Barber's poles have a storied, slightly macabre history; during the Middle Ages, barbers performed surgery on customers, as well as tooth extractions. The original pole had a See more

In South Korea, barber's poles are used both for actual barbershops and for brothels. Brothels disguised as barbershops, referred to as 이발소 (ibalso) or 미용실 … See more

Visual similarity
• The Swan portion of M17, the Omega Nebula in the Sagittarius nebulosity is said to resemble a barber's pole.
• Barber … See more

1. ^ Used to keep the end of a rope from fraying and said to resemble a barber's pole. Though highly decorative, and historically one of the … See more

Possibly as early as the later Roman Empire, and certainly continuing through the Renaissance into Industrialization (maybe even until the 1700s in some places), a "barber … See more

A spinning barber pole creates a visual illusion, in which the stripes appear to be traveling up or down the length of the pole, rather than around it. See more

• Glossary of nautical terms
• Signage See more