BUTTE - There are salons, hairstylists and franchise places where you can get a haircut as fast as you can get a burger at a fast food joint, but if you want an old-school haircut from an old-school barber, then you've got to go to Leisure Way here in Butte, which is the oldest barber shop in the state of Montana.
“I’ve been here 44 years, my father started this barbershop in 1962 and I came here in 1979,” said Leisure Way Barber Shop Owner Dave Isakson.
Dave said he loves watching his customers grow up over the years.
“Those kids that were children when I started, now that have children and grandchildren and you still get to see all of them grow up. It’s a fun way to watch people in America. That’s another thing, I always tell people is not everybody can have the best job in town, I’m sorry for everybody else,” he said.
Loyal customer Bruce Duxbury added, “He just does a good job, just the conversation, you can talk to him, you know, he’s been around and I’ve been around the block a couple times myself.”
Dave is also training Brannon Cook, who at just 25 years old is hoping to carry on the barber tradition.
“There’s no other place I’d rather work than a barber shop, getting to know each other, you get to BS all day, I literally get paid to BS,” said Cook.
Though he’s had prior training, Brannon says he learns something new every day from Dave.
“I’ve worked, like I said, at three other barber shops and no other place have I learned more than here,” said Cook.
One other benefit of going to a certified barber is getting a straight razor shave.
“You got to come to a barber shop to get a straight razor shave; barbers are only ones legal to run a straight razor,” said Isakson.
Cook added, “A barber for shaving, you start on a balloon, you put shaving cream all over the balloon and if you pop it you’re not doing it right.”
So, do I have what it takes?
Oh gosh, I’m nervous now. Here we go … did I do that?
“You got her!” Cook said after I successfully shaved the balloon.
For Dave, the job is all about the people.
“They’re not just a paycheck to us, they’re a person that we depend on,” said Isakson.
