Comments on: Plymouth Road

By: Beth Manuel

Beth Manuel — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:18:14 +0000

Aha! Now it’s obvious! Thanks for the hint!

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:21:05 +0000

Letting my memory work for a while, I recall most kids weren’t allowed to go to the barber on that corner until they were at least 11 or 12. This was because they were notorious for providing high-brow reading material like Playboy and Swank. That may have had some influence on the attitudes of the bricklayers too, though there was often skimpy clothing and nudity happening on the Diag back then.

Personally, I didn’t go there, I went to Thompson & Struble in the basement of the Bell Tower Hotel. They used hot towels and straight razors and Bay Rum like a time trip to the 1890s, and they were damned good barbers too.

If I recall, the three letters begin and end with “T,” add your own vowel.

By: Beth Manuel

Beth Manuel — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:28:39 +0000

I’m a bit flummoxed by the 3 letter word reference in the bricks. I’m not seeing it!

By: Tom Brandt

Tom Brandt — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:52:05 +0000

I would hardly say that Tiff turned Arcade Barbers into a “hairstyling salon”. Everybody going there gets regular haircuts.

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:30:21 +0000

Re: "Our orientation leader (Summer of 1981!) made sure he pointed that 3-letter word out to my group during one of our walks around campus." A bit more background on that here: [link]

By: Tom Kraft

Tom Kraft — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:48:41 +0000

A sad day!
Bob has been cutting my hair since I was 13 (now 52)
I started with him at his shop when it was in the little shopping center where Wendys on Plymouth is now. Always a good story to be had there.

Now what am I going to do!!!!

By: Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:53:01 +0000

Ahhh, yes, the Michigan National Bank building — now Panera Bread. Our orientation leader (Summer of 1981!) made sure he pointed that 3-letter word out to my group during one of our walks around campus.

Sorry to hear about Bob’s business. I went to Arcade Barbers for years. Leon and Russ. Then it got turned into to some hairstyling salon by the woman that bought it from Russ.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:09:22 +0000

Didn’t they used to be the M-Den on North University years ago? Moved when they built that place at the corner of North U and Thayer with the cuss words patterned into the bricks.

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:38:10 +0000

In calling to confirm, Bob told me he’d been cutting hair for 62 years – he’s 83. Asked how many haircuts that amounts to, he said it’d be about 20/day, five days a week. So back-of-the-napkin math comes to 310,000. Also, Jan. 8 is a Sunday, so the actual last day will be Jan. 7.