Props Barber Shop

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. It was an unusually quiet Sunday morning in downtown Portland when a delivery driver pulled up to Props Barber Shop. The sun had barely peeked over the rooftops, and the streets were deserted. As he stepped out of his truck, he noticed something odd—an old man with a peculiar hat sitting on the bench outside. The old man smiled and said, ‘Just waiting for my usual cut.’ The delivery guy nodded, thinking it was another regular. Little did he know that the barbers at Props had never seen him before. After the old fellow left with a new haircut and a big smile, the barbers whispered among themselves: ‘Guess there’s one more customer who found the secret entrance to Props!’

2. A little boy walked into Props Barber Shop one afternoon, curious about the strange noises coming from inside. The barber’s clippers hummed like bees, but they were joined by something else—a soft, rhythmic tapping that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. The boy peeked inside and saw an old man humming along with the clippers, his hands moving in perfect rhythm as he cut someone's hair. 'That's not a tap,' whispered the barber, glancing sideways at the boy. 'That's my neighbor practicing for the drum solo at karaoke night.'

3. While getting a trim one day, a regular leaned over and whispered to the barber: ‘Did you hear that last week, someone paid for everyone’s shave here?’ The barber nodded knowingly but wouldn’t say more. A few days later, an excited delivery driver barged in, yelling, ‘Hey, guess what? I just paid for everyone’s shave!’ The barber smiled and replied, ‘Really? That’s nice of you.’ Then he turned around and said quietly to another customer, ‘Must be running low on tips again.’

4. While getting a trim one day, a regular noticed something odd: every time he looked up from the mirror, there seemed to be a new painting on the wall behind the barber. Curious, our regular asked the barber about it. ‘Oh, those?’ replied the old-timer with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Just some paintings I picked up here and there—nothing special.’ The next week, though, when our friend showed up again, he found himself sitting between Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and a portrait of Homer Simpson. Turns out, the barber was an avid collector who occasionally swapped his customers’ heads for famous faces.