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Why Was There Bloodletting in Barber Shops?

To this day, a red and white (and sometimes blue) striped pole is the barber shop's emblem. The use of this symbol dates back to medieval times, when barbers performed bloodletting and functioned as surgeons.

  1. Bloodletting

    • Before the era of modern medicine, people believed that the human body consisted of four different "humors": blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. It was supposed that bloodletting could right an imbalance of the humors and thus cure certain diseases.

    Barbers as Surgeons

    • A church edict in 1163 forbid monks or priests to perform bloodletting, according to Gilbert R. Seigworth, M.D. So the job of lancing abscesses or performing amputations fell to those men who used sharp razors--the barbers.

    The Barber Pole

    • The barber's patients would grasp a pole tightly so that their veins would show. To advertise their services, barbers placed their laundered bandages on the pole. Later, when barbers began using leeches for bloodletting, a brass leech basin was placed atop the pole.

    The Pole's Colors

    • It is theorized that the color red symbolizes blood; and white, the bandages. The blue ball on the top of the barber pole stands for the leech basin.

    Surgery Re-emerges

    • Educated physicians avoided performing surgery between 1100 and 1500 AD. Surgery eventually began regaining respect during the time of Ambroise Paré (1510 to 1590). Paré was a French master barber-surgeon who helped establish surgery as its own profession, according to ScienceMuseum.org.

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