A half century at any job is something to celebrate, but Sam Gullo is marking five decades as the barber at one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings, the Civic Opera House, home of the Lyric Opera. Gullo and his family arrived in Chicago from Caccamo, Sicily, in 1961. “I came here with my father and brother,” Gullo says from his shop on the 15th floor of the historic building.

“My father worked in Chicago for two years, then returned to Sicily to bring us back. We first settled at Ohio and Leavitt streets.” Gullo learned his trade from his older brother, who also tipped him off that the plum location at the opera house was available for purchase. “I bought the shop on May 28, 1973,” Gullo says.