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Photos by Sarah Finnegan.
Vincent Oliver poses in his barbershop, Hippodrome Barber Shop, in Woodlawn. A 1958 graduate of Woodlawn High School, Oliver has operated his shop since 1966.
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Photos by Sarah Finnegan.
Oliver trims a customer’s beard at his barbershop in Woodlawn. The Hippodrome clientele consists mainly of longtime regulars, some of whom drive long distances to come to the shop, according to Oliver.
Woodlawn, like many inner-city communities, declined sharply in the 1980s and 1990s as many residents and businesses fled Birmingham for the suburbs.
But things are turning around, according to Vincent Oliver, owner of the landmark Hippodrome Barber Shop on First Avenue North.
“I would say in the last 10 years Woodlawn has come back really good,” Oliver said.
He should know.
A 1958 graduate of Woodlawn High School, Oliver has operated the Hippodrome — filled with his colorful, ever-growing collection of sports, pop culture and local history memorabilia — for a half-century.
And the Birmingham native is happy to share his memories of the glory days of the area’s business district, its decline and recent turnaround as a new generation discovers urban living.
By the time Oliver was 10 years old, he knew he wanted to be a barber. “I had three uncles and five first cousins who were barbers,” he said. “It kind of runs in my family.”
Oliver attended Jacksonville Barber College and returned to the Magic City in 1960 with his wife, Betty, whom he met in Florida. He cut hair for about five years at Tom’s Barber Shop on 10th Avenue North in East Birmingham.
He went to the Woodlawn shop, formerly Fowler’s Barber Shop, in 1966 and became sole owner 1967.
After calling the place Varsity Barber Shop for a few years, Oliver, who was interested in magic, changed the name to Hippodrome, after a New York theater where Houdini performed.
Woodlawn was a thriving commercial center in the 1960s, with mainstays such as Mill’s Restaurant and Morgan’s Department Store.
“There were four drug stores, some of which had soda fountains,” he said. “We had four barber shops within one block.”
But by the 1980s, Oliver said, he noticed Woodlawn was going downhill.
“At one time — and don’t ask me exactly when — I was the only tenant in the building,” he said.
Oliver never considered joining the exodus, and he always believed in Woodlawn’s potential.
“I always thought, even when it was getting empty and bad, ‘It’s so close to downtown,’” he said.
And now, in another sign of the neighborhood’s resurgence, the two-story building where Hippodrome is located is fully occupied, according to Oliver.
“There are even some young people living upstairs in loft apartments,” he said.
Oliver credits the efforts of REV Birmingham for some of the turnaround and also sees a larger trend at work.
“I think it’s tied into downtown Birmingham coming back with the young people,” said Oliver, who also cites the boom in nearby Avondale. “I think that same energy is coming this way.”
The Hippodrome clientele mainly consists of longtime regulars, some of whom drive long distances to come to the shop, according to Oliver.
One of those regulars is Craig Sanderson, a Woodlawn High School graduate and Irondale resident who has come to the shop for 50 years.
“I think to me it’s just a chance to connect and keep something going that’s been a part of my life,” Sanderson said.
However, Oliver said he also gets new customers, some of whom are among the new residents in the area.
“I have some now from Crestwood who walk or ride their bikes here,” he said.
Oliver, a lifelong collector, will also continue to add new memorabilia to the shop.
There are Batman and Spiderman action figures on display in the shop, as well as Peanuts, Dukes of Hazzard and Walt Disney World lunch boxes. There are stacks of books, including local histories. Posters from long-ago local boxing matches and football games line the walls.
Oliver also displays lots of movie memorabilia, including a poster for Errol Flynn’s version of “Robin Hood” and 8-by-10-inch glossies of cowboy stars.
“Movies and movie theaters are my passion,” Oliver said.
Oliver, who lives in Leeds with Betty, with whom he has three sons in their 40s or 50s, also remains passionate about cutting hair and has no plans to close.
“I have no reason to retire,” he said. “I love my job. I love my customers.”
And he’s convinced good things are in Woodlawn’s future.
“I don’t see why it won’t keep getting better,” he said.