After reading the 'BirthYear Razor' thread, I got to thinking about my father's birth year (1927) as well as my grandfather's (1882). Doing a quick internet search on the dates, I happened across this helpful little article—printed in 1882—on the finer points to achieve a quality shave. From The Lowell Daily Courier, courtesy of Vanity Fair, an article on "How To Shave." Some great advice is shared, much of which is quite applicable today. For instance: "Never use biting or acrid soap; probably the more glycerine, honey and grease that enter into the composition of the soap, the more agreeable will it be to the skin; but in this, as in so many other great affairs, experience will be the surest guide." (i.e. 'YMMV'!) Plus the formal writing style I find quite entertaining: "The man who has shaved for a year or two and has not found out what soap is pleasantest to his cheek is deficient in the bump of research, and will never do great things in the world." "Never dip your razor into boiling or very hot water to make it cut better; it is a most wasteful and deceptive proceeding." "…for nothing equals the delicacy of a good razor edge except perhaps the tenderness with which it requires to be treated." "…if you put your razor away wet or with the edge ill-cleaned, you have no sort of right to blame any one but yourself when it fails to do duty next day."
Fantastic...Loved It!! BTW, my Pop and yours share the same birth-year...Therefore I'm prepared as I've giving this thought aswell...So....the Gillette New Improved is so fine...But lately I've been using the Ever-Ready 1924. That was 'THE' Ever Ready razor in 1927 and they continued to make those til the early '30's so that would be an excellent choice aswell... Now for your Grand Dad of course you have the Super Hippest of them all....The Kampfe Bros. Safety Razor patended June of 1880. It wasn't manufactured til 1884 but thats a technicality...:
I would think that an 1882 razor would just give you a good excuse to find a beautiful Straight to add to the collection.
And that Lowell Daily Courier Article has given him the means by which to verify the state of it's temper with....lol! I love that article, I plan to plagerize this often....
I came across this image of an old men's barber shop where two customers were getting their shaving needs attended to. When my grandfather first started shaving—approximately the late 1890s-early 1900s—there weren't any local shops to frequent as he lived out on the family ranch with his brother and sister. He was frequently clean shaven, so I'm sure he and his brother Adrian probably shaved outside the main ranch house (better lighting & the water spigot was near the well) small mirror in hand, straight razor, brush and a bar of tallow soap. This was probably a weekly routine.
There is a scene in Millers Crossing where the head gangster gives advice on getting a close shave. He says the secret is to dip your razor in cold water before using it on your face. I never had the heart or bravery to try it. Not sure if he was talking about DE or straight razor shaving.
