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Beyond the Barbershop

The Local Fox • Sidecar Supper Club

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In days of yore, the neighborhood barbershoppe was more than just your grooming and surgical specialty destination. It was also the spot to gather ‘round, confer with the community, and discuss the local happenings about town. Beardsgaard is chock-a-block full of locals who know all the best places to go around Batavia. The Local Fox is an occasional blog feature that maintains that ol’ timey spirit of barbershop camaraderie by dishing up the inside scoop on the best places to visit in town, whether you’re visiting, or are a local yourself.

It’s bluegrass Sunday and a little rain isn’t stopping anyone

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The Faces of Beardsgaard • Alfheim

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Beardsgaard may be a barbershop in Batavia, here in the mortal plane, but it is also the fantasy world. In that world is an apothecary, River Peak Apothecary, that makes magic potions scented by the seasons, their scents evoking the places you will find all over the Realm.

This is Alfheim, from our 9 Realms of candles collection, smelling of the land of the Day Elves, where a pair of herbalist Dawn Elf siblings learn a timeless lesson on why you should never go with an Unseelie to a second location in the Faewild.

Taking this photo shoot to Chicago on a lovely Sunday meant that there were swarms of people everywhere to be edited out of shots. Despite the crowding, the immediate sibling-like connection between our models carried the day and we had a hoot of a day illustrating our most Elvish-smelling candle.

Dive into the magic of Alfheim with us.

COSTUMING: Local theater costumer All Dressed Up Costumes, Grimfrost, and pieces from the Beardsgaards’ personal closet.
LOCATION: ALFRED CALDWELL LILY POOL, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MODELS: Tanya & Randy

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The Faces of Beardsgaard • Niflheim

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Beardsgaard may be a barbershop in Batavia, here in the mortal plane, but it is also the fantasy world. In that world is an apothecary, River Peak Apothecary, that makes magic potions scented by the seasons, their scents evoking the places you will find all over the Realm.

This is Niflheim, from our 9 Realms of candles collection, smelling of the land of the Water Elementals, where a Mist Spirit undertakes an epic journey to become the champion of Niflheim, on a very inopportune year.

We got up well before dawn this day to take one of the former barbers of Beardsgaard to an adorable little waterfall in a local forest preserve and create one of our most difficult fantasy settings for our freshest smelling candle.

Dive into the magic of Niflheim with us.

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Hirsute Historium: A Brief History of Bloodletting & Barbers

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The spinning red white and blue of a barber pole is as American as apple pie, or the melody of the national anthem, or hot dogs, or denim. By which we mean absolutely none of those things began on these shores.

In fact, that iconic image of the craft of barbering started on the other side of the pond, hundreds of years before even the Vikings found their way to these western shores, and is pretty gory. As is this dive into the history of bloodletting and barbers.

File:WMS 990 Bloodletting Wellcome L0041074.jpg“File:WMS 990 Bloodletting Wellcome L0041074.jpg” is licensed under CC BY 4.0

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The Beardsgaard Coloring Book

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Hello Gaardians! Long time no see, eh? While we still have some time before we can see all of your furry faces, we do have some fun for you all while you’re stuck at home.

Batavia Mainstreet has been doing a wonderful job keeping the community strong and united through this mild apocalypse. So instead of postponing Batavia Second Fridays, they are moving the event online.

Our usual Second Friday consists of an art show curated by Shopkeep Lucky Eye, and why change a good thing? Except you get to be the artists too. Lindsey has put together some coloring book pages for you all to doodle your hearts away with.

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New Glarus Oktoberfest

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It has been less than a year since River Peak first brought the show on the road and set up a vendor booth at an event.

We have had the opportunity to get a few of these under our belts now (hardly forgetting anything important these days), but New Glarus (Wisconsin) Oktoberfest may be the richest in food and beer we have ever taken part in. Weirdly, 75% of the folks we met were actually from northern Illinois.

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A Theatrical Cut

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Most of the time, a client’s requests of a barber are simple. “Just, shorter” is a direction we hear a lot. But in Bob’s case, he emailed us in advance about something a bit more…dramatic.

Not that the cut was dramatic – it was clean, easy and rather simple, but with an eye toward the specifics of a role in the play The Explorer’s Club.

“The Explorers Club is a wacky farce, replete with overwrought English accents, topcoats, mustaches and a setting that has one foot in the gentleman’s club and another in the outer jungles of Borneo” – The Chicago Tribune

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The Mythology of Beardsgaard • Part I • Beardsgaard Origins {Video}

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We are barbers that make grooming goods. But when we created the world of Beardsgaard and River Peak Apothecary, we literally (if not physically) created a world, because we’re big old nerds who grew up steeped in Tolkien. Each product we make becomes a location on the map, and gets its own story. This is one of those stories.

In this chapter, the world is created and filled with the beings that make the world turn.

Read the rest of the neverending story here, and check out the rest of the YouTube channel here.

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Herron & Co. Barbers

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You know Scott. He’s the plaid-bedecked fellow with the jaunty mustache and googly laugh that had been loitering around our shop for the last few years, landing the double (and triple) entendres, and cutting hair sometimes. And now lookit that, he’s all grown up with a shop of his own.

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Shawnee National Forest • River Peak Apothecary {Video}

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For New Year’s the Beardsgaards got out of town for a hot minute, back to one of their favorite places in this flat, flat state we live in. Their were rocks and hot tubs. Come along, won’t you? Stories, video and photo galleries included.

A Song of Ice & Hot Tubs

Shawnee Forest Cabins • Herod, Illinois

If you aren’t following along on the out-of-the-shop adventures of Beardsgaard, journey to our realm. River Peak Apothecary, that is.

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