TheShaveDen

This is the fifth in series about the "Life Stories" of two Gillette razors.
A new installment will be presented approximately one to four weeks after the prior article has been posted.

The first four articles can be seen here:

First Article:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-brothers-part-1.25935/

Second Article:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-brothers-part-2.26027/

Third Article:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-brothers-part-3.26285/

Fourth Article:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-brothers-part-4.26457/

Now we continue with Two Brothers.











To be continued...

The object you see above the razor blades is a safety razor. Really. Not the quarter, the other object.

Any normal safety razor is a compact item. Put it in a small travel bag, even your pocket; it takes up very little space. If you're flying, the TSA may have words with you about what you take on the plane, but that's another subject.

People like gimmicks and gadgets, though. We can be carried away by clever devices that address apparent needs, even if a little extra thought would have called the need into question.

What you see in the picture above is actually a double edged safety razor, one of the strangest designs for one ever contrived. It's the Bigelow Parkin, patented in 1921, and made until, well I haven't determined how long it was made until, but apparently not past the end of the 1920s. You see it here in its completely folded state. How do you even put a blade in this thing?



Voila! There it is completely unfolded, with a blade inserted.

And here it is ready to go.



The head is actually a normal size. You hold it by pinching the two grips on the back with thumb and forefinger. You may have noticed that the head doesn't seem very tightly closed, but the pressure on those grips keeps it firmly shut when it's actually in use. Here's another shot showing what the business end looks like.



Here it is closed again, but you can't see it.



This sheath is actually designed for a Mini Leatherman tool, but fits the Bigelow Parkin perfectly. The razor originally came with a small leather case that served the same purpose. They also came in small presentation boxes which were a bit less compact. Folded, as in the first picture, the grips cover the blade well enough that you probably couldn't cut yourself, but if it came open in your pocket…well, it's better to have the sheath.

But can you actually shave with this thing? I'd done it before, and to prepare for this article, I did it again, four days straight with this razor and a Gillette super thin blade. Yes, it really is a usable razor. On the with-the-grain pass, it's just another decent razor, doesn't really stand out, but gets the job done. It's fairly mild, actually, and I never cut myself, or got irritation. The unique way of holding it actually encourages a delicate touch, and gives more control than you might think. Against-the-grain was tricky at first, but seemed to be getting easier. I never got quite as close on the neck or behind the jaw as I'm used to, and the end results were just acceptable. If I used it for a month, or two months...but that isn't going to happen.

The most compact razor ever made to use a normal sized blade. There were a couple of knockoffs which copied the design exactly, but I've never seen a smaller one. Does it fill an actual need? Probably not. An ordinary Altoids tin will hold your Merkur 1904 (or a Gillette New, or a Gillette Tech), a pack of blades, and maybe even enough cream in a small pill box to last you four to six shaves. There is a style of four piece razor that fits in an even smaller tin, so small that two of them can fit inside a single Altoids tin.

But that's a story for another day.