Yesterday was a red letter day for Mr Loudon (59), to see curling waves of somewhat greying hair gracefully fall away as Mr Grave (79) skilfully gave him a "zero" cut, after a mere 50-year gap.
Another case of hair today, gone tomorrow.
"Can I have the same price?" the former Andersons Bay School boy quipped.
Despite an eye for the mane chance, Mr Loudon did not succeed in having that 1969 price of about 40c repeated yesterday.
However, having almost every hair removed was shear pleasure.
"It's very good to have my hair cut by Selwyn," came the happy verdict from Mr Loudon, who these days is a fuel company representative and part-time Southland Express photographer.
Getting your hair cut was a family affair in the old days, because Mr Grave, who's been cutting hair for 65 years, had also cut the hair of Mr Loudon's grandfather, Eddie Athfield, of Port Chalmers, and father, Trevor Loudon.
"It's very good, it's wonderful," Mr Grave said of the close encounter with his former junior client, a mere five decades later.
"I was too short to get in the chair," Dave Loudon recalled of his earlier visit.
Mr Grave, sometimes dubbed "the Mayor of Moray Pl" because of his long tenure and respect in the area, yesterday cut Mr Loudon's hair close to the scalp, exactly as requested.
Mr Loudon previously had a much fuller head of hair, and the cutting happened at Mr Grave's previous premises, at 241 Moray Pl, west of the current premises at 276.
Mr Grave also yesterday showed Mr Loudon the barber's chair where he sat in 1969, and the padded board laid across it to lift children to a suitable height.
Back in 1969, when Mr Loudon's grandmother, Gert Athfield, of Port Chalmers, took him to get a hair cut, she was also kind enough to later buy him a mince pie and toasted cheese roll at the legendary Little Hut, in George St.
And after yesterday's haircutting, Mr Loudon missed out on the mince pie, but he and his wife Steph did relish a cheese roll and a scone at Port Chalmers, partly in honour of relatives past.
A fortnight ago, Mr Loudon had been planning to visit Dunedin for a break, and happened to spot an advertisement showing Mr Grave was still in business, and rang up to arrange some personal service.
Mr Grave now cuts hair only part time, but is increasingly asked to come in for special occasions when former regular clients, now living out of town, want to pop in for some real haircutting from times past.
"It's a really special part of his life," Mr Grave's wife, Lynette, said.
"For me I really see the pleasure when he comes home."
