Stories from the old timers

**Dyl** · 09-27-2010, 02:13 PM

I had a long chat to my grandfather this week after he came to visit.

The discussion turned to shaving after he noticed I didn't wear a beard anymore, and I hauled out my new collection/obsession with DE's, brushes and soaps.

He was very impressed the the softness of a badger brush and the scents of newer soaps.

He still uses a brush and a locally made shaving cream that I too use. But seeing his brush made me laugh. Its a horse bristle, no boar available when he started shaving here, but he remembered receiving it as a birthday gift in 1946!!!! Awesome that it could last daily shaves for that long!

He noted that during the war, blades were very hard to come by and he used to hone them in a glass. They were honed so many times that eventually, he had to modify an old gillette to be able to shave with blades that were not nearly as wide as they should have been ... and could only afford new blades when the old one snapped from being too thin..

He now uses a regular 2 blade razor but after showing him an old straight I had bought, he said he still has his fathers straight somewhere at home and will look for it for me.

His father, my great-grandfather, apparently could never get around using these new-fangled, advertising driven, 'disposable', inferior things we call 'double edge razors'

was a great, nostalgic chat...

love to hear some more stories

**cswann1** · 09-27-2010, 02:43 PM

Good read. Thanks. Having a connection to a family member a generation removed is not easy these days. It's not like you can talk about iPods from the good-ol-days when your granddad was your age.

**Timbit** · 09-27-2010, 03:03 PM

My Grandfather (b. 1895) never went for those new-fangled razors with disposable blades either. He always used a straight, and my Mom remembers him declaring that when he was no longer able to wield it safely he'd grow a beard. I do remember him being clean-shaven when I was younger and having a beard in his later years.
He fought in both World Wars, and I assume he brought his razor into the trenches with him. I'll have to re-read his diaries from WW1 to see if there are any shaving references.

I have no idea where his shaving gear went, it was all probably tossed out as junk after he died. What I'd do to have it now...

**Shangas** · 09-27-2010, 06:41 PM

Hi Dyl.

I DO hope that you manage to get your great-grandfather's straight razor. Family heirlooms are always wonderful and special things.

**dpmtherrien** · 09-27-2010, 06:44 PM

Nice story, thanks for posting.

**spindlecone** · 09-27-2010, 06:46 PM

I'm so old my grandfather used to shave with a piece of Obsidian:)

**guitar2mw** · 09-27-2010, 06:49 PM

I use my father's 1960's Gillette SS, and I wouldn't trade it for all of the money in the world. My grandpa has some old shaving stuff as well, but he said that I couldn't have it until he was finished with it. Haha! It's great to get family heirlooms though. I really enjoyed reading your post.

**TonyGold** · 09-29-2010, 04:10 PM

I remember that in the fifties my father had a 'Valet' strop razor. It used single edged, Valet brand-specific blades and had a hide strop that you fed through the razor head. By moving the razor back and forth you stropped the blade.
He also had a gyroscopic, hand powered mechanical razor that you squeezed a lever on the side to build up energy in the system and then shaved as the flywheel ran down. It was huge and heavy.

**BlackAngus** · 09-29-2010, 04:22 PM

I love these kinds of stories. Thanks for sharing.

**TxPhoto09** · 09-30-2010, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Dyl

was a great, nostalgic chat...

love to hear some more stories

I don't suppose you had a digital audio recorder handy during that chat? Or even, perhaps, a video camera?

(Note to others: Many local museums would virtually kill to get oral histories like that. Bear that in mind when talking with ancestors.)

**pz93c** · 09-30-2010, 03:15 PM

I have my Great-Grandfathers DE, an ABC Gillette. I'm hoping for a straight to come out of the woodwork, but I'm not hopeful.

Great talk. Congrats.

**shecky** · 09-30-2010, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dyl

His father, my great-grandfather, apparently could never get around using these new-fangled, advertising driven, 'disposable', inferior things we call 'double edge razors'

Heh... kids these days...

**Dyl** · 10-06-2010, 01:58 AM

Originally Posted by spindlecone

I'm so old my grandfather used to shave with a piece of Obsidian:)

haha

Originally Posted by TxPhoto09

I don't suppose you had a digital audio recorder handy during that chat? Or even, perhaps, a video camera?

(Note to others: Many local museums would virtually kill to get oral histories like that. Bear that in mind when talking with ancestors.)

Unfortunately not ... should probably have recorded it, my kids would definitlely love to watch it some day

Originally Posted by TonyGold

I remember that in the fifties my father had a 'Valet' strop razor. It used single edged, Valet brand-specific blades and had a hide strop that you fed through the razor head. By moving the razor back and forth you stropped the blade.

There are hundreds of these Valet Auto-strops around here ... some pretty nice specimens in cases, but I only seem to buy razors I can use ... no blades available