Centre County barber shop to celebrate April anniversary
MILLHEIM — A local man is keeping his family’s history alive in a traditional small barber shop here that will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next month.
Keene’s Barber Shop is a family owned, third generation operated, traditional men’s barber shop that has moved from Boalsburg to Centre Hall to its current location in Millheim.
According to current owner Rob Jackson, his great-grandfather Nestor Keene, who was born in Millheim in 1918, attended barber school after serving in World War II. Nestor Keene opened Keene’s Barber Shop on the diamond in Boalsburg on April 9, 1951.
The family’s barbering tradition continued. Nestor Keene’s son, Bob Keene, obtained his barber license in the late 1950s and became partners with him. Bob Keene was employed elsewhere full time but would help his father out in the evenings and on weekends.
In 1988, Bob Keene retired from SCI Rockview, where he started and ran the barber education program. At this point, Bob Keene took over the family business. Nestor Keene passed away a few later in 1994.
Jackson — Bob Keene’s grandson — began his career path with a barbering apprenticeship with his grandfather in the family shop.
“In 2002 after graduating from high school, I began an apprenticeship under my grandfather, Bob Keene right there in the shop in Boalsburg,” Jackson explained. “I was able to train under him, earn the necessary hours and then go take my state boards with other barber students.”
Jackson worked alongside his grandfather in the shop until Bob Keene passed away in 2008. Jackson took over the shop at that time. Three years later in 2011, Jackson opened its second location, Keen’s Barber Shop II, in Centre Hall, which remained open there for three years.
Jackson and his wife bought a house in the Kaywood development in Boalsburg 2012, and he moved the shop there. The family later moved to Millheim in 2019, and he opened the shop on Main Street at the former Benfer’s Barber Shop. It has only been the three generations cutting hair in the shop for the past 75 years, Jackson said.
Currently, a barber student must complete a minimum of 1,250 hours of instruction in barbering education with a period of at least nine months, Jackson said. Once that is completed, a student must take a written and practical exam through the state. Pennsylvania has three types of barber licenses barber, barber manager and barber teacher.
“Twenty-three years ago, when I took my exam, the practical portion consisted of giving a haircut and shave on a live model as well as demonstrating a perm and highlight on a manikin head,” Jackson said. “After four years of being a licensed barber, I took another exam to become a licensed barber manager.” Jackson said.
He said barber shops used to be a place where local men would gather and socialize while waiting their turn in the barber chair.
“Nowadays, with how fast-paced the world is, everyone’s hectic lives and the shop running by appointments are not like the old days when the shop could be full of people waiting and everyone socializing,” Jackson said.
Jackson encourages young people to consider the barbering trade as a profession.
“There will always be a need for a barber. Hair never stops growing,” Jackson said. “Over the last 20 years barber shops have been a dying breed locally. Yes, there are a lot of salons/beauty shops, but there will always be a need for traditional men’s barber shops.”
Jackson, 41, said he worked as a self-employed barber for many years until his growing family required him to seek a job that offered benefits. Despite adding to his professional career, he is still operating the barber shop part-time.
“I am a long way from retiring but in the meantime, I plan to keep the shop in business as long as I can,” Jackson said. He said he is still giving haircuts to a few of the same people he started out with when he was learning 24 years ago.
“Fun fact…a gentleman that was there on the very first day 75 years ago is still a client to this day. He has had his hair cut by three generations of (Keene) barbers. I also feel very fortunate that I can carry on the Keene name with the barber shop,” Jackson said.
Unfortunately, with the passing of Jackson’s grandmother in December, the Keene name has come to an end.
“I will always cherish the time that I have got to spend working alongside my grandfather, not many people get that opportunity. Family is everything and so is our history, that is why I have all the old photos and past articles about the shop hanging on the wall for all to see,” Jackson said. “I even have the barber tools that my grandfather used, his hat he wore everyday with the shop name on it along with some other items displayed in a clear case.
Jackson said he is a long way from retiring, but he plans to keep the shop in business as long as he can.
