You’ve probably seen the classic red, white and blue barber pole spinning outside a barbershop. It’s such a familiar symbol that most of us don’t give it much thought. But its history is a lot stranger than you might expect. From Barber to Barber-Surgeon Hundreds of years ago, a trip to the barber wasn’t necessarily just for a haircut or shave. During the Middle Ages, barber-surgeons also performed medical procedures like pulling teeth, treating wounds and bloodletting. Hans Holbein the…