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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 11, 2021
This morning I grabbed the “Edgar Allan Poe” (EAP) razor for my mug shave. This Ellis and Allan 8/8 stubtail full wedge dates to 1815 at the latest and is possibly older. It was imported by the Richmond, Virginia Mercantile Firm, Ellis & Allan as just an unfinished NOS blade by Edgar Allan Poe’s stepfather, Jonathan Allan, who had headed up the London branch of the firm. He returned to Richmond with the British inventory and young Edgar Allan Poe in tow in 1815. The firm dissolved in 1824, a victim of the Panic of 1819. Glen Mercurio masterfully clothed it in bone scales with an amber wedge and pinned it using period brass custom beehive washers.
Given its size and heft, Glen built a remarkable, mirror bright edge that shaves nicely, although its huge size makes wielding it effectively a challenge. I gather that contemporary hollow grinds of this width or greater, what I like to call shave hatchets, are probably easier to use, and quite popular thanks to the work of a group of very talented razorsmiths working out of Ukraine. I do have an 8/8 on reserve from one of them. But the EAP stubtail did do the job, albeit with a series of buffing touch ups after my usual third pass, leaving me acceptably smooth.
One of the problems with this great hobby of ours is that we can tend to accumulate an abundance of razors, leaving our tolerant and sometimes intolerant significant others shaking their heads and asking, “why do you have so many razors? You certainly don’t ‘need’ them!” We all know better than to address the ‘need’ issue. The, “it’s my hobby, and these help me better understand the history of shaving” is the argument that’s worked for me. Explaining about RAD and enablement wouldn’t fly. So I just wave, smile, and shave on!
The core of my safety razor collection consists primarily of vintage items. I reduced my Gem razors to a select few, with which I truly enjoy shaving my noggin. Today’s selection was my Gem Micromatic Open Comb (MMOC). After my mug shave, I loaded a Pella PTFE coated SS Gem blade, changed the Traveling Wilbury’s “Handle With Care” to their “End of the Line” and proceeded to have a glorious two pass ATG dome shave for the record books. I’d forgotten how incredibly efficient a shaver this little safety razor is. It left my dome cool, clean and porcelain smooth!
RAZOR: Ellis & Allan 8/8 Stubtail (Mug), Gem MMOC (Dome)
BLADE: Pella SS PTFE Gem
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JT Sapele/Resin Handled Omega Pro48 Boar Knot
SOAP: Fine Snake Bite
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Fine Snake Bite AS Splash.
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