It has been on my sink now for just over 2 weeks. Kindly sent to me by member Blondie (thanks again!!) all the way from Texas!
After it came in the mail the first thing I did was comparing the package and puck to all the material gathered in Michiganlover's extended Williams identification thread and there, in post #104, I found my match; same wrapper, same box with fixed $0.19. So 1969 is the date I can stick to my puck, still a bit younger than me but certainly old enough to be a vintage soap!
The scent is gone, if there ever was some, apart from what has been described as tallowy. It reminds me of Cella when you think the almond out and it is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, it just is.
The first lathering was a bit of a mess (the puck is called Williams right?), as I loaded and loaded my brush, took a look, and loaded some more. When I started face lathering I had within seconds my face and brush full of half-ready lather and no place to leave the rest of it! I ended up with enough lather for 3 complete shaves; a mistake I wouldn't make again, what a waste! So yes, it does lather more easy than the current version and in fact, it lathers more easy than most soaps I tried. More importantly the quality of the lather is simply top-notch. This Williams has a huge tolerance for the amount of water you use and you can make it very thick and protective all the way to thin and super-slick but always end up with a very stable lather. Great shaves in my bathroom the last 2 weeks for sure; apart from scent this soap has it all and a lot of respected soaps in my den seem a little pale and cheap (including some upper UK ones...) after this try-out.
Is it better than modern Williams? For the most part yes, though scent and availability of the modern version suit me better. What is more alarming, and also making me a bit sad, is that it basicly outperforms all of my soaps with maybe the exception of EU-Palmolive, Speick, D.R.Harris and Arko. Oh, and the Italian soft soaps (P.160 and Cella) are still standing too. But how can it be that a basic shaving soap from the 60's beats most (reformulated?) soaps from today, regardless of price? I am afraid modern shaving soaps are not put together by men (or women) who use a brush on a regular basis anymore. Economists maybe, but not shavers.
There is just one aspect of modern Williams that beats the vintage one by miles. The old guy doesn't even compete her at all. Vintage Williams is absolutely useless to separate the Lathermeisters from the apprentices, it will not inspire the poets and story-tellers among our members, and will not cause any wars like the great campaigns of '09, '10 and '11.
Oh, and I still like modern Williams a lot but its grandad is awesome. Thanks again Blondie for letting me try!
Harrie
After it came in the mail the first thing I did was comparing the package and puck to all the material gathered in Michiganlover's extended Williams identification thread and there, in post #104, I found my match; same wrapper, same box with fixed $0.19. So 1969 is the date I can stick to my puck, still a bit younger than me but certainly old enough to be a vintage soap!
The scent is gone, if there ever was some, apart from what has been described as tallowy. It reminds me of Cella when you think the almond out and it is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, it just is.
The first lathering was a bit of a mess (the puck is called Williams right?), as I loaded and loaded my brush, took a look, and loaded some more. When I started face lathering I had within seconds my face and brush full of half-ready lather and no place to leave the rest of it! I ended up with enough lather for 3 complete shaves; a mistake I wouldn't make again, what a waste! So yes, it does lather more easy than the current version and in fact, it lathers more easy than most soaps I tried. More importantly the quality of the lather is simply top-notch. This Williams has a huge tolerance for the amount of water you use and you can make it very thick and protective all the way to thin and super-slick but always end up with a very stable lather. Great shaves in my bathroom the last 2 weeks for sure; apart from scent this soap has it all and a lot of respected soaps in my den seem a little pale and cheap (including some upper UK ones...) after this try-out.
Is it better than modern Williams? For the most part yes, though scent and availability of the modern version suit me better. What is more alarming, and also making me a bit sad, is that it basicly outperforms all of my soaps with maybe the exception of EU-Palmolive, Speick, D.R.Harris and Arko. Oh, and the Italian soft soaps (P.160 and Cella) are still standing too. But how can it be that a basic shaving soap from the 60's beats most (reformulated?) soaps from today, regardless of price? I am afraid modern shaving soaps are not put together by men (or women) who use a brush on a regular basis anymore. Economists maybe, but not shavers.
There is just one aspect of modern Williams that beats the vintage one by miles. The old guy doesn't even compete her at all. Vintage Williams is absolutely useless to separate the Lathermeisters from the apprentices, it will not inspire the poets and story-tellers among our members, and will not cause any wars like the great campaigns of '09, '10 and '11.
Oh, and I still like modern Williams a lot but its grandad is awesome. Thanks again Blondie for letting me try!
Harrie
