Why does 床屋 mean barbershop/barber?

[afunian]

床 means floor/bed depending on the reading, so I was just wondering if there was a reason for the meaning barbershop. Perhaps its one of those cases where there was a different kanji with correct meanings but it was replaced for better pronunciation or simplified kanji?

[zyoeru]

According to my dictionary it says:

① 〔江戸時代，男の髪を結う髪結いが床店（とこみせ）で仕事をしていたことから〕髪結い床。

“Because the man who tied a topknot worked at a tokomise.”

(NB not an exact translation)

[sleepawaycamp]

I read it’s because historically barber shops were usually 床店

[afunian]

So a tokomise could be like a lemonade stand? Its somewhat weird to me that a shop in front of a house would refer to a barber but since its from old times then that makes sense.

Thank you for your help!

[zyoeru]

It seems that way to me, Jisho says that a 床店 （とこみせ） is a “booth or stall found in front of a house.”

Imagine if the little girl selling lemonade could also give you a fresh fade.

[Leebo]

～ことから is more like “from the fact that” rather than “because.”

[flower_junkie]

I think in this case it basically just means (raised) floor, stall in the sense that it was a fixed location where a barber did his or her work, Jisho has an entry for Edo-era barbershop かみゆいどこ 髪結い床. It seems that prior to the Edo-era barbers were wandering around and were called まわりかみゆい 廻り髪結い.