Tony Shankle glides the gleaming straight razor down Logan Mitchell’s neck, the blaze sliding through the rich lather as smoothly as a snow shovel pushing aside a fresh fall of powder.

From across the room comes the soft metallic snip of scissors.

Music — something from the 1950s, maybe — spills from speakers.

The air is rich with the clean astringent scents of soap and shaving cream and shampoo.

But for the pair of flat-screen TVs mounted high on the walls, the scene might be mistaken for an era when Eisenhower was president and American cars boasted tail fins nearly as sharp as a medieval sword.

Which is exactly the atmosphere Shankle wants to conjure.

He opened his old-fashioned barber shop, Straight Edge Tony’s, this March in a downtown Baker City building where people have gone for decades for a trim.

Several barbers have honed their tonsorial talents in this building at the corner of Broadway and First streets, beside the Baker Food Co-op.

Neither Shankle, 31, nor his fellow barber, Terrence Moon, has a strong personal connection to the place, although Shankle, who spent parts of his childhood in Baker City, recalls having a haircut in Dickison’s Barber Shop, which occupied the space for more than half a century.

But though neither is old enough to feel nostalgic, both relish the chance to recreate a bygone era.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own shop, and I had a vision of just an old school, classic shop,” Shankle said. “Barber shops were the cornerstones of their communities back in the day. We want that feeling of community here.”

Which is why Mitchell, and Bradley Roan Eagle, who was getting a cut from Moon on Thursday morning, July 3, and other customers finish their time in the swiveling chair not with an electric trimmer buzzing against their neck, but with a layer of warm lather applied by a brush, then the nearly imperceptible strokes of a keen razor.

“I’ve had people come over from Boise just for the straight razor finish,” Shankle said. “They told me they hadn’t had a razor touch the back of their neck for years. Shaving is something I really enjoy.”

Customers who need a face shave will start with a hot towel to soften their skin.

“We have about 20 different shave soaps, so people can choose their scent,” Shankle said.

The decor includes framed replicas of advertisements for products such as Burma Shave and Listerine shave creams.

A lighted barber pole spins (there’s another one outside, near the entrance), and a chess board is ready for a game.

Shankle said that although he often indulges his affinity for the music of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin — there’s a photo of the Rat Pack on the wall between two barber chairs — he switches genres regularly to include classics from the 1960s.

“Nothing modern,” he said with a smile.

Older customers in particular seem to enjoy the music selections, Shankle said.

“It takes them back to their childhood,” he said.

Fulfilling a dream

Shankle moved back to Baker City in 2015 to raise his family.

“I’m really glad to be here,” he said.

He worked at Lew Brothers Les Schwab Tires but continued to harbor an interest in barbering.

He credits his wife, Emily, for encouraging him to pursue his career goal by enrolling in the Paul Mitchell barber school in Boise. He finished the nine-month course in November 2023.

Shankle worked at the Last Resort salon in Baker City for about nine months, then had a chance to take over the business from Ron Strand in October 2024.

Shankle worked with Strand for a few months, then closed the shop over the winter to remodel the interior.

Straight Edge Tony’s officially opened in March.

The name, Shankle says with a chuckle, is something of a joke.

“I hated being called Tony when I was a kid,” he said.

But the name seems to fit with “Straight Edge,” he said.

“People seem like the name,” he said.

Moon, who moved to Baker City a decade ago, joined Shankle for the opening.

Moon’s interest in barbering dates to his childhood, when his grandmother would take him to a barber shop in Redding, California.

Appropriately, given the ambience of Straight Edge Tony’s, Moon always had the same style — a classic flattop.

Moon worked for Baker Sanitary Service and for Marvin Wood Products before attending the Paul Mitchell barber school in Nampa, Idaho.

“I’m the garbageman turned haircutter,” he said with a laugh. “I really enjoy talking to people, so this is perfect.”

Shankle said most of his clientele from his previous job followed him to his new business.

He’s also had customers from around the region, as well as occasional people who are visiting Baker City and walk in.

He’s trimmed hair on heads ranging from toddlers to a 98-year-old.

Shankle said one of his goals is to have a shop where dads bring their sons when both need a trim.

Mitchell is among those customers.

While he was getting a haircut on July 3, his son, Knox, 11, sat nearby. Knox didn’t need a cut that day, but Mitchell said Shankle also handles Knox’s needs.

Shankle has two other chairs in the shop and would like to find two other barbers.

But he’s not in any hurry.

“I want to find the right people,” he said.

His ultimate objective, though, is to create that atmosphere that he thought about long before he draped a cloth over his first customer.

Shankle said he was especially pleased when a few people started coming by occasionally not because their locks were getting a bit long, but because they just wanted to chat while Shankle and Moon plied their trade.

Shankle said he hesitated to hang the two TVs because he didn’t want to discourage customers, and visitors, from engaging in conversation.

“I want people to be comfortable here,” he said. “That’s pretty much the goal.”

Getting a trim

Straight Edge Tony’s is open Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday, Saturday and Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shankle encourages customers to make an appointment through the Booksy app. There’s a link, as well as more information, on the shop’s Facebook page (Straight Edge Tony) and Instagram account.