Ray Banks Barbershop Then & Now

We get a lot of requests for information about the history of a property, who lived there when, and business records, but every once in a while someone just drops something in our laps.

The latest to do so is Rich Rosmando, nephew of Ray Banks, who checked in on our CONTACT TAB and offered to send in some pix of his uncle’s barbershop circa 1940. Rich explains:

Thanks for the pics of Klipple’s and the ad. Awesome. My Uncle Ray died in 1981 and probably closed the shop in the mid-late 70’s as I remember.  I can see in the Klipple’s pictures that his shop is gone, and by the cars it looks like the 80’s. 

My Uncle Ray’s Barber Shop is now the auxiliary dining room at the “Orange Blossom.” I snapped a picture this morning (Feb. 1) from the same vantage point as the photo from the 40’s.  I only know the picture was pre-1949 because that’s when my uncle went with three chairs. 

Jill and Hank Croft supplied the long sought after photos of Klipple’s Bakery to which Rich refers for a November post.

According to reader requests, still needed are vintage photos of Palmyra Bowling Alley, the Mary Lou Shop, and the Sharon Shop.

The November 1939 New Era ad for Ray Banks Barber that Rich mentions came from our Newspaper Digitalization Project. This larger full-page 1939 business directory shows dozens of local establishments from that era. Can you see the one that still stands today, almost eight decades later?

Add to the conversation here any time. What else would you like to see on these pages? – JMc