Like most communities, Manning has always had an ample supply of barber shops, where customers could go to hear a good story, sip on a drink, and, once or twice a month, get a haircut.

By the time the town had celebrated its first anniversary, two barbers had opened shops. C.T. Callison operated the City Barber Shop, located one door north of the Farmers and Traders Bank (now the LeBoutique Salon), and G.W. McCarthy had his shop at Third and Main. L.W. Meyers gave shaves in a shop in the Wilson harness store.

During the first 50 years, Manning had numerous barbers and barber shops. Some stayed for years, others less than a month. Trying to obtain all their names is difficult; hopefully, not too many have been omitted from this list: J.A. Sexton, Clint Kenyon, L.W. Meyers, C.T. Callison, G.W. McCarthy, J. Ross, Pete Murray, E.E. Weeks, Floyd Parrish, John Needles, Ralph Walker, Lorenzen Hollingsworth, Harry Stutzman, Kenneth Dusenberry, Bryon Offineer, C.T. Corbin, Henry Lippold, Roy Cole, Oral Hallinbeck, Ben Shaffer, Mike White, F.S. Fitzsimmons, W.H. Threlkeld, Russell Barber, R.N. Ross, John Dollinger, J.L. Leonard, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Howard, AI Curtis, the Signal Brothers, Earl and Melvin Jentsch, Otto Whitsen, the Graves Brothers, Pete Siem, Jake Kruse, AI Starek, and Lyle McCall.

Clint C. Kenyon learned the barber trade in the Central Barber Shop, owned by J. Arthur Sexton from 1889 until 1895. Kenyon then bought the shop, which was moved in 1897 to 310 Main Street, where Dr. Myer's office is now; it contained five chairs, four shower baths, a tub bath, and a laundry. Kenyon continued to barber here until the early 1940s when he sold the shop to Al Starek, an employee. Partners of Kenyon had been Floyd Parrish, Ralph Walker and Harry Stutzman.

Joseph Stein later bought in with Starek, after serving as a barber in the Navy and locating briefly in Portsmouth. When a fire destroyed their shop, Stein continued barbering, locating in part of what is now the Louck's Apartments at the north end of Main Street. In the late 1950'x, Stein moved to the basement shop once operated by Roy Cole; Stein retired from the business in 1969.

Peter Murray was another long-time barber in Manning. He learned the trade in 1885 at Callison's shop. He first located in the Central House, midway between Third and Fourth Streets on the east side of Main Street, then bought the Weeks Barber Shop, a basement shop across the street. By 1889, the Murray and Weeks Barber Shop had three chairs. In 1898, Murray moved to the Heitman Building, where he had a barber shop and bath rooms. His partners throughout the years had been R.L. Ross, John Dollinger, and John Needles.

George Graves and his brothers, Henry and Bill, operated a shop in the early part of the 1900's in the basement shop vacated by Murray. George later moved to Denison and Arcadia; when he returned in 1923, he had a shop in Grimm's Place, which is now run by Duane Otto.

In 1931, when the Golden Anniversary of Manning was noted, there were five barber shops in operation, with nine barbers employed. Kenyon had two assistants in his shop, Kenneth Dusenberry and Henry Lippold. Earl and Melvin Jentsch were located in the Jones Electrical Building, now the First Federal Savings and Loan Building. Roy Cole had operated the Subway Barber Shop for nearly ten years under Skinny's News Stand, which is now Duane Boersma's insurance office. George Graves and Pete Siem had their shop in the pool hall, which is now

Grimm's Place; Siem had located there after a fire destroyed his shop in Aspinwall. Al Curtis had a shop in the Livingston Pool Hall, where the Coast to Coast Store is now.

Curtis had barbered in Manning from 1912 until 1924, and had reopened the shop in 1928. In 1933, he moved to the Siem Pool Hall and was assisted by Pete Siem; about this time, George Graves had moved next door to the Livingston Pool Hall.

Another barber shop was located in the basement of the Manning Trust and Savings Bank; the Signall Bros. worked there before moving to Gray.

Manning barbers always had good business association and cooperation. It wasn't until 1927 that the Iowa State Legislature passed a Barber Licensure Bill, which required those desiring to become licensed barbers to attend a Licensed Barber College for six months. After completing the six months of college, the applicant had to apprentice under a licensed barber for 18 months, then pass the State Board test, before being issued a barber license.

There have been four men who have directed the Barber Division since the passing of the barbering law. One of these men originated from Manning. He was Clyde Kenyon, the son of Clint C. Kenyon. Clyde learned the trade by watching and helping his father here in Manning. Later, he moved to Des Moines and operated a shop of his own. He was elected Iowa State President of the Associated Master Barbers of America for seven terms, and was elected to the office of President of the National Association of Barber Examiners in 1967. In 1973, he retired and moved back to Manning.

Bob Wade was in business in Manning from the late 1940's to the early 1950's, when he moved to Boone, Sac City, and Phoenix, Arizona, to practice barbering. His shop was also located in the Louck's Apartments; he was originally located on the west side of Main Street in the small wooden building later housing the Dappen and Felker vet office.

Bob Johnson learned the barber trade and worked for Joe Stein in the mid-1950's. After being in the service and other jobs, Johnson was in and out of the barbering business in Manning until 1970, when he retired completely; he now is employed at the local post office.

In 1955, Melvin Jentsch relocated and established his barber shop at 413 Main. Melvin , better known as "Bud", passed away in his shop in November, 1960. Gerald Schulte purchased the barber shop from Olive Curtis, as the administrator of the Jentsch estate, January, 18, 1961. He purchased the building from J.L. Loucks April 3, 1967, and completely remodeled the shop, adding a new front and redoing the interior. Part of the building was used as a body shop for about ten years.

Frank Wegner took up the barbering trade in the early 1950's and worked for Al Starek, then for Pete Siem for many years. After Siem's death, Wegner became sole owner of the shop. In the last few years of Wegner's barbering career, he traded shops with Harley Adams of Walnut. He barbered in Walnut a short time, then the two exchanged shops again. Wegner remained in his Manning shop until July 6, 1970, when he sold it to Duane Otto.

Otto's barbering career had started in 1963, when he attended nine months of Barbering College in Des Moines. He took his 18 months of apprenticeship in Manilla under Tom Maloy. He left Manilla in 1968, upon being drafted into the Army. After his discharge in 1970, he came to Manning and bought the Wegner Barber Shop and is still in operation there in the southern part of Grimm's Place at 314 Main Street. This is the oldest located barber shop of the two in operation today, having been at the same location since the early 1900's.

At one time there were 8,000 barbers in Iowa. Today, there are 4,000 licensed barbers. The shave was the main stay of the barber shop until World War II, when the safety and electric razor took over. Then short hair cuts such as the butch and flat top became popular, and the barber trade continued to flourish. When long hair became the style, barbers really suffered for several years. Many left the trade, causing a dramatic drop in the number of people now licensed as barbers. Prices have advanced from a haircut at 25c and a shave at 10c, to a haircut from $4.50 to $5.50 and a shave from $2.00 to $2.50. Many shops have quit shaving entirely, simply because there aren't enough shaves to keep in practice.

Men's hairstyling became popular in the late 1960's. November 15, 1970, Schulte went to Los Angeles to complete a course in advanced hairstyling. I; was one of the few places then offering :he course. Since that time, he has been attending refresher courses annually.

During spring of 1978, Arlene Kusel began renovation of an old vacant home at 54 Center Street, which she and her husband owned. For some time, she had felt that Manning was in need of a day care facility, and in May of 1978 she opened the doors of Kiddie Korner Day Care for business.

The response to her efforts was gratifying, as she saw within one year that she was unable to accommodate the number of people in need of the service. Once again, the home was renovated in 1979. At this time, several rooms were added and enlarged, nearly doubling the size of the day care. A fire escape was also added, enabling the second story of the home to also be used. In this second story, Kiddie Korner Pre-School began conducting classes in September, 1979.

The facility meets all necessary requirements and is state licensed. It is operated by Arlene and a staff of six. Original members of the staff included Carlys Stribe, Shirley Hey, Mari Jahn, Ivy Grundmeier, Linda Steele as Pre-School teacher, and Florence Ramsey as cook. They care for 18-20 children daily and adhere to a schedule of varied activities for the children. The PreSchool operates during the school year and carries an enrollment of 24 students.

Kiddie Korner Day Care and Pre-School takes pride in providing a safe and healthy environment for children to grow and learn.

I have been told that Grandfather Radeleff was quite a traveler in his young days. He wandered around the Western U.S. like a lot of young men during that time. I understand he was acquainted with Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill, Thomas Edison and Luther Burbank.

Grandfather Radeleff was born June 8, 1847, in Damlos Holstein, Germany and Grandmother Radeleff was born on February 23, 1851, in Kletzen Holstein, Germany. Just where they met and married I don't know. A lot of people from Germany at that time settled in the midwest. Her parents, or my great-grandfather's, last name was Georgus. He must have farmed around the area some place as my grandfather married and settled in Manning. He raised 10 children (my father, Charles, was the oldest), five boys and five girls. The oldest girl, Rosalind, lived to be 100 years old.

I understand my grandfather was on the town council at the time the water system and water tower was built. He organized an athletic club in the old hall, and the fire department, but not sure on that part. he operated a nursery in southwest Manning and had an ice house and delivery service in the same part of town on the small creek that splits the town.

My father, Charles Theodore, was born November 10, 1876 in Crawford County. He died September 11, 1961 in Oildale, California. My mother was Nellie Jansen, born May 13, 1890 in Clinton County. She died October 23, 1958 in Oildale, California. They were married January 11, 1911.

He left Manning when he was 20 years old and he and two other fellows bought a wagon and team of horses and supplies and headed across Kansas and Oklahoma a year after the Land Rush in Oklahoma. The other two men quit and went home, but dad stayed and went to work for a railroad grading gang. At that time they were building the Texas and Pacific and Kansas and Pacific railraods across both states. He worked four years there.

Father went home to Manning in 1904. He bought a blacksmith shop in South Manning. He attended the World Fair in St. Louis. He ran the South Manning shop for awhile, then I understand he moved his business up on Main Street, just where I don't know. My cousins, the Fisher Brothers, own one of the old shops adjoining their garage. Later he bought property east of the Manning Creamery. He invented a dump truck and cab for Model T Ford trucks and sold them throughout the Midwest and Canada. He held two patents in the United States and one in Canada. After World War I he lost his business, then moved to California in 1923.