By Garry Howe
When hairdresser Vic Treloar lobbed into town going on 110 years ago, Pakenham had a population of only a few hundred.
Yet, when he set up shop in Station Street, he was the small town’s third barber.
Locals have been serviced by three generations of Treloars since 1912 – a connection that ends this week when his grandson Graham Treloar packs the scissors, razor and clippers away for the last time.
It ends not only a family business but years of community service as well, with Vic’s son Fred and grandson Graham devoting their lives to the town.
In those early years it was impossible to get a haircut on a Saturday morning as men crowded in to have a shave or a beard trim before the evening dance.
Rather than tackle the cut-throat razor themselves, many would leave it to the barber to remove their whiskers in a weekly ritual.
Fixed to the wall of the barber shop was a special cupboard containing individual shaving mugs for regular customers. Many would have their own razors stored with their name on the blade.
Shaving was still a big part of the business when Fred joined his father in the business in 1937. One of his first jobs was to lather up the customers while his father wielded the blade.
Fred took over from his father upon his death in the mid-1950s.
Cigarettes and tobacco were an integral part of the barber’s trade. Milk bars were not allowed to sell cigarettes and smokers relied on the local barber shop for their needs.
The hairdressing salon had a billiard room attached at one stage and there were years later on when Graham also dabbled in the sale of sporting merchandise.
The salon has been like an unofficial museum, with old trinkets from the trade regularly displayed and historic photos – particularly local football teams – adorned the walls.
When Graham began cutting hair in the early 1960s the short back and sides cut was basically all the barber needed to know.
“Now every barber needs to know every sort of style and how to cut every imaginable hair length,” Graham said in a 1980 Gazette interview. ”Shampoos and blow waves have replaced the shave which was killed off by the advent of the safety razor.”
Graham took over the business in 1977, with Fred staying on to give him a hand until he passed away in June 2003, after a stint of 60 years in the trade.
“A local legend missed by all,” was the assessment of Fred at his funeral.
Fred was one of Vic and Elsie Treloar’s five boys and was born at the old Pakenham Hospital in Roger Street in 1917. His brothers were young Vic, Les, Hec and Bill.
The boys were educated at Pakenham State School and apart from a brief stint in the army (which he described as four years doing his bit for his country), Fred spent all his 86 years in Pakenham.
As a young man he had various jobs but eventually followed in the family tradition and joined Vic in his shop in Station Street and spent the next six decades there in some capacity.
Fred was described at his funeral as a great citizen and a great ambassador for Pakenham.
Apart from his wife of 61 years Muriel, Fred’s next love was the fire brigade. He was an active member of the brigade for 33 years and a member of the discipline and marching team. He was made a life member of the brigade and was proud of the Queen’s Medal he received for long and dedicated service and excellent conduct.
Fred was also a foundation member of the Rotary Club of Pakenham and a member of the St James Vestry for 25 years. He was an active member of the church community, always first at working bees and the last to leave.
He was involved with Pakenham Scouts for 20 years and lived up to the motto of “always doing his best to help others”.
Fred played football for Pakenham and played in three premiership teams. He was the last surviving member of the 1936 team that won the Dandenong and District Football Association flag.
The penchant for community work was passed down to Graham, one Fred and Muriel’s three boys.
In 2005 he was named Cardinia Shire’s Citizen of the Year.
Mayor Garry Runge said at the time there would be few people in the area who had not heard of Graham Treloar.
“He has spent countless hours working to improve the quality of life of the people of Pakenham,” he said.
Graham is the longest serving member of the Yakkerboo Festival committee and has served for decades as secretary of the Pakenham Hall Committee, under long-time president Ron Carroll.
He is well known for sounding the bugle at Pakenham RSL’s dawn service and served as secretary and general manager of the Pakenham Football Club for two decades.
The West Gippsland reserves best and fairest player for decades received the Treloar Medal.
In a 1998 Gazette interview, reporter Emily Broadbent said that when Graham greeted customers “his moustache lifts to reveal Pakenham’s best-known smile”.
In that interview, Graham revealed that, after a brief stint working at Saunders Garage, he became his father’s apprentice in 1961.
“Dad wanted to be a mechanic (and loved tinkering with his beloved 1954 Zephyr), so I guess he thought if he couldn’t then I should’,” Graham explained. “But I couldn’t see the point of coming home in grease every night.”
Graham was known for his musical talents. At 12 he learned to play trumpet with the Pakenham Brass Band then formed a band through the church called the Corrigan Cool Cats. At the peak of his musical career he played for the Twilighters mainly at football functions and the early Yakkerboo Balls. His highlight was playing at a local New Year’s Eve ball.
Graham’s contribution to the community has always extended well beyond a quick short back and sides, Emily wrote.
“He greets customers like old friends and they discuss local issues such as the closure of a hospital, the decisions of the local council, politics, the weather and anything else about Pakenham’s history and current affairs.”
It is, after all, a barber shop.
“We know a little about everything and what you don’t know you make up,” Graham said.
Pakenham Football Club photographs from the early 1900s to the late 1980s adorn the walls. Graham played his first game in 1959 at the age of 15. He stopped playing in 1973 but continued his strong commitment to the club.
Graham joined the Pakenham Chamber of Commerce when he was 18 and was elected president in 1970.
He has been a mainstay of the Yakkerboo Festival and for years ran the accompanying art show.
His wife Gail was a telephonist at the shire and often took Graham’s calls to various councilors due to his community commitments.
Graham was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2003 and the previous year had the honour of shaving ABC announcer Jon Faine’s beard as a fundraiser for the Royal Children’s Hospital, an event called live on air by noted commentator Tim Lane.
Graham now lives in Smith’s Beach on Phillip Island and over the past few years Graham has worked one day a week, first at Tydees in Centre Arcade before fire ripped through it earlier this year and then more recently at Fringe Dwellers in Main Street.
A combination of fire, Covid-19 and the travel from the Island led to his decision to retire after 60 years.
He won’t be completely lost to the trade, returning once a month to cut the hair of his long-time assistant and great mate Robbie McGregor at Millhaven.
If he didn’t, there’s every chance Robbie locks would never be trimmed.
A few months back, Millhaven staff organized a barber to do the rounds, who was quickly halted upon entering Robbie’s room.
“There’s only one person who cuts my hair,” Robbie declared. “And it’s not you.”
That kind of loyalty is not new. A few years back Bruce Goldsack brought his son Donald all the way down from northern Victoria for his first haircut to keep the family tradition going.
Bruce’s first haircut was at the hands of a Treloar, the same as his father and his grandfather before him (both named Les).
Sadly, that tradition ends with the Treloar’s Hairdressing era.
