The Zebra’s Head: Texas’ original headshop

[Skipper]

By David Urbanik

Nestled among the bars, restaurants and the blocks of apartments that run along Fry Street in Denton, Texas is a squat and ancient looking building, painted with zebra stripes and lined with shoots of bamboo. If not for its color scheme, it probably wouldn’t attract much attention from passing college students or bar hoppers. Without its stripes and upturned sign, the little shop that inhabits 113 Fry Street might not stand out as anything more than one of the few remaining structural relics in the century-old neighborhood. To a keen eye, however, the cracked and overgrown sidewalks, distinctive facade and weathered appearance all provide clues to the building’s unique past, kept a secret only by the passage of time.

As the Fry Street neighborhood continues to develop and with the inevitable yearly succession of new college students passing through, it is easy to miss the historical value that local institutions like The Zebra’s Head Smoke Shop have to offer. Many may be surprised to learn that the old zebra building is steeped in nostalgia and local history, and is a living fossil in an otherwise evolving community. It is a part of Fry Street’s culture that has survived the test of time and has managed to be successful in a competitive industry. Its story and its ability to thrive continues to contribute to the central legacy of the neighborhood, even as that neighborhood transforms.

The structure now known as The Zebra’s Head Smoke Shop, originally erected in the 1940s, spent its early years as a hair salon. The salon eventually closed but the building remained, and in 1967 it was reopened as the Birminghem Balloon Company, an alternative novelty shop with a hippy flair that also sold smoking accessories.

“It has always been a smoke shop, but in the beginning, they had more of a lifestyle emphasis,” General Manager Tyson Wright said. “They sold tapestries, balloons and art from the far east.”

It was the first shop of its kind in Texas and the third of its kind in the country behind only New York and San Francisco, according to owner and former UNT student Travis Sample.

In 1969, the original owners took out an advertisement in the Denton High School yearbook that promised to offer customers “things for the head.” Legend has it that this ad prompted customers, such as UNT student Don Henley of the Eagles, to refer to the store as the “head shop,” thereby coining the term. This trend then encouraged the owners to rechristen the store, Texas’ Original Headshop.

“That is probably more of an urban myth,” Wright said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but it is interesting, because now it is vernacular for any smoke shop that offers more than cigars.”

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[UNTLifer]

The article is not 100% accurate as this building was the Campus Barber Shop for a short time in the 1970's before they moved across and down closer to Oak Street until closing with the new construction.  Mr. Hartman, the owner of Campus Barber Shop, enlisted the assistance of me and his son to help clean the building out prior to converting it to his barber shop.  By the way, if you are looking for a good, old fashioned haircut at a fair price from a long, long time supporter of North Texas and North Texas Athletics, then you need to book an appointment with Gene Hartman at Campus Barber Shop no located on South Hickory.