In the midst of today's serious floor debates, a little history break:
In today's "This Day in Minnesota History" page, the Minnesota Historical Society featured James Goodhue, founder of the first Minnesota newspaper, The Minnesota Pioneer (forerunner of today's Pioneer Press). It prompted a tweet by Vic Thorstenson, "Unfortunately, for Mr. Goodhue, he looks like he also encountered the first-ever barber in MN territory." That reminded me of an article I recently saw about a barber who practiced in the Central House Hotel in 1849, while looking for information on all the sites in which the Legislature has met. The very first territorial legislature met in the Central House Hotel in St. Paul, in 1849. Maybe Mr. Goodhue, and many of the very first legislators, frequented this barber? This is text from an ad in Mr. Goodhue's newspaper.
"William Armstrong, a Castillian by birth, continues to smooth the countenances of the male public at Central House, amputating the beard with the utmost facility, upon new and scientific principles. He also performs the operation of hair-cutting and hair dressing, in the latest fashion and most approved style of the art. Shampooing in the Asiatic method, as taught in Constantinople, is also his forte. It will be his delight to render these operations as agreeable as possible without the aid of chloroform."
Blegen, Theodore C. "Minnesota Pioneer Life as Revealed in Newspaper Advertisements," Minnesota History, v. 7, no. 2, p. 99-121.