With Angel Delgadillo, we can probably present a barber story featuring the world's longest-serving active barber. Angel looks back on a long and eventful life in his profession. But that's not even what he's most known for. Angel is the central figure and a celebrity in the fight to preserve historic Route 66 – the old artery that once connected the eastern US states with the West Coast.
This mother of all American roads, whose route dates back to the settler era, remains the ultimate dream of not only every Harley rider. Born in Seligman, Arizona, in 1927, Angel had witnessed the passage of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers fleeing the Great Depression, which followed several years of drought, from Oklahoma and Texas to the plantations in California. John Steinbeck immortalized these people in his 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In 1978, with the opening of Interstate 40, the old Route 66 initially became irrelevant. Places like Seligman were cut off from tourism and commercial traffic virtually overnight and threatened to become almost completely deserted. But Angel and his fellow campaigners refused to accept this. For nine long years, they fought resolutely until Route 66 was finally recognized as a State Historic Route in 1987. From his wealth of experience, there is one message above all that Angel wants to pass on to younger generations: “Politicians didn’t do this for us. We did it: the people. If you want to do something, don’t ask your neighbor what they think. Just do it.” For his commitment to Route 66, he has received numerous awards, including the John Steinbeck Award. His expertise also led to his being consulted on the 2006 Pixar animated film Cars.
But Angel isn't just a living legend. He's two living legends. In 2015, he was inducted into the Barbers Hall of Fame. He's had four generations of families from Seligman in his chair. He laughs, saying that with what his customers have told him while barbering, he could put 50% of Seligman's residents in jail. But there's no danger of that. "Love, tenderness, and care" is his motto, or, put another way, just as succinctly: "Life is about giving, not taking." Nothing fulfills him more than a customer leaving his chair satisfied. And that's a blessing for both of them.