“Dad” Bowman and the Barbershop That Started at the Hanover Inn
Long before Walt & Ernie’s became a Main Street standby, Hanover’s barbershop lineage began just inside our own walls—tucked by the side entrance of the Hanover Inn. It was here, in the early decades of the 20th century, that Harry “Dad” Bowman set up his modest shop, unknowingly starting a local institution that would span generations.
Bowman arrived in Hanover in 1912 and quickly became the kind of Main Street presence people planned their days around. Students came for trims and conversation, faculty for a moment of levity, townspeople for dependable routine. He had the unhurried manner of someone who understood that a haircut was never just a haircut. Before long, “Dad’s Shop” was a fixture—not only of grooming, but of Hanover’s social life.
By the 1930s, the shop had moved from its little corner of the Hanover Inn to a new space just off the Green, but its spirit remained unchanged. Bowman trained a cadre of young barbers who carried forward his mix of craft, character, and community-minded hospitality. As one Dartmouth Alumni Magazine writer recalled, Dad’s apprentices learned not only how to clip hair but how to talk, listen, and become part of the everyday rhythm of town life.
When Bowman retired after 34 years—an event notable enough to earn its own 1946 Alumni Magazine profile—his influence was already guaranteed to outlive him. The barbers he taught opened their own chairs around town, and the shop he started evolved, relocated, and reinvented itself while keeping the same core promise: to keep Hanover looking its best, one snip at a time.
The legacy became most visible in Walt & Ernie’s, the barbershop that would dominate Hanover’s grooming scene through the mid- and late-20th century. It was known for its no-nonsense haircuts, old-school chairs, bottomless banter, and the feeling that you weren’t just getting a trim—you were taking your turn in a long local tradition. Generations of students and locals treated it as a rite of passage.
When the final iteration of the shop relocated in 2025 due to building changes on Main Street, longtime residents reflected on how deeply the barbershop culture had shaped Hanover. Each move, each new sign above the door, still traced back to that first chair here at the Inn.
Today, when you step into our lobby, imagine that early side-entrance shop: the hum of clippers, the scent of talc, the steady presence of Dad Bowman holding court. Hanover’s barbershop story—one of ritual, reliability, and community—began right here.
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