Just read that a barber in the 1800s made more than a doctor in some cities, found it in an old trade journal at the library.

3 comments

3 Comments

My buddy was doing his family tree and found out his great-great-grandfather was a barber-surgeon. Apparently the guy pulled teeth and did bloodletting right there in the shop. Makes you wonder what counted as a doctor back then, you know? Maybe the barber was doing all the messy work the fancy doctors didn't want to touch. Kinda wild to think about.

west.alice20d ago

Honestly that "messy work the fancy doctors didn't want to touch" part is so true. Do you know if barber-surgeons ever got in trouble for messing up? Like was there any law about it?

troyjackson15d ago

My own family tree has a barber-surgeon from 1840s Kentucky. He probably killed as many patients as he saved. @west.alice, I doubt anyone got in trouble unless they took out the mayor's good eye. The real doctors just wrote the fancy notes and stayed clean.