Before modern medical procedures, barbers, along with cutting hair, offered bloodletting services. The white and red striped pole acted as a beacon to those in need of a bloodletting. Red represented blood, and white the bandages that would be applied afterward.


Trepanning, which dates back 4,000 years and was common to many cultures, involved boring into the skull of the unfortunate patient. Reseachers believe the procedure was used to relieve skull pressure or to release evil spirits trapped in the body.

(find Offbeat Museums by Saul Rubin at a local library and check it out. It's great.)