Mike Wolanin | The Republic Bob Condon prepares to cut Dave Richey’s hair in his barbershop on 17th Street in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Condon, 91, has been cutting hair in this location since he opened his barbershop in 1958.
Most people can’t even imagine performing the same job in the same building for 63 consecutive years.
But Columbus barber Bob Condon seems content performing his craft in the same shop where he’s worked since the year Alaska and Hawaii became states.
Barb Pruitt, who attends St. Bartholomew Church with Condon and taught his granddaughter in school, says she’s amazed that Condon always seems to working whenever she drives by Bob’s Barber Shop, 1521 17th St.
“The way he moves, as well as the stamina he seems to have, make him seem a lot younger,” Pruitt said. “He’s 91 years old! I mean, I know 60-year-olds who don’t hold up as well as Bob.”
Fitness deserves a certain amount of credit, Condon said. During the 49 years that he and his family lived near 17th and Beam Road, he would ride his bicycle back and forth from work during the warm weather months.
But after moving to Hiker Trace, Condon concluded that men his age have no business trying to cross National Road on a bicycle.
“U.S. 31 is a dangerous place, but I do go down to Donner Park now, and ride around the sidewalks,” Condon said. “I usually try to do some type of exercise every day.”
But in addition to his physical condition, Condon also displays a great personality at all times, Pruitt said.
“Bob always seems cheerful, has a smile on his face, and always greets people – whether he really knows them or not,” Pruitt said.
From Condon’s experience, work and social lives aren’t necessarily separate. Many customers are long-time friends who make a visit to his barber shop part of their normal routine, he said.
“If I stayed at home, I would sit and no friends would come by – except the mailman,” Condon said. “But I come here and see people that I’ve known for quite awhile.”
Long-term friendships between males often involves some good-natured ribbing, which is occasionally displayed at Bob’s Barber Shop.
But when customer Butch Wilkerson of Columbus was asked whether he agrees with Pruitt’s assessment about Condon’s personality, his immediate reply was “150%.”
What Wilkerson says he likes most about the veteran barber is the genuine affection he has for his friends.
A second customer, Tom Crawford of Columbus, says Condon never fails to make a person feel welcome whenever they step in the barber shop.
“He always has a smile when you come in,” Crawford said.
While he’s been a Columbus resident since the first term of the Eisenhower administration, it may surprise some to learn he’s not a native of Bartholomew County.
He was born on Oct. 5, 1930 in New Albany, and raised in Floyd County, just across the Ohio River from Louisville.
A 1949 graduate of New Albany High School, Condon spent a few years working for the Colgate-Palmolive Co. plant in Jeffersonville before he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951.
During the Korean War, Condon served as an infantryman in the 40th Division. He was injured while his division was attached to the 45th Division, and honorably discharged from the service in 1953.
Condon has a impressive display of military medals. However, friends say he is uncomfortable talking about wartime experiences with anyone who didn’t serve in the same conflict.
Once the 23-year-old Condon was discharged and returned to New Albany, he was hired back by Colgate-Palmolive – only to find himself laid off within a year. So he used his G.I. benefits to follow the same career path as an uncle, and enrolled in a six-month course at Tri-City Barber College of Louisville.
After moving to Columbus, Condon worked for a time at Whitlock Barber Shop, which used to be located on Seventh St. north of Washington Street. Four years after moving to town, Condon married the former Charlotte Martin at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church on Jan. 18, 1958.
Later that same year, he was hired at Lee’s Barber Shop by proprietor Arthur Lee Stewart, a World War I veteran who had worked as a barber in Columbus since 1934.
On June 3, 1967, the following advertisement was published in The Republic:
“My barber shop, known as Lee’s Barber Shop, has been sold to Bob Condon, and will be called Bob’s Barber Shop. I wish to notify all my old friends and customers (ladies too) that I will be employed full time at Bob’s Barber Shop in the same location at 1521 17th St.
The switching of places between owner and employer was simple.
“We got along good,” said Condon in regard to Stewart, who retired in 1982 and died at the age of 93.
Bob and Charlotte Condon would become the parents of four children who all live in Columbus: Debbie, Donna, Cindy and Doug. In addition, the couple today enjoy several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Many of Condon’s customers were raised on high school basketball, and Condon himself is very well-versed on the topic. He knows he came to Columbus in 1954 because it was the same year the “Miracle Milan” high school basketball team won the Indiana State Basketball Championship.
When Condon talks about his first local residence, he immediately recalls its proximity to the now-demolished Pearl Street gymnasium during its final years of hosting Columbus High School basketball games.
While he fondly remembers how the entire city cheered on the same team, Condon applauds the decision to open Columbus East High School in 1972 because it gave twice as many youngsters the opportunity to play sports, he said.
One of Condon’s most recent honors came on Sept. 3, 2016, when he became one of four Bartholomew County veterans invited on the Indy Honor Flight, which included an all-expense paid flight to Washington, D.C., a tour of several landmarks, and two days of well-deserved VIP treatment.
At St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, Bob and Charlotte Condon are known to visit shut-ins, as well as involve themselves in other church activities, Pruitt said.
And for several years, birthday wishes were published in early October that were simply signed by “Your Barbershop Buddies.”
