Orlando: Swampy & Jim’s Barber Shop!
Posted by Rob Smith, Jr.Apr 19
Swampy went to get a haircut and stopped at Jim’s Barber Shop in Orlando. Jim has been cutting hair in Downtown Orlando for 45 years. One of his early haircuts was mine, Rob Smith. That was my first haircut 44 years ago. Jim originally worked with a group of barbers just down the street where he cuts now by himself on W. Church Street in Orlando.
Jim is an Apopkan and is a nut about fishing. One of his hobbies is collecting lures. Above him is part of his collection.
Update: Unfortunately for all of us who were the recipients of Jim’s sharp cutting skills and gentle good humor, Jim passed away August 5th, 2008. He will be greatly missed.
Here’s a bit of history of what I remember of Jim’s barber history:
Jim had apparently started cutting the year before cutting my hair in 1963. I know he worked with the barbers that worked on Church Street. I don’t remember the name of the shop. It was located on the back side of McCrory’s that faced Orange Avenue. The other barbers eventually retired or left that shop and Jim took it over sometime in the mid-80s. When the McCrory/Woolworth block was doomed to extinction around 1990, Jim moved to a little spot just outside the parking garage for the old First Federal, now a County government building, also facing Church Street which he stayed in until a few weeks ago..
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A true shame. The old Southern barbershop is missed by this ol’ Cracker!
Jim was my nephew. He was more like a brother, since I was a young teen-ager when he was born to my oldest sister. When his father,Lee, went overseas in WWII, Jim and his mom came home to live with the family. We all adored him. Well , he grew older and so did we, but our fondness was still the same. I now live in Tulsa, Ok, visited Apopka last year and had wonderful visits with Jim and Eloise You can only imagine my surprise and delight when I found,quite by accident, his picture on your website. Thank you, Rob Smith for bringing us this wonderful picture accompanied by your kind word..
I am proud to say that Jim was my Dad. I would like to take the time to thank Rob & (swampy) for visiting his shop. Also, a big thank you to all of his loyal customers. I believe that he gave quite a few of his customers their first haircut. My boys, William & Andrew had never received a haircut from anyone else until Dad passed away. Dad will continue to be missed by many people.