Wahl Professional Family Mourns Loss of Isadore Adams

Isadore Adams came to us out of the blue when we were being sued for making hair stencils. Isadore took it upon himself to come out to Wahl to tell us and prove that hair stencils had been on the market back in the 1950s.

He never asked for anything for his testimony in our suit, he just felt that it was unfair and Isadore was a very fair person. He talked business all the time and loved the Hair Clipper business. The I ADAMS Posters eventually added clipper photos and the Wahl name across the bottom and soon became known as the Wahl posters more so than the I ADAMS posters.

Between Izzy and Bo, Wahl got into the barber business and new products were coming out left and right. He got us into the Barber show business and our business expanded so much that we took a big bite out of our competition’s apple. We’ve had tons of requests from barbers everywhere to start cutting hair on stage for us that we finally turned this part of our business over to Isadore and he ran it like a champ.

The man must have owned a lot of stock in Krispy Kreme because every time we saw him he would bring boxes upon boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts to keep our sales and repair people very happy. When he would arrive with the donuts he would say, “a few of them may be missing.” He said, “a couple of the donuts would not stop talking to him”.

We in turn would send him home with a pound of Chicken George and a coke. Izzy never went home hungry. He told us that Oprah used to call him “the fox” and you can certainly see why, he was smart and sly as a fox and full of so many great ideas. He not only came up with so many different ideas but he followed through on them. Barber competitions, trade show set ups, new products, posters and stylist training. He was not much for flying on the airlines but bought a van and drove everywhere, stopping at every barbershop in the United States. Nobody could ever say that he was lazy because he never stopped, he was always thinking, always selling, always creating, and always “living the dream.” And Izzy could dream. With one of his ideas, we were afraid we were going to have to put Obama’s picture on a clipper and that might have put us out of business?

So many of his plans were for charity and people that didn’t have it as good as he did.

He was constantly looking for ways to raise money for underprivileged people or a very worthy cause. He was not the richest man in the world, financially but extremely rich when it came to people loving and caring for him as we all did. He put a smile on everybody’s face and he had a joke to tell and a donut to share with everyone he met.

His friend Bo told us that Isadore was part of the Black Panthers in his younger years but there was nothing vicious or extreme about him. He was a big teddy bear and loved life and everyone in it. We will miss him and the fun, joy and love that he left with all of us. We love you Isadore.

Photo caption: Isadore Adams (front) with (left to right in back) Isadore's sister Bernice; W.E.A.T. member Garland "G-Whiz" Fox; Wahl Professional Director of Education Laura VanderMoere; and Barber & Stylist Brian Washington (Isadore's son).

About Wahl Clipper Corporation: Since 1919, with the invention of the first practical electric hair clipper, Wahl Clipper Corporation has been the leader in the professional and home grooming category. Today, with over 2500 employees worldwide, Wahl is proud to carry forward the tradition of innovation and superior customer service that was created by Leo J. Wahl. Headquartered in Sterling, Illinois, Wahl distributes to 176 countries and has eight global manufacturing facilities as well as eleven sales offices. At Wahl, we are proud of our heritage of excellence as well as our remarkable list of groundbreaking innovations for the present and future for the global market. Visit wahlpro.com for more details.