Probably a good 6 months ago I had asked my mom and dad about any old DE razors they might have that nobody wanted. I wanted to have something from family members with some history that meant something to me, and if it still worked all the better but I would take it even if it didn't work. I had totally forgotten about it and when I went up home for independence day imagine my surprise when I was sitting on the couch running my mouth and got handed this paper bag full of old razors labelled with tags telling who they belonged to and something about them. I really don't know any thing about these razors other than what I have been told and don't even know where to start with research, so I ask you fine folks here to point me in the right direction.
The first one and probably the oldest belonged to my Father's great great grandfather. From what I have been told his grandfather was a revolutionary war veteran, his mother was a Cherokee woman who escaped the trail of tears and was hidden and later married by his father. He was an unreconstructed Confederate civil war veteran and known for being a man you didn't cross. He once shot and killed his neighbor who had served in the union army (both were common in the hills of Kentucky) over a tree the neighbor cut down that had fallen on his fence. His brother was a lawyer and a judge (the only one in the county) and nothing ever come of it. I remember my great grandfather telling me when I was young that when he was drafted for WWI that his grandfather went to the draft board with a pistol in his hand and informed them that the damn yankees could fight their own war and his grandson was going to stay home where he belonged. My great grandfather was later disqualified for military service for medical reasons without ever even seeing a doctor. He had always shaved with a straight razor, (no barber up in the hills) but had gotten the shaking palsey (my guess is its probably what we call parkinson's disease today) and couldn't use it anymore and refused to grow a beard which he considered to be uncivilized. He died in 1929 at the age of 89, so it was probably purchased well before then I would imagine that it predates the concept of a DE razor. I got some blades that fit it at the hardware store, this razor is brutal, my face is still cut up, I didn't even finish the first pass.
The next one belonged to my mom's great grandfather who served in the Philippines in the Spanish American war and in WWI. My aunt who had this thinks it was from WWI because according to my mom's grandma after he come home he wrapped it up and put it in the basement and told them not to touch it because it might have mustard gas on it. He died of pneumonia in 1921 at the age of 41 my great grandma speculated it might be from mustard gas he was exposed to in the war combined with his alcoholism. The razor was wrapped in a cloth which was in a wax paper bag which was in a wooden box. I know that mustard gas is a fairly short lived gas lasting at most a couple months, so I opened it. I was the first one to open it in almost 100 years.
The first one and probably the oldest belonged to my Father's great great grandfather. From what I have been told his grandfather was a revolutionary war veteran, his mother was a Cherokee woman who escaped the trail of tears and was hidden and later married by his father. He was an unreconstructed Confederate civil war veteran and known for being a man you didn't cross. He once shot and killed his neighbor who had served in the union army (both were common in the hills of Kentucky) over a tree the neighbor cut down that had fallen on his fence. His brother was a lawyer and a judge (the only one in the county) and nothing ever come of it. I remember my great grandfather telling me when I was young that when he was drafted for WWI that his grandfather went to the draft board with a pistol in his hand and informed them that the damn yankees could fight their own war and his grandson was going to stay home where he belonged. My great grandfather was later disqualified for military service for medical reasons without ever even seeing a doctor. He had always shaved with a straight razor, (no barber up in the hills) but had gotten the shaking palsey (my guess is its probably what we call parkinson's disease today) and couldn't use it anymore and refused to grow a beard which he considered to be uncivilized. He died in 1929 at the age of 89, so it was probably purchased well before then I would imagine that it predates the concept of a DE razor. I got some blades that fit it at the hardware store, this razor is brutal, my face is still cut up, I didn't even finish the first pass.
The next one belonged to my mom's great grandfather who served in the Philippines in the Spanish American war and in WWI. My aunt who had this thinks it was from WWI because according to my mom's grandma after he come home he wrapped it up and put it in the basement and told them not to touch it because it might have mustard gas on it. He died of pneumonia in 1921 at the age of 41 my great grandma speculated it might be from mustard gas he was exposed to in the war combined with his alcoholism. The razor was wrapped in a cloth which was in a wax paper bag which was in a wooden box. I know that mustard gas is a fairly short lived gas lasting at most a couple months, so I opened it. I was the first one to open it in almost 100 years.
