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In the Middle Ages, hair was not the only thing that
barbers cut. They also performed
surgery, tooth extractions, and bloodletting. French authorities drew a fine distinction between academic
surgeons (surgeons of the long robe) and barber surgeons (surgeons of the
robe). The latter were
sufficiently accepted by the fourteenth century to have their own guild, and in
1505 they were admitted to the faculty of the University of Paris. As an indication of their medical
importance, Harry Perelman points out that Ambroise Pare, The father of modern
surgery and the greatest surgeon of the Renaissance, began as a barber
surgeon. The barber pole, as a
symbol of the profession, is a legacy of bloodletting. The barber surgeons necessities for
that curious custom were a staff for the patient to grasp (so the veins on the
arm would stand out sharply), a basin to hold leeches and catch blood, and a
copious supply of linen bandages.
After the operation was completed, the bandages would be hung on the
staff and sometimes placed outside as advertisement. Twirled by the wind, they would form a red and white spiral
pattern that was later adopted for painted poles. The earliest poles were surmounted by a leech basin, which
in time was transformed into a ball.
One interpretation of the colors of the barber pole was that red
represented the blood, blue the veins, and white the colors of the bandages.