”