I was thinking last night as I cleaned my razor about how we DE shave today vs. how our elders accomplished the task. My dad and grandad oly had one razor and one soap mug along with AV or skin bracer, as well as their choice of blade as long as it was gillette or schick. So I called him up and asked about multiple pass shaves. I don't recall him ever doing more than one pass. So I was just wandering if any of you that are of the age where your dad used de, did he do multi passes or is the whole 4 plus bbs thing 7 days a week just something that has developed with the new guard of wet shavers out of us turning this into an addictive hobby. I ask this out of curiosity because he can't figure how something he did as routine chore becomes pleasureable to me. He saw my den and can't believe I would need a rotation of razors 9 as splashes, 7 soaps, and 7 edt sprays. I told him that was small potatoes compared to others.
My dad used safety razors as a teenager. Says he got nothing but bad shaves. So I guess he never did more than one pass. I think that the whole hobby aspect of it is a recent devlopment mostly enabled by the advent of the Internet. It suddenly makes products from around the world available to everybody. My dad in the boonies of eastern NC never had a chance to shave with godrej in the 70's. The Internet has also allowed people to share their techniques with others. Personally I do a one pass + touch up with cold water and no prep other than a cold shower. But I'm sure that plenty of dudes have had a much more pleasant experience from reading stuff online. I think it depends on the style of person you are. I like my dad am pretty minimalist. I use the same cheap straight from Larty Andro every day with a cheap Ken Rupp practice strop. I have a kilo of cella that I use day in and day out, except Mondays when I use CO Bigelow cream. I splurge with the aftershave, I have four drugstore brands And two EdT's that I alternate. My dad had the same dismissal when he saw all the stuff I had, it was a little reality check. I sold everything I didn't really use. It seems like more of a chore and less of a hobby. But I still enjoy myself. There's something to be said for a simple life and a simple shave. Shaving like everything in life is YMMV though. To each his own :]
Good grief, I'm your dad('s age). Ive shaved DE for 45 years now. I've got a pattern I've been using so long i can shave in the dark. Multiple pass (I guess?) till the soap runs out with the grain. Shaved with the same razor (Speed) for about 30 years. Got into collecting as a "hobby" on a 2 year business trip while working on the B2. I was working with a guy who was collecting cork screws so I went with razors. My Dad was a SE all the way. He didn't even use a mug/brush. His way came from WW2. He just lathered his hand with what ever soap was at the sink, lathered his face and shaved. As a kid, I saw him shave with just water, no soap at all on camping trips. My grand father was a stright man with mug and brush. He got shaved at his barber every sat and did what he had to himself if required (Dairy Farmer).
My Dad used a UK white plastic handled Gillette TTO for many years. He then did a few years on the disposables but now he's on the electric. I don't remember my Dad ever using aftershave unless he was going out somewhere special. He was a tube of cream user as well. My Grandfather was a career soldier in the British Army and he shaved with a straight for many years and then switched to a Rolls which he apparently used until he died.
This thread has thrown me into the wayback machine. I am now at my Dad's age (55) when he left this world, so as far as inquiring, I am to rely on my memory. I recall as a kid, watching him shave with a Fatboy, most of the time. I believe he also had a shick injector on the shelf in the medicine cabinet as well. But, the majority of the time that I watched, he used the Fat Boy and made 2 passes, wtg and atg. I also knew that he used the Gillette Foamy canned goo. I never saw him use a brush or cream or soap to shave. Doesn't mean that he never did, just that I never witnessed it. I distinctly remember the Vitalis hair tonic that he used, too. When he came out of the bathroom, his hair shined as much as his freshly shorn face did. The AS's were Old Spice, AV, or Mennen.
I'm 66 and while I switched from DE to cartridges in the 1980s, I never stopped using brush and cream. Though they were Italian immigrants, my father and uncles did good prep - brush and cream - because there were barbers in the family and they did two, perhaps three passes. I dumped my Gillette TTO after about a year, and bought a Progress from Hoffritz and a Simpsons badger with the Hoffritz name on it Still have the brush and use it!.
My Dad was a WWII shaver...His primary "go-to" was a Shick I2 (Hydro-Magic). He loved the earlier times when he did a razor rotation...He collected soaps and creams, and used mainly Old Spice AS, but would occasionally use Floris No.89 or something similar... He always took a hot shower first, and then put the "Too Hot" face towel on his face for several minutes. He then mainly did; One pass where he would stop and relather certain areas and shave in multiple directions and even "blade buff", but all in that one pass. His left hand "skin streching" and rubbing ATG looking for stubble, and constantly grabbing lather off the brush to rub on his face while still shaving with his right hand..Kind of like combining several passes into one. And sometimes he would rinse and relather his whole face for a second ATG pass...He made it a point to impress upon me the importance of taking you private shave time very seriously each morning...
Warning - :signs080 Thanks for the new hobby Greg...I had no idea that folks collected these, until I saw this post and looked around. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled thread... My Grandpa ever since I can remember used an electric razor, with that 'Lectro Shave stuff both before and after the shave.
Interesting answers, the internet does give us the advantage to products. Also the pattern is what I thought 1 pass with touch up the majority with 2nd. pass for more special occasions. My dad left the DE when I was about 5 or 6, I was into immitating everything he did and mom caught me wielding his razor one afternoon, yeah it was loaded with a blade and she snatched it away like it was on fire. The next day there was a brand new trac 2 in its place and he used that until the sensor came out. Still hasn't used anything buit sensors to this day, same handle and same edge gel flavor. He's not one for change or variety unless he's forced to, switched from trac 2 only because they were being fazed out of the store shelves at the time.
My dad used a DE back in the day, then a GII (Trac II to you over there in Americaland) - then switched to a Braun foil electric razor when I was about 6 or 7 - the best bit - he can still cut himself with it (I don't mean nicks or hair extractions that bleed, I mean full on cuts) - takes a special guy Mum's dad used a straight himself right up until the week before he died, then he insisted on being shaved with a straight right to the end. Dad's Dad was electric forever - on account of him working for the Electricity Board and getting nearly free electric and really deep discounts on everything you can imagine that was electric. They were the first people I can recall having a dishwasher (and dad said they had it from when he was a kid in the 1940s)
