Monty’s Barber Shop, 2801 West St., is what it always has been – a barber shop. Small, seasoned and tucked away in a corner west of campus, Monty Brown’s 28-year endeavor has kept true to its roots as a remnant of small-town, American culture.

Monty started cutting hair straight out of high school, and despite being from a family of limited means, he was able to attend barber training classes. After leaving the army, he opened his shop in 1977 after six years of working across the street. His life has revolved around his shop – he even met his wife after seeing her walk by his windows.

And now, after hundreds of thousands of customers and approximately 500 regular clients, Monty’s has become an ISU landmark.

A different (hair)style …

Every time here, I’m going to cut your hair. Every time you go to Great Clips, someone else cuts your hair – so it’s not very personal. You don’t really get to know the person.

I know kids and what their dads’ names are – I know a lot about a lot of my customers.

An artist trapped in a barber’s body …

I’ve shaved plenty of things into peoples’ heads. Oh geez – crossed hockey sticks, team names. I’ve cut a long stripe on the side of a guy’s head and put an arrowhead on it and used to have to do bearclaws. Fortunately, that sort of thing has fallen by the wayside.

Crew cuts and a few nuts ...

Oh boy, I’ve been flashed a couple of times. It was this woman – she was having a couple of mental problems.

She also went and flashed a troupe of Boy Scouts at Bessey Hall. She ended up in the looney bin the same day.

A close shave with the government …

As a matter of fact, George W. was in town campaigning for his dad, and he came in here and tried to convince me and my customers to vote for his dad. That must’ve been 17 or even 21 years ago.

In another life …

I would’ve played professional basketball, but I like football a lot – it’s probably my favorite college sport. I played football in the army, we had a post football team. Actually, we had a guy on our team who played a year for the Buffalo Bills. He was a linebacker for the Bills, but he was a lineman for us.

Keepin’ it real …

I never have thought about expanding because, first off, parking in this area is a real problem. So to expand, I would have to have more customers and they’d need more parking and that’s not going to happen.

And I’ve always just liked doing my own thing, you know? Sometimes when you try to expand, you’ll have a guy work for you and then he’ll go and start his own place and try to steal half your customers. There’s also a lot more hassle and bookwork.

In the end …

I plan on staying for six more years. I want to start going South in the winter time – play more golf. I’d like to sell the business to someone who’ll keep it a barber shop, but I just didn’t want my boys to do it. I wanted them to have something with better working hours. I won’t miss the work, but I will miss talking with people and meeting new, young students – it keeps you younger.