Not sure if this has been covered elsewhere or not, but here goes. So back in the day when the first safety razor was developed, was it designed as an aggressive razor by today's standards? Was the aggressiveness of the razor not even considered due to the technique being better than today's standards? So many questions . . . lol
Yep. It's been covered. And the short answer to the question is no. Safety razors were developed to be less aggressive/ more safe than straight razors. From what I understand, early disposable blades were thicker and not as sharp as our modern blades. Vintage razors are sometimes more aggressive because of the thinness and sharpness of modern blades.
i often wonder if the guy who first purchased my prewar tech or rocket etc. got the same smooth close shaves with his blue blades as i do with my astras,gsb etc.todays soaps better too?
I have a Barbasol floating head and it is the most aggressive vintage reason I tried. They must have had that in mind when they designed it.
Interesting topic and I've wondered this before.... Early safety razors, like the kampfe razor didn't have blade stops, so blade exposure was determined by the user. It could be anything from mild to wild! On the other hand, my 190x Gem lather catcher seems to be somewhat mild. That could be due to the thinness of modern blades. If I shim it to where a vintage blade would be, I do get a much more aggressive shave and maybe that's the way it was really designed to be. Coming from a straight razor, I think most men back then would have been fairly comfortable with what we would consider an aggressive razor today.
I don't know. The one gentleman that I spoke to that used those razors when they first came out said that he bought the 'Red Gillette' blades, because they were the cheapest. He also preferred the Stahly Live razor to the Gillette.
I often try to pair period appropriate blades with a period appropriate razor and the answer is very much like today. With some blades all is great while in other cases not so good. And the maker often is not the only variable. For example recently I tried a 4th Quarter 1944 Gillette camouflage blade in a pre-war NEW and it was without a doubt the worst shave I have ever had. On the other hand some of the best shaves I have ever had have been with even older Gillette blades. Yup, that is not rust on this blade. but fortunately it is not mine either.
I knew if I asked the question it would bring some good reading - thanks for the responses! Very enjoyable - I'm thinking of keeping an eye out for some vintage stuff at the antique stores.
Yup. The lady running the stall had no idea. I just knew it was a steal at a dollar. Everything worked fine, so I handed over the Washington and departed post haste!
If I remember correctly during the unpleasantness in Korea, brass was in short supply so Gillette went to steel or aluminum. I'm sure one of our resident historians will chime in in 3..2...1..