Georges are hanging up their scissors

Ledger photo/SCOTT BAUGHMAN John and Linda George will retire from the barber/cosmetology business this weekend. The couple has been working together for 40 years. Friday the thirteenth is always somewhat memorable, but for Linda George it will always be remembered as the day she retired from hair dressing.

And her husband John won't be far behind as he plans on having tomorrow be his last day as a barber at John and Linda's - a Gaffney institution on Overbrook Drive for more than 20 years.

"We're both from Gaffney and together we've been at this for almost 40 years," Linda said. "There have been a lot of tears shed here the past couple of days as people say goodbye. At this point, most of our customers are our friends. And when you're somebody's hair dresser, you're more than just that."

John feels the same way about the men whose hair he cuts.

"I tell people that over the past 40 years as a barber I've learned more than I ever thought I could from my customers," he laughed. "Linda is right, you're a counselor, a stock advisor, a confidant - you name it. Whenever I have problems with my air conditioner or heater or some kind of electrical problem, I can usually pick up enough tips and tricks from my customers that I can even fix it myself."

John started out a little before Linda, initially working at White Way Barber Shop in Uptown Gaffney.

"Then, he moved to work with Blue Sentell at West End Barber Shop," Linda said. "But he met me before he started all this, right out of the Navy."

The couple has been married for 43 years, and worked together for 40 of them. The partnership has been the key to their...partnership.

"It was both of our ideas for us to open our first shop together," John said. "She came up to me one day and said she would like to go to beauty school and learn cosmetology. I told her it was a fine idea and we could maybe one day be partners in business together. She finished school and we've been working together almost ever since."

Trends have changed over the years, but John and Linda have kept up with the changing times.

"All I really do these days is cut hair," John said. "There was a time when the barber shop offered a lot more, but people have moved on now, I guess. I used to do a lot of shaves and was really known for that, but that idea kind of dropped off about 20 years ago."

For Linda, the list of services is different, too. But it probably isn't any smaller.

"I do perms, cuts, shampoos, coloring, manicures - all kinds of things," she said. "I suppose people always think that the women's side of hair dressing is more complicated, but really there are a lot of similarities to what I do and what John does."

John agreed.

"People think women are more particular, but there are some men who spend a lot of time on their hair," he added.

When the shop closes for the final time, the couple is unanimous on what they'll miss most.

"We're going to miss the people," John said. "Our customers are like family to us, and we've been with them for so long. Gaffney has been wonderful to us."