Don Elsing, known simply as "Don" to his most loyal customers, has been cutting hair at what is now the Milwaukee Hilton Hotel, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., since 1970.

He starts every haircut the same way he has done for 36 years by searching for a common bond between himself and each customer.

"I always ask their name — although I'll never remember that — and where they're from," Elsing said. "I can remember faces, and I recognize voices" of regular customers.

From there, he touches on a multitude of topics, from the weather to soaring textbook prices to stories about his days in the Army.

"He is very easy to talk to," said Terry Grom, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences. "He makes the haircut an enjoyable experience because he's always asking questions."

It was shortly after Don's four-year stint in the Army, from 1961 to 1965, that he began cutting hair. Oddly enough, the skills Elsing got from his service days played a vital role in his career choice.

"I was dating this girl who was with the Florentine Opera Company, and she talked me into a bit part," Elsing said. "No singing — I can't sing — but I marched because I was in the Army."

It was behind the scenes of that performance, Puccini's "Tosca," that Elsing discovered his passion for cutting hair.

After the performance, Elsing said he went backstage and saw crew members cutting and styling wigs to be used in the next performance.

"I walked backstage and saw the hairdressers working on the wigs and said 'That's for me,'" Elsing said.

Today, he is a staple of the Marquette community and boasts of cutting the hair of Marquette luminaries like basketball stars Steve Novak, Mike Kinsella and Ryan Amoroso.

In fact, Elsing jokingly says that Novak relies so heavily on his haircuts that it was a missed haircut that led to Marquette's loss in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament.

"Well, Steve (Novak) called me to make an appointment for Friday morning (a few days before the tournament), but he had to cancel," Elsing said.

According to Elsing, Novak could not find the keys to his car the day of the appointment and couldn't make it in time. Novak never got the haircut or an NCAA tournament win.

And while he's not affiliated with the Hilton Hotel, Elsing often finds himself cutting the hair of some of its more distinguished guests, though their names seem to escape his grasp.

"I cut the hair of a baseball player … I think with the Cardinals and a guy who played for the Green Bay Packers," Elsing said.

"A lot of times guys will be traveling with their teams and stay over at the Hyatt," he added. "Then they call over here for a haircut."

But while he may cut the hair of some relatively high rollers, Don is careful never to forget what life is like with no money in the bank.

He's quick to recount a time when while on a date, he and a girlfriend could not afford the parking outside of the Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Blue Mound Road.

"I had this brand-new car — a Buick that my parents bought," he said, "but they said 'You've gotta come up with your own spending money.'"

Elsing added that he couldn't even afford the 50 cent charge to park his car outside the zoo, effectively ending his night — and his date.

Such experiences shape Elsing's policy toward college students.

"I usually get $12 to $15" for a haircut, Elsing said, "but I only charge $10 for students, especially Marquette students."

And it may be his penchant for pleasing Marquette students, along with his relatively low rates, that makes Elsing most appealing to students.

"I go to Don because he's a very personable guy and he's cheap," said Grom's older brother Jeff Grom, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences. "He's always asking questions and he loves" Marquette.