KAUAI News

Alaibilla hangs up his scissors, ends 70-year hair cutting career

Joe "Joe the Barber" Alaibilla sits in a barber's chair at his Kapa‘a home, where until recently he cut hair for a few years.

By Lester Chang — The Garden Island

KAPA‘A — June 30 marked a milestone in the life of 97-year-old Joe "Joe the Barber" Alaibilla of Kapa‘a.

That day marked the end of a 70-year career as a barber for Alaibilla, who cut the hair of at least five generations of Kauaians and the likes of movie stars like Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis when they visited Kaua‘i years ago.

In mid-1930s, Alaibilla said he opened a six-chair barber shop on Kaua‘i, making it the largest on the island. Alaibilla said his prosperity and sustained popularity over the years stemmed from precision cuts he gave customers.

Beyond being a successful businessman, a husband and father of two now-grown children, Alaibilla remains a beloved figure in the Filipino community.

He watched out for the welfare of immigrants from the Philippine Islands who came to Kaua‘i to work in the sugar industry. He offered advice on where to settle and where to get the best deals, and provided a place where they could gather.

Alaibilla retired recently because, at his advanced age, he was no longer physically able to do the job. "I old already, no can," Alaibilla told The Garden Island.

Alaibilla gets around with a cane, and his family helps him with his shopping needs and drives him to appointments.

Yet, loyal customers and other people still come by Alaibilla's home on Laipo Road in Kapa‘a, where he cut hair for the last seven years until his retirement last month. Sadly, he said, he has to tell them he has called it quits.

"I pity my poor customers, because they don't know where to go (to get a good haircut)," Alaibilla said.

Two barber chairs, rusted over in most parts but still useable, sit under mirrors in the garage of his home. He has cut hair there for about seven years.

The chairs offer the only reminder of a career in haircutting that started in 1928.

Alaibilla learned how to cut hair from his father in the Philippine Islands, and came to Hawai‘i that year to work in the sugar-cane industry.

Alaibilla, who was 28 years old at the time, took a ship that brought him and other immigrants from the Philippines to Honolulu, during which time he cut hair for a small charge.

He did the job so well that the captain of the boat offered him a job to cut hair.

"He want me to stay, but I said ‘no,'" Alaibilla said. "I wanted to go to Hawai‘i."

After stopping off for two days in Honolulu, he left for a job with a sugar plantation on the Big Island.

After six months, Alaibilla said he decided to move to Kaua‘i to be closer to more family members.

His nephew is Domi Alayvilla, a composing specialist at The Garden Island and a Hanama‘ulu resident, and his niece is Nancy Fontanilla, who is Domi Alayvilla's sister and office manager of the Kaua‘i County Clerk's office.

Upon landing on Kaua‘i around 1930 and settling into his new home, Alaibilla began working for Lihue Plantation Company.

The job, which involved cutting cane for hours under a hot sun, didn't appeal to him, and neither did the pay. "I cut the cane, hard work. I quit because I make only $1 (a day)," Alaibilla said.

After three years of working for the plantation, he decided a life change was in order.

In 1934, Alaibilla and his friends pooled their resources and opened "The Barber Shop," a hair-cutting business located across Kukui Street from the Roxy Theater (since torn down) in Kapa‘a.

Many other barber shops operated on Kaua‘i in the old days, but his shop, Alaibilla felt, had something special.

The shop offered cutting-edge services for its time: large-volume cutting, massages, and the only facial-massage equipment on the island.

As Alaibilla recalled, he and his staff had trouble keeping up with the demand for their services. "I no count how many customers I get," he said.

Alaibilla said his shop did well "because of word of mouth" in the community. "Everybody know me. Joe The Barber. People from Koloa, Hanama‘ulu, Kapa‘a and Kilauea come here. Plenty Filipinos come."

Alaibilla's shop had name recognition outside of Kaua‘i neighborhoods as well, Alaibilla said. He said hotel operators told their guests about his services.

"People asked who the best barber in town, and I was. I was young," Alaibilla said. "All the tourists, when they come, they ask for the good barber shop on Kaua‘i."

Word of his skill also reached the ears of celebrities who visited Kaua‘i.

Alaibilla cut the hair of Sinatra when he was on Kaua‘i for the making of "None But the Brave," a war-movie filmed on the island and released in 1965.

Alaibilla also cut the hair of Tony Curtis, who was on island for the making of "Beachhead," a war movie filmed on Kaua‘i and released in 1954.

"Oh, Tony Curtis was one good-looking bugga," Alaibilla said with a grin. "Plenty of barbers on Kaua‘i at the time. But they took me. Not any barber they take, they take me. I proud."

His shop bustled with business before World War II, Alaibilla recalled.

Young women came to Kaua‘i from Honolulu to work in dance halls on Saturday nights, he said, and to look their best, they usually got facial massages at his shop.

Many single men on Kaua‘i also looked forward to Saturday with anticipation.

They had worked for the sugar plantations all week long, and wanted to look their best at dance halls, Alaibilla recalled.

So, on Saturdays, they got haircuts as well. "But I feel sorry for them; they lost their money (paying for dances with the women dancers)," Alaibilla said.

His shop was also a period piece of sorts: his employees were dressed sharply and uniformly, and the walls of his shops were covered with photos of celebrities, including those of Sinatra and Curtis, and influential folks who had their hair cut at Alaibilla's shop.

His shop offered a comfortable setting that inspired local folks to "talk story," Alaibilla said.

Alaibilla recalled he helped many immigrants from the Philippine Islands settle into Kaua‘i, offering tips on where to find jobs and housing and where to find groceries at the best prices.

His intent, Alaibilla recalled, was to help his countrymen make their entry into their new life in Hawai‘i as easily as possible.

His life could not have been better at the time, Alaibilla said.

His successful business allowed him to take care of his wife, Jeanie, whom he was married to for nearly 50 years before she passed away 11 years go, and his two children, Gerald and Judy.

Over time, many Kaua‘i residents went to beauty salons and wore their hair longer, but Alaibilla said he remained successful because he stuck with what brought him success: being a barber.

For some 70 years, Alaibilla has used only scissors, razors and cutters.

Nearly 20 years after opening his shop, Alaibilla took a stab at change. In the mid-1950s, with the opening of the Kapa‘a Big Save Market at the Kapa‘a Shopping Center, Alaibilla relocated his business by the market to enhance his services.

Through a rental agreement reached with his family, said Richard Sugiyama, Alaibilla relocated his business into parts of the old Kawamura Store in Kapa‘a in the early 1970s. Sugiyama eventually became a client, and has had his hair cut by Alaibilla for the past 15 years.

At the new site, Alaibilla also remained prosperous until Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992. The hurricane tore away the storefront of the building that housed his barber shop, forcing Alaibilla to relocate his business to his son's home, located a few houses up from his own home on Laipo Road. His son is Gerald Alaibilla.

At the same time, his daughter, Judy Sato, who is married to Stanley Sato, stored two of his old barber chairs at her home in Wailua Houselots.

Following a year of cutting hair at his son's home, and with repairs at the old Kawamura Store done, Alaibilla moved back into the storefront.

In 1997, Alaibilla moved his business to his home. He charged $10 for a haircut.

Since retiring last month, Alaibilla has taken up gardening, and gets driven to the store and other parts of the island by his daughter, Judy, and her husband.

But if Alaibilla could continue cutting hair, he said he would, because "it was my life."

Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.