Charles de Zemler

Born in Sweden aroung 1886, Charles De Zemler first apprenticed in a bakery shop at age 6, then as a barber at age 11. He left Sweden at age 14 in 1900. By 1901 he was working as a barber in Moscow, and then Berlin and other cities before moving to London in 1904. He then worked for a year at the Ritz Hotel in Paris before returning to London, where he worked at Hill's on Bond St. In 1906 he became private barber to the Earl of Ypres, who was to be chief of staff and later commander of the British forces in WWI. De Zemler moved to the USA in 1914. By 1935 he had three shops in Rockefeller Center, NYC with a clientele that included the rich and famous. These shops also housed a large and growing collection of "barberiana": engravings, paintings, barber poles, shaving basins, and barber tools from around the world and dating back as far as 1000 B.C. At that time he was especially interested in left-handed mustache cups. He was consulted as an expert by museums, advertising agencies, and radio programs.[1]

During his career, de Zemler also wrote and published books. In 1939 he began with Once Over Lightly: The Story of Man and His Hair[2] and in 1944 he published Museum of the Tonsorial Arts: Complete Annotated Catalogue, presumably a catalog of his "barberiana".

After his death in 1964[3], the De Zemler Collection was sold at auction in 1972-06-22 by Sotheby at Parke-Barnet.[4] The contents and disposal of the collection at auction are unknown.

1. ^New Yorker, 1946-11-16, p37.
2. ^Sunday Morning Star, Wilmington DE, 1940-02-04, p17.
3. ^New York Times, 1964-08-09, Obituaries.
4. ^New York Magazine, 1972-06-19, p27.