Fort Bliss Monitor

Chasing an American dream

Staff Sgt. Dave Enders
35th ADA Bde. Public Affairs

Alma Lizardo cuts Spc. Dan Rickman’s hair at the newest Magic Barber store. Rickman said he has been going to Magic Barber for four years, ever since his drill sergeant brought his AIT class there.

Manny Garcia has lived the American Dream – all of it. He dreamt the dream as a small boy and realized it as a mature adult. It’s been a lot of hard work and Manny, a soft-spoken, unassuming man, has been the author of his own story.

Hangouts, holdouts, plain old outs and other reasons to dream

It was 1957 – baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet were getting big throughout the U.S. Oscar Mayer drove his weiner-mobile outside the Brooklyn Dodgers’ stadium, and apple pies cooled in kitchen windows as people drove down the street in their brand new Belairs. Teenagers were the new American item as poodle-skirted girls danced away weekends with their greaser boyfriends. Life was carefree for most.

In 1957, Manny was six years old. It was the year he grew up. Manny completed the first grade, the extent of his formal education at once. He started the year like his friends, learning to add and to spell, playing. But as the year drew on things changed, gradually at first. All of a sudden, Manny’s mother came down with a cough and grew weaker as it got worse. Manny found out his mother had tuberculosis, and then she died. “My main hangouts when I was little were at barber shops shining shoes.”

When his mother died, Manny set out with his own shoe shine box to help support the family. As a traveling salesman, his dad wasn’t home much, but Manny’s oldest sister filled his mother’s shoes and took care of the home. “It was very hard growing up.”

‘Shine your shoes?’ It was a question Manny asked of Soldiers while other kids his age were shooting marbles. “In the [early] 1960s Juarez was a small city of about 100,000 with a lot of tourism from El Paso, which was also a city of about 100,000. The majority of the tourists were Soldiers from Fort Bliss.” Soldiers comprised most of Manny’s shoeshine business.

The 1960s were trying times. The draft took Soldiers to Vietnam. President Kennedy led us to the moon and was shot before he could see it. Protests mounted and the National Guard tried to hold things together at home as flower children packed their bags and moved to San Francisco. And Manny learned his trade. As a shoeshine boy, Manny had gotten to know a lot of the barbers in Juarez, and in 1963 at the age of twelve, he began apprenticing. Manny has been a barber ever since.

Manny’s oldest sister took care of the family home until he was twenty, when she led his siblings’ immigration to the United States. She moved to Chicago in 1970. Once settled, Manny’s sister helped the rest of his siblings move to Chicago. Manny immigrated there in 1972, one of the last of his family to go.

In Chicago, Manny wasted no time. “I got my barber license in Chicago in 1972. I got my GED in Chicago in 1973, when I was 23. I just went in and took the test.” Manny worked, got married and started his own family in Chicago. He became a legal resident of the United States there. The process spanned nearly a decade for Manny.

In the seventies, the world changed. The United States pulled out of Vietnam, and President Nixon went to Red China. The Arab nations tightened their economic grip on the world as gas lines grew. Cars shrank. The British invasion flourished. Disco died. The United States celebrated its second century. Iran took hostages. Reagan took the White House. And Manny got ready to take his family home. He carried the American Dream throughout his time in Chicago, but Chicago lacked the opportunity Manny sought.

Two steps backward and three great strides forward.

It was 1981. Pac Man led the video game revolution as arcades opened across the nation. Ties got thinner. Hair got messier. Yuppies hit Wall Street, and Preppies hit high school. Many families bought their first VCR. Home computers had boot discs and no hard drive. MTV hit the scene as ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’ Life’s pace picked up for most.

In 1981 Manny was 31. It was the year he sought his future at a steady pace. When the time was right to open his own barber shop, Manny returned to El Paso to do it. He knew Fort Bliss. He knew Soldiers: he had grown up serving them. There was a lot of business here, and Manny came here to find it.

Manny started working for a contractor at Fort Bliss in the All-Graders’ Club and later the Officers’ Club. As he had all his life, Manny did his best for his customers, even when they asked special favors. Soldiers asked Manny to come to them, and he did. “I would just go out to places like Logan Heights, which was AIT [Advanced Initial Training] and PLDC [Primary Leadership Develop-ment Course] at the time. A lot of times I would go to the sergeants major academy.” Manny went wherever the Soldiers needed him, and he did whatever it took to prepare for the future. “I got my cosmetology license here in El Paso in 1982.”

The clientele Manny built followed him when he opened Magic Barber Salon in 1985. “The customers I had were a walking advertisement, recommending their friends to come here. They were also the ones who asked their commands to bring me to them [at Fort Bliss].”

His business grew quickly. Manny worked Magic Barber Salon alone at first, but within six months of opening he hired two people, including one of his brothers. “The three of us worked the shop for about a year. In the second year we grew to have seven people working here. It took about two and a half to three years to grow to where it is now.” But Magic Barber Salon was only the means to an end. Manny started and built the business as a way to build his family.

In the 1990s families had changed. The divorce rate had grown to about 50 percent. Even in two-parent families, latchkey kids had become commonplace as many moms went to work. Manny and his wife separated and divorced, but their family remained strong. His wife began working full-time at Magic Barber, and their children spent time with both.

Manny always worked long hours with few days off. “When my children were small, they were always around the shops where I worked. But the family really started spending time at this shop after I opened it. I started my own business so that I could spend more time with my family.”

Manny built Magic Barber Salon as much for his wife and children as for himself. From the start, Manny’s wife worked at Magic Barber in between taking care of the house and children. His older children roamed freely in and out of the shop when they were small, and the two oldest children took their turns working in the shop.

After his oldest son graduated high school, Manny helped him through culinary arts school to become a chef.
In 1995, Manny opened a second shop on the East Side, Magic Barber Salon II, and his business became a chain. “It’s more like a beauty salon, catering to everyone. We started that shop with three employees, which is the capacity of the building.”

Manny remarried and fathered two more children. As his business grew to two shops, Manny’s family grew to seven children, three boys and four girls.

Still chasing the dream

It’s the new millennium. The nation is united in the War on Terror. Most families have at least one computer as do most cars. Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet are still here. Except, today’s kids play baseball in their living rooms, hot apple pie comes from the freezer and many American cars are no longer made in the U.S. The North American Free Trade Agreement is breaking down boarders between nations. Today is a process of adjusting to an ever-increasing pace of life for most.

Today Manny is 54 and still moving at a steady pace. He doesn’t go to the field to cut hair any more, but Manny continues to serve Fort Bliss. About 80 percent of his business is from Soldiers. Pick almost any day and you’ll find cars parked a block away from Manny’s shop: Soldiers getting their hair cut.

Magic Barber Salon is still a family business. Manny, his first wife, their two oldest daughters and his nephew work in the shop. And the children still abound, having a childhood at the age Manny grew up. Manny’s four- and seven-year-old sons roam and play freely in the shop with his six grandchildren, ages one to seven.

Manny looks to the future, taking care of his family and passing his experience to others. “My 16-year-old daughter will be working here soon. I have plans to expand more. I want to expand in the sense that maybe we can have a school to teach barbers and hair dressers. It’s a project that I’d like to begin sometime next year with the actual opening happening in about two years.”

Manny expects his business to be here long into the future and to continue to be the crux that gives his children and grandchildren a solid start in life.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	July 15, 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Chasing an American dream Staff Sgt. Dave Enders 35th ADA Bde. Public Affairs Alma Lizardo cuts Spc. Dan Rickman’s hair at the newest Magic Barber store. Rickman said he has been going to Magic Barber for four years, ever since his drill sergeant brought his AIT class there. Manny Garcia has lived the American Dream – all of it. He dreamt the dream as a small boy and realized it as a mature adult. It’s been a lot of hard work and Manny, a soft-spoken, unassuming man, has been the author of his own story. Hangouts, holdouts, plain old outs and other reasons to dream It was 1957 – baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet were getting big throughout the U.S. Oscar Mayer drove his weiner-mobile outside the Brooklyn Dodgers’ stadium, and apple pies cooled in kitchen windows as people drove down the street in their brand new Belairs. Teenagers were the new American item as poodle-skirted girls danced away weekends with their greaser boyfriends. Life was carefree for most. In 1957, Manny was six years old. It was the year he grew up. Manny completed the first grade, the extent of his formal education at once. He started the year like his friends, learning to add and to spell, playing. But as the year drew on things changed, gradually at first. All of a sudden, Manny’s mother came down with a cough and grew weaker as it got worse. Manny found out his mother had tuberculosis, and then she died. “My main hangouts when I was little were at barber shops shining shoes.” When his mother died, Manny set out with his own shoe shine box to help support the family. As a traveling salesman, his dad wasn’t home much, but Manny’s oldest sister filled his mother’s shoes and took care of the home. “It was very hard growing up.” ‘Shine your shoes?’ It was a question Manny asked of Soldiers while other kids his age were shooting marbles. “In the [early] 1960s Juarez was a small city of about 100,000 with a lot of tourism from El Paso, which was also a city of about 100,000. The majority of the tourists were Soldiers from Fort Bliss.” Soldiers comprised most of Manny’s shoeshine business. The 1960s were trying times. The draft took Soldiers to Vietnam. President Kennedy led us to the moon and was shot before he could see it. Protests mounted and the National Guard tried to hold things together at home as flower children packed their bags and moved to San Francisco. And Manny learned his trade. As a shoeshine boy, Manny had gotten to know a lot of the barbers in Juarez, and in 1963 at the age of twelve, he began apprenticing. Manny has been a barber ever since. Manny’s oldest sister took care of the family home until he was twenty, when she led his siblings’ immigration to the United States. She moved to Chicago in 1970. Once settled, Manny’s sister helped the rest of his siblings move to Chicago. Manny immigrated there in 1972, one of the last of his family to go. In Chicago, Manny wasted no time. “I got my barber license in Chicago in 1972. I got my GED in Chicago in 1973, when I was 23. I just went in and took the test.” Manny worked, got married and started his own family in Chicago. He became a legal resident of the United States there. The process spanned nearly a decade for Manny. In the seventies, the world changed. The United States pulled out of Vietnam, and President Nixon went to Red China. The Arab nations tightened their economic grip on the world as gas lines grew. Cars shrank. The British invasion flourished. Disco died. The United States celebrated its second century. Iran took hostages. Reagan took the White House. And Manny got ready to take his family home. He carried the American Dream throughout his time in Chicago, but Chicago lacked the opportunity Manny sought. Two steps backward and three great strides forward. It was 1981. Pac Man led the video game revolution as arcades opened across the nation. Ties got thinner. Hair got messier. Yuppies hit Wall Street, and Preppies hit high school. Many families bought their first VCR. Home computers had boot discs and no hard drive. MTV hit the scene as ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’ Life’s pace picked up for most. In 1981 Manny was 31. It was the year he sought his future at a steady pace. When the time was right to open his own barber shop, Manny returned to El Paso to do it. He knew Fort Bliss. He knew Soldiers: he had grown up serving them. There was a lot of business here, and Manny came here to find it. Manny started working for a contractor at Fort Bliss in the All-Graders’ Club and later the Officers’ Club. As he had all his life, Manny did his best for his customers, even when they asked special favors. Soldiers asked Manny to come to them, and he did. “I would just go out to places like Logan Heights, which was AIT [Advanced Initial Training] and PLDC [Primary Leadership Develop-ment Course] at the time. A lot of times I would go to the sergeants major academy.” Manny went wherever the Soldiers needed him, and he did whatever it took to prepare for the future. “I got my cosmetology license here in El Paso in 1982.” The clientele Manny built followed him when he opened Magic Barber Salon in 1985. “The customers I had were a walking advertisement, recommending their friends to come here. They were also the ones who asked their commands to bring me to them [at Fort Bliss].” His business grew quickly. Manny worked Magic Barber Salon alone at first, but within six months of opening he hired two people, including one of his brothers. “The three of us worked the shop for about a year. In the second year we grew to have seven people working here. It took about two and a half to three years to grow to where it is now.” But Magic Barber Salon was only the means to an end. Manny started and built the business as a way to build his family. In the 1990s families had changed. The divorce rate had grown to about 50 percent. Even in two-parent families, latchkey kids had become commonplace as many moms went to work. Manny and his wife separated and divorced, but their family remained strong. His wife began working full-time at Magic Barber, and their children spent time with both. Manny always worked long hours with few days off. “When my children were small, they were always around the shops where I worked. But the family really started spending time at this shop after I opened it. I started my own business so that I could spend more time with my family.” Manny built Magic Barber Salon as much for his wife and children as for himself. From the start, Manny’s wife worked at Magic Barber in between taking care of the house and children. His older children roamed freely in and out of the shop when they were small, and the two oldest children took their turns working in the shop. After his oldest son graduated high school, Manny helped him through culinary arts school to become a chef. In 1995, Manny opened a second shop on the East Side, Magic Barber Salon II, and his business became a chain. “It’s more like a beauty salon, catering to everyone. We started that shop with three employees, which is the capacity of the building.” Manny remarried and fathered two more children. As his business grew to two shops, Manny’s family grew to seven children, three boys and four girls. Still chasing the dream It’s the new millennium. The nation is united in the War on Terror. Most families have at least one computer as do most cars. Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet are still here. Except, today’s kids play baseball in their living rooms, hot apple pie comes from the freezer and many American cars are no longer made in the U.S. The North American Free Trade Agreement is breaking down boarders between nations. Today is a process of adjusting to an ever-increasing pace of life for most. Today Manny is 54 and still moving at a steady pace. He doesn’t go to the field to cut hair any more, but Manny continues to serve Fort Bliss. About 80 percent of his business is from Soldiers. Pick almost any day and you’ll find cars parked a block away from Manny’s shop: Soldiers getting their hair cut. Magic Barber Salon is still a family business. Manny, his first wife, their two oldest daughters and his nephew work in the shop. And the children still abound, having a childhood at the age Manny grew up. Manny’s four- and seven-year-old sons roam and play freely in the shop with his six grandchildren, ages one to seven. Manny looks to the future, taking care of his family and passing his experience to others. “My 16-year-old daughter will be working here soon. I have plans to expand more. I want to expand in the sense that maybe we can have a school to teach barbers and hair dressers. It’s a project that I’d like to begin sometime next year with the actual opening happening in about two years.” Manny expects his business to be here long into the future and to continue to be the crux that gives his children and grandchildren a solid start in life.