ROME LETTER: Many years ago, after a long hard day of house-moving that turned into a long hard night of box shifting, I found myself preparing for the rigours of a day of hackdom perilously short of sleep. Time for a pick-me-up, I said to myself, and accordingly headed off to the barber.
Ah yes, the barber. Feeling raw and unkempt, what better place than the barber's shop just off Porta Pia, central Rome? Run by two Sardinian brothers, it was a familiar haunt in those days. Wood panelled, with marble-topped sinks, liberty-style mirrors and equipped with that day's copy of Corriere Dello Sport, it was nothing less than a gentleman's club untouched by the horrors of canned music, ugly overhead hair dryers and gossip magazines.
To sit down in the big leather chair in Giorgio's and ask for a shave seemed to me, in my naive little way, like the very height of hedonistic self-indulgence. First, one was fitted out with a series of cotton towels and then stretched backwards in the big seat, at precisely the correct angle. This usually involved a lot of leg pumping on the old-style pedal.
Then one was left sitting there for a while, with viciously hot face cloths melting into your beard. While il maestro waited for the right facial temperature, he busied himself with mixing the shaving soap, subsequently liberally applied with one of those little short brushes. Satisfied that both shaving soap and face were ready, he then pulled out the old cut-throat razor, complete with ivory handle.
This was always a tricky moment. After all, not only did the cut-throat look distinctly nasty but godfathers in Mafia films always get shot at this point. I mean, did you ever hear of a godfather shot on his way to the greengrocer or as he left the post office? No, they always got it in the barber's seat.
However, having steadied the nerves, one sat back and enjoyed a shave so close and smooth, Messrs Gillette, Wilkinson Sword et al could eat their hearts out. Then came delectable decision time as il maestro offered a bewildering range of face tonics and balsamic creams to round off the ritual. One was now ready for the joys of hackdom.
The barber-shop in Porta Pia came to mind last week when reading a disturbing little news item. The Italian parliament, it seems, is in the process of endorsing new legislation which will make gender-based divisions between a barber (barbiere) and a hairdresser (parucchiere) illegal.
This splendid step forward for Italian mankind has been prompted by the need for Italy to fall in line with European Union norms which require that barbers, hairdressers and hairstylists (acconiatore) be considered as one and the same profession.
Current Italian legislation establishes very clear distinctions between the three categories.
Given Europe's economic woes, its immigration crisis, its problems with forthcoming enlargement etc, one might have imagined that the boys up in Brussels had better things to do than ensure my next shave will be had to the accompaniment of Puff Daddy and "Ola".
Sadly, though, this forthcoming legislation seems to reflect the changing times and tastes. Lorenzo Traglivanti, director of the National Artisans' Association, last week explained to news agency ANSA: "There are only 300 barbers left in Rome today, compared to approximately 5,000 hairdressers. During the immediate post-war era, there were roughly the same number of each."
In an Italian world where it makes sound economic sense for hairdressers to join forces with beauticians and manicurists in setting up all-inclusive, large-scale unisex salons, the barber's days would seem to be numbered. For a start, in today's rushed world, not many men have the time or inclination to spend half the morning having a shave at the barber.
Not all is lost, however. Lazio councillor, Maria Annuziata Luna, last week suggested that the new legislation will in fact throw a lifeline to struggling barbers, allowing them to expand.
This could well be but, in the meantime, another item in the mosaic of the Roman streetscape will doubtless get lost. Furthermore, when the Mafia next want to take out somebody, how will they know where to find him?