Getting a White House Trim

Nationally, the blow dryer and the unisex salon threaten to replace the barber pole, but the Reagan Administration, true to its campaign promises, is seeking a return to traditional values. Back in 1977 Jimmy Carter evicted the White House barber from his basement quarters and replaced him with beauticians. But Ronald Reagan, said his Chief of Staff James Baker, is "a President who likes to have his hair cut by a barber." The upshot:

Barber Milton Pitts returned to snip White House personnel on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Reagan gets clipped alone every two weeks), while Beauticians Yves and Nancy Graux coiffed on Wednesdays and Fridays. Unfortunately, this arrangement left everyone with emotional split ends. Beauticians and barber feuded over customers' chairs; maintenance workers had to move a different one into position each day. Against the Grauxes' wishes, Pitts had the shampooing sink lowered two whole inches. The Grauxes, meanwhile, suspected Pitts of watering down their shampoo and demanded better locks for their cabinets. That was all the snipping the White House could bear. Said Baker last week: "We think there ought to be a facility for men to get haircuts and women to get their hair done. So we're going to see to it that there are those two facilities." The Grauxes will be moved next door into the Old Executive Office Building; a salon will be refurbished there at a cost of $9,000. For taxpayers, it was just another trim.

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