Hey Guys, when I got back from the gym today there were a couple of packages waiting for me. I got both of the razors off eBay. The 1929 New Improved OC is in great shape! I paid about $38 for it but the shipping was just under $11. So I think that is reasonable. A lot of eBay sellers won't even ship to international buyers. The 1956 Super Speed was an amazing bargain. It is also in very good shape. I got it for $14.99 and the shipping to HKG was only $8.50. That's great for me!! The New Improved was pretty dirty and still had some hairs in it (and they didn't look like facial hairs either)! I gave both razors a good soak and a bit of a scrub with a soft toothbrush. Then I used a blow dryer to ensure that all the water was thoroughly removed. Next they were oiled and on to a wipe and a buff. I was really pleased with the look of the 1929 New Improved. I mean, that razor is 83 years old!! Don't think I will look that good at 83. Cheers, Lyndon
Let's see how strong/weak the Force is in me! So guys & gals: raise your bets! Will I crack under the pressure or not!
I attended the Great Shave 2012 last night in Chicago. My head is still spinning!! Partly from the overwhelming array of shave stuff, but mostly from the free flowing beer, whiskey, gin, and food!! Now THAT was a party my friends. This is what all the attendees walked out the door with in a "goodie bag"...
Wow! That's one nice goodie bad!! Is that a box of Muhle Sea Buckthorn shaving soap? Very cool collection of samples.
Sharp eye Lyndon! It is indeed! And my brother Jason and I were blessed enough to share a pint of Hefferweisen with Christian Müller himself after the event at a local pub! An unbelievable evening!
I pulled the trigger on two tubes of Musgo Real. I also bought a facial scrub so I could get free shipping. Does anybody else do stuff like that?
Need: $5 item Spend: $40 to save $7 shipping fee Of course, all the time. In fact, I wanted some leather mil surplus swiss gaiters. $11.99 the shipping would have raised the price up to just under $20. So naturally, I spent about another $160 to bring the shipping down to a reasonable $22.
A couple of days ago I picked up this old Valet AutoStrop. I'm not sure of the model number yet but I know where I can figure it out now. This appears to be a silver plated razor. In the next few weeks I plan on cleaning it up, once I figure out how to do so without removing the silver.
Ooh, nice one, Pat! Congrats! If I'm not mistaken, that model takes modified Gem blades as well as the original and Feather blades. Enjoy!
Use the ol' baking soda and aluminum foil trick. I did that on the exact same razor and it will blow your socks off. Get a decent sized container deep enough to hold the razor and lay some aluminum foil in it. Place the razor in the container in contact with the foil. Sprinkle in a few tablespoons of baking soda. Cover with hot water. I did have to rub on the razor after I brought it out of the water and it took several treatments, but that is all I used and it was amazing afterward. Take the blade out first though.
It was a good day for me though it didn't start out that way. I stopped by my favorite auction mall on the way home and found a few choice items. This mall has 2 or 3 vendors that seem to find a lot of shaving stuff and I can't recall ever going away empty handed. Today I visited those same three stalls and found...nothing. One had a skinny lady's armpit shaver, one had no shaving items, and the third had a few new brushes, but nothing I was interested in reknotting. I was a bit bummed, but continued to look through the other stalls. Then I saw it...a box of vintage Williams Mug Soap, in Menthol! I grabbed it and checked the price..$6. Nearly as cheap as I've bought the regular vintage for on ebay. Something caught my eye on the shelf above, it was a box of Colgate Cup Soap for just $5! Things were looking up! I saw a few other things I wasn't interested in...a travel tech set in a case for $3, a gold travel tech for $8, a couple of beautiful Schick Injectors, one of which was in a case, and the razor I drool over the most there, a gorgeous gold Tuckaway, in a case, for the steep price of $85. I think she's gone up on that. I thought it was $60 before, and even that was too much for me. I was just about to quit looking when I came across an oddity, a super short handled Old Type. At first I thought someone had cut the handle of a normal old type but closer inspection showed that the handle had not been messed with. The handle will come apart into three pieces, as there is a crack nearly the length of the tube, but they fit snuggly. Overall it was in pretty good shape. Also included was a box of 20 gem blades, all for only $5. It was mine! Finally I came across a 0.5 oz bottle of Remington Close After Shave. I opened it up and liked the scent, so for $2, it was mine too. I came home and determined that the razor is a Gillette Milady Decollette. I did a quick initial cleaning and it's looking great! I bit more work to do on it though. At first I thought I took some of the finish off but a check of the Mr. Razor website showed that only the ball end is supposed to be gold. I was disappointed, however, with the blades. They were all used, so I'm probably going to toss those. On with the pictures!
I haven't used it enough to say anything about the performance, but I'm not crazy about the scent of the Black Suede or the Mesmerize. The Blake Suede Leather, though, smells pretty good. Mesmerize smells like cheap cologne and the Black Suede smells like tacky old man. Scents can grow on me though, so I'll keep using them for a while.
Wow Pat, Williams Menthol... what a cool find! Maybe you could sell it to crackstar for $20.00! Cheers, Lyndon
unfortunately, from what I understand, the menthol in these old pucks of Williams is pretty much gone, not that I'd sell it anyway.
Got something from a friend. Had been lying in a box for over 20 years. A travel brush. It says "Travel King" on the side (first pic, kinda diagonal). Guess it's boar hair, because it's got a lot of backbone and the hair in the center of the knot is black. The knot is 'bout 22 mm and the loft is about 45 mm. Open the case, push a button on the back side (see last pic) and the brush flips up! Close container and the brush fits snugly upright. I gave it a cleaning with shampoo and conditioner. It shredded a score of hairs (thant's twenty). I'll be trying it tomorrow! Should the knot shred too much, I'm going to reknot it!