Victor Heritage Society
Working Together to Preserve 
Historic Victor, Colorado
City of Gold Mines
  • Home
    • La Jean Greeson"s Presentations at Gold Coin Club in Victor, Colorado
    • Round Table Discussion in Pinnacle Park by Victor Historians
    • 2024 Historic Building Tour, Victor, Colorado
    • Ceremony Remembering the Teller County Gold Star Servicemen of WWII in Wallace Park
    • Victor Heritage Society Picnic at Bison Reservoir
  • Preservation Successes
  • Activities
  • Landmarks
  • Guidelines & Galleries
    • Guide to Preserving Our Architectural Heritage
    • Photo Gallery of Victor Residential Gems
    • Photo Gallery of Victor Businesses Operating in Historic Buildings
    • Photo Gallery of Historic Victor Homes & Buildings--Then & Now
    • Photo Gallery of Historic Victor Artwork by Fred Shane, Circa 1942
    • Photo Gallery of Historic Gold Mines >
      • Stratton's Independence Mine
      • Restoring the Historic Headframe of Stratton's Independence Mine
      • Gold Coin Mine--Part of the Woods Empire
      • Vindicator Mine
    • Photos From 1903-04 Labor Strike in Cripple Creek & Victor Mining District.
    • Step Back in Time with Glimpses of Historical Photos Featuring Victor, Colorado & the Surrounding Mining District
  • Oral History
    • Theodore Roosevelt's Chaotic & Triumphant Visits to Victor
    • “The Only Swedish Grocery Store in Victor”: The J.A. “Joseph” Beckman Family in the Cripple Creek Mining District of Colorado, 1896-1915 by Richard "Dick" Markley.
    • Goold Family Historic Ties to Victor, Colorado & Famous Former Residents of the City by Nellie Goold Young.
    • Memories of H. L. Turner (1882-1967) and His Experiences in the Early Days of the Cripple Creek Mining District.
    • H. L. Turner Story--Part 2: Unique Perspectives About the History of Victor, Colorado & the Cripple Creek Mining District.
    • Tragedies When I Was Growing Up In Victor by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Memories of James Garth Payne & How He Came to Letter Names on the Original WWII Roll of Honor in Victor and Cripple Creek, Colorado.
    • Winters in Victor, Colorado during the 1940's & 50's by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack)
    • Biking & Hockey in Victor, Colorado -- The Passions of Brian Hayes
    • Sports in Victor, Colorado & Memories of the 1949 Pikes Peak Junior High Basketball Tournament
    • Abbott Family Memories Made in Victor, Colorado: The House & Antiques Shop -- by Debbie Abbott.
    • Abbott Family Memories Made in Victor, Colorado: Digging At the Dump -- by Steve Abbott.
    • Abbott Family Memories Made in Victor, Colorado: Mom & Her Victor Friends -- by Dave Abbott.
    • A History of VICTOR, COLORADO--THE CITY OF MINES, compiled and published in 1933 by S. E. Poet, Superintendent of Public Schools at Victor.
    • Carl Roy's Oral History Videos -- Life in Victor, Colorado
    • The Miner’s Photograph: A Pathway to the Past by Steven Wade Veatch.
    • Recollections of My Life in Victor, Colorado during the Depression, WWII, & After By Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack)
    • Memories of Washington Elementary--My First School in Victor, Colorado by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Adventures at the Beaver Valley Ranch While Growing up in Victor, Colorado by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Memories of the Ina & Henry Cleveland Hack Family by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • The Lighter Side of a Visit to Hack's Victor Barber Shop by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Memories of Margaret & Henry C. "June" Hack, Jr. by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Memorabilia from Cripple Creek & Victor High School Bands Directed by Ernest T. Sly from 1939 to 1950.
    • A Day in the Cresson Mine by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Firewood For Victor, Colorado by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
    • Memories of My Grandfather, John Reed Gardner (1864-1951)--Gardner Mercantile Owner, Bank President, Insurance Company Executive. By John Reed Gardner, II (grandson).
    • Tarie Huber Oral History Videos -- Life in Victor, Colorado
    • 1896 Shooting Affray at Union Theater in Victor, Colorado.
    • Memories of Mrs. Katy Bemore, resident of Independence when the deport was blown up in 1904.
    • Working Underground in the Cripple Creek & Victor Mining District, 1972 to 1979: How I Got the Shaft, the Gas, and the Broken Steel by Randall Stewart.
    • INSTALLMENT #1. Seven Generations In Victor, Colorado and The Mining District—The Way It Was as Recalled by Eleanor Musser Baker.
    • INSTALLMENT #2. Seven Generations In Victor, Colorado and The Mining District—The Way It Was as Recalled by Eleanor Musser Baker.
    • INSTALLMENT #3. Seven Generations In Victor, Colorado and The Mining District—The Way It Was as Recalled by Eleanor Musser Baker.
    • Memories of Edward Franklin Page: Watchman at the Stratton Mines and Subsequently a Mine Manager, Farmer, Retail Businessman, & Banker.
    • Tom Schryver's Memories of Growing Up in Victor, Colorado and His Parents--Mayme & Charles "Bumps" Chapman.
    • McCormick Family Connections to Victor, Colorado (1893-2014) by Mary Ann McCormick Hamm.
    • Paying the Piper by Gertrude Moore McGowan.
    • Gold Camp Celebration--Fourth of July in Victor, Early 1900's by Gertrude Moore McGowan.
    • Memories of Lulu Ella Manson & Harry Gordon Moore by Gertrude Moore McGowan
    • Memories of Fannie & Alfred Osborn by Marge Breth
    • Memories of Cripple Creek & Victor, 1945-62, by Mary Alice Orazen
    • The Story of Axel Olson & His Golden Girl, Betzi Johnson, by Shirley Beach.
    • Memories of Mr. and Mrs. Axel Olson by KC Garver
    • Victor Recollections--Mountain Doctor, Small Town Cop, Gus's Sporting Goods, & Little Toy Pocket Knife by Floyd Frank
    • Memories of Lowell Thomas--Victor"s Most Famous Former Resident
    • Memories of the Gold Rush Era in Victor by Edgar McGowan
    • A Day In the Life of a Miner by Chuck Clark
    • Underground Mining Experiences at the Cresson and Ajax by Myron House
    • Hynes Brothers "Clean Ice" for Victor, Colorado--Memories of Mary Ellen Hynes Chetelat.
    • Marguerite Clark--One of Victor's Angels by Chuck Clark
    • Charlie Clark & the Quality Cash Market by Chuck Clark
    • Pop Sly -- Ernest T. Sly, The Band Man by Chuck Clark
    • Mr. Mortenson--The Victor Shoemaker by Chuck Clark
    • Heninger Family Memories of Victor, Portland Junction, & Independence: 1909-1916, by Virginia & Edgar Heninger
    • Reflections on Goldfield by Carol Roberts
    • Growing Up In Victor in the 1930's by Bob Penman
  • Visit
The Lighter Side of a Visit to Hack's Victor Barbershop by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack). ©
​     My grandfather Henry Cleveland Hack, affectionately known by family and friends as Pops, had a barbershop in Victor, Colorado before and after WWII.  Hack’s Barbershop was located at 307 Victor Avenue, in the smallest storefront part of the Doyle Block which later became Doc Denman’s office.  The largest storefront in the building was once occupied by the old Gold Coin Café (before it relocated to the corner of 3rd & Victor Ave) and subsequently by the Silver Dollar Café & Saloon. 
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Hack's Barbershop was located in the Doyle Block, far left. Late 1940's or early 1950's postcard shared by La Jean Greeson.
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2016 photo showing the Doyle Block (far left), vacant with restoration efforts in progress.
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2020 photo -- Entrance to Hack's Barbershop, later an office for Doc Denman.
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     One day a stranger walked into Pops' shop and requested a haircut.  The shop was crowded with retired miners, the unemployed and loafers just biding their time telling tall tales about gold yet to be found, the big trout they caught out at Skagway, the weather, etc.

     Pops told the man to hop right in the chair, that he was next.  As Pops proceeded to cut the man’s hair, one of the group of local rascals, Moody Wilkins, said “Henry, I heard you went fishing with Hap Mendenhall and stretching the law a little, caught some really nice fish."

     Now Pops, like his second cousin Will Rogers, loved to talk and tell stories and jokes--something barbers seem to be afflicted with and Pops was no exception.  In great detail, Pops proceeded to tell the group and the quiet man in the chair just how Hap and he had sneaked into this place called Seven Lakes. 

     Even though you weren’t supposed to fish in these lakes, a lot of the locals did.   The trick was not to get caught.  Getting caught meant being hauled into Cripple Creek and fined.  To keep from getting caught, you didn’t fish until you looked to see if the caretaker across the lake was present and around his house, or possibly in the process of driving up to the other lakes, checking them out, etc.

​     Then, while one person kept an eye out to see if the coast remained clear, it was okay to start fishing.  The lakes, not fished legally since the early 1900’s, were teeming with beautiful two pound Cut-Throat Trout and nearly every cast yielded a fish.  In a short time you had all the fish you could carry and then proceeded to make a hasty retreat off the mountain.

PictureHenry C. Hack, Sr. (Pops), 1958 photo shared by grandson Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack).
     Pops finished his story and the man's haircut.   The man paid Pops, thanked him for the haircut and the interesting story, then with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eye, he bid Pops good-bye and left the barber shop.

      When he was safely out the door the crowd in the barber shop came unglued with roars of laughter.  Pops confused said, “What did I do or say?”

     Moody said, “HENRY, the man you just gave a haircut to happens to be McReynolds, the caretaker at Seven Lakes."
​

     In later years when McReynolds would come into town and get a haircut with that same twinkle in his eye he’d ask “Henry, been doing any fishing lately?”


"The Lighter Side of a Visit to Hack's Victor Barbershop" (submitted February 2020) by Charles (Chuck) Spray (AKA Jeep Hack). ©

​Click below for companion stories by Chuck Spray (AKA Jeep Hack):
  • Recollections of My Life in Victor, Colorado During the Depression, WWII and After. 
  • Memories of Washington Elementary--My First School in Victor, Colorado.
  • Adventures at the Beaver Valley Ranch while Growing Up in Nearby Victor, Colorado.
  • Memorabilia from Cripple Creek & Victor High School Bands Directed by Ernest T. Sly.
  • ​Memories of the Ina & Henry Cleveland Hack Family.​
  • Memories of Margaret & Henry C. "June" Hack, Jr.
  • A Day in the Cresson Mine.
  • Firewood For Victor, Colorado
  • Sports in Victor & Memories of the 1949 Pikes Peak Junior High School Basketball Tournament.  ​​
  • Winters in Victor, Colorado during the 1940's & early 50's.​
  • Tragedies When I Was Growing Up In Victor, Colorado in the 1940's & 1950's.
​ 
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
     To discover why Charles Norman Spray was also known as Jeep Hack by his family and friends while growing up in Victor,  click this highlighted link to his "Recollections of Life in Victor During the Great Depression, World War II and After".  
​     Charles (Chuck) Spray  included this preface titled “ THE WHY OF IT ” with his more personal memoirs submitted in December 2019.  My daughter who was always telling me “Dad, write down some of the stories you are always telling me.”  But I’d continue to procrastinate.  Finally, to appease her I started writing.  The more I continued to write, the more that came to light.  Sometimes I’d worry about how to start and just how or what I wanted to say.  Then I’d remember what that renowned writer of western tales Louis L’Amour once said.  “Don’t wait for an idea.  Don’t wait. Just Write”!  He also was to have said another verbal truth, “You have to turn on the faucet before the water starts to flow”!  “Just Write”.
     Bear with me.  I hope you have the time or inclination to put up with the ramblings and recollections of a world weary old man.  Perhaps in the telling I’ve stirred up a few recollections you might have of your own life.  Put them down.  Don’t wait.  Write them down for your grandchildren and their grandchildren to follow.  The children of today need to know that some things weren’t always the way they are today--things that will never be in the history books nor be taught in the schools, things that made up your life.  It’s important they know of the world you knew, what took place before I-Pods, texting, and the abuse of one of man’s greatest inventions, television.
     Please forgive my grammar, spelling, punctuation and over-all abuse of the English language.  The Cherokee people have no word in their language for goodbye, so I’ll just say “Happy Trails” until we meet again. 

     Chuck Spray   

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