The Beetle and the barber shop: How an N.B. Christmas tradition was born
CBC
Bob Keays' little turquoise Volkswagen is so much more than just a really cute car.
It's an unofficial Saint John ambassador, a muse for local artists, an Instagram star and, most of all, a harbinger of the holidays.
It started 10 years ago, when Keays parked his car in front of a west-side barber shop for a few hours while he refereed a hockey game.
He didn't realize it at the time, but he had just started a Christmas tradition.
The tableau of the 1973 VW Beetle, adorned with a red bow and with a Christmas tree tied to its roof, parked outside the 1890s-era Lancaster Barber Shop was such a perfect Christmas visual that crowds immediately started gathering and taking photos of it.
"Oh, there were hundreds of people," said Lancaster Barber Shop owner Blaine Harris, Keays' friend and barber. "People kept coming into my shop and asking if it was my car ... and 'Can I take a picture of it'? And I said no problem, you can take as many pictures as you like."
Every year since then, the Beetle has returned to the barber shop for one full day in November for the express purpose of being photographed by admirers and kicking off the holiday season.
Over the years, the crowds have grown larger and the photos have been shared more widely, so that now, the "Christmas Beetle" has become a bona fide local celebrity.
Several local artists, including Lana Langille Doucette and Sheila Howell, have painted its portrait and turned the famous photo into Christmas cards and calendars.
It has played a supporting actor role in an Envision Saint John tourism video, in which local musicians Tomato Tomato drive the Beetle to various local landmarks.
It has participated in local parades, been the subject of a "name that car" contest that yielded hundreds of submissions –Keays settled on Jude, from the Beatles' Hey Jude – and has even been hired to show up at 1970s-themed birthday party.
"About the only thing the car hasn't been in is a wedding," Keays said with a chuckle.
In short, it may just be the most-photographed car in the province.
It's certainly one of the most recognizable.
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