Original box for manual hair clipper, circa 1905-1925. The German “Haarschneidemaschine” translates to “clippers.” “Ciseaux pour coiffeurs” is French for “hairdressing scissors.” “Vor dem Gebrauch gut zu olen” means “oil well before use” in German. MCHS object 1971-046-0002. Clipper pictured below.

Manual hair clipper, circa 1905-1925, used by George R. Dalton. He upgraded from this manual hair clipper to an electric clipper sometime in the 1920s. MCHS object 1971-046-0001. Original box pictured above.

Wood River’s first barber, George Dalton, owned and operated a barber shop for decades. He started out in Wood River and moved to Alton in the early 1920s. At one point he was supporting his wife, four children, and two grandchildren with his craft. After his wife died in 1933, George moved back to Wood River and lived alone in his rented shop on West Ferguson Avenue. He was still barbering when he died in 1945.

Sources

Alton city directories. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.

Alton Telegraph. Various articles.

Find A Grave. Accessed August 30, 2019. https://www.findagrave.com/index.html

United States census records and other public records.