Monday, December 15, 2008

gratuitous gore


The origin of the barber pole is associated with the service of bloodletting. During medieval times, barbers performed surgery on customers as well as tooth extractions. The pole itself represents the staff that the patient gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

The red and white stripes symbolize the bandages used during the procedure: red for the blood-stained and white for the clean bandages. Originally, these bandages were hung on the pole to dry after washing. As the bandages blew in the wind, they would twist together to form the spiral pattern similar to the stripes in the modern day barber pole.

Spinning barberpoles are supposed to be oriented so that the red (blood) will appear as if it was flowing down.

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