Family Barber Shop

About Family Barber Shop

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The Family Barber Shop marked 62 years in its current location at 8112 Oak Street on October 16, 2008. Although day spas and “hair stylists” line Oak Street today, FBS is the only original barber shop in the area. However, according to Bud, “in the day” there was as many as seven barbers on the few blocks from Carrollton to River Road. There even was once a streetcar on Oak Street, and Bud has a picture to prove it! The photograph was taken soon after a streetcar “jumped the tracks” near Leonidas Street, and is a piece of neighborhood history.

In the old days Oak Street was a major commercial district. Bud tells of how there were two grocery stores (no “supermarkets” back then) where customers would enter and hand a clerk a grocery list. Then, they’d chew the fat while groceries were packaged for the customer. Once a month or so the bill was paid. Now that’s service!

The company name “Family Barber Shop” came about out of necessity. While applying to barber school, Bud found that he couldn’t get in because of high enrollment. However, he was told that he could register in the beautician school and train there for a couple weeks until a slot opened in barber school. He did, and in no time was giving manicures and styling women’s hair into the latest fashions. So he can do it all, although he is realistic when he states that “no woman is going to go to a barber nowadays.” But plenty of men still do!

About Bud

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Born in 1923, Lynward "Bud" Adams entered the U.S. Navy at the beginning of World War II at 19. "I tried to join the Army at 18 but couldn't because my mother refused to sign me over," he laments. Trained on the 50 caliber machine gun and shooting 20mm anti-aircraft guns, he found it unsettling to become a manicurist soon after leaving the military in 1946. But he did what he had to do after a little encouragement. "I first said 'Absolutely not!' but my buddy who was entering the school with me says 'Come, just do my nails so we can get through this,' so I did," Bud remembers. And it was a good thing too because it was in beautician school that he met his long-time wife, Alverta.

Having grown up in the very neighborhood where he still works three days a week Mr. Buddy knows much of the area’s history—from the Oak Street Streetcar to the days when there were six other barber shops and two grocery stores on the street. So for $12 you can get your haircut while getting a New Orleans Riverbend history lesson!

Services

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Family Barber Shop is just that—a barber shop for the entire family! Mr. Buddy has training in haircutting for men, women, and children, with standard haircuts starting at $12. Call for additional information.

Contact

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Family Barber Shop
8112 Oak Street
New Orleans, LA 70118-2040
504-861-7454

Hours
Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.