This is not ment to be a review, just some observations and an idea of how your shave stuff might be appriciated by others after you're gone. I'm 60, so my father has been gone for quite a few years. He and I experimented with returning to soap and brushes back in the 70's. The only shaving item I have that was his is a old boar and badger combination brush with a longer handle. You see them on ebay every now and then. I think this one was part of the 'Barber Shop' line that had a brief life in the mid to late 70's. The brush itself is not very dense with a small knot and a bit on the floppy side. I was frankly pleased how easy whipping up a good lather (Kiss My Face) with cream was. He was using this brush with soap, and it may be too floppy to be a good soap brush. I'll have to try it with soap and see. Too the point. Just using the brush has produced a flood of memory about my father and the things we did when I was a kid. Odd how something as mundane as a shaving brush can do that. So, keep in mind that a son, grandson, or even great grandson may someday use your stuff and think "thanks granddad".
You know if you rack your memory you may be able to re-create your pops shave den. Many of the same items that he used back then are still available. I have re-created my pops shave den and kept going with it. I have also re-created my grand pops shave den.
Nice post John. Reflection is a good thing. Sights, smells and sounds create a flood of those thoughts and they are usually good ones! Treasure that brush!
Thanks for sharing that story, John. My old man doesn't use a brush, but thats ok because I'll be passing on quite a herd of badgers :rofl
Good memories, John! My dad, too, has been gone for a good while now (Mom's 91 though and still uses a DE!), and while I have lots of great memories of my childhood, I honestly have no real memories of my dad's shaving habits. It was, I'm sure, just a chore for him; like it used to be for US. He was always clean shaven though...amazing though that may be since he didn't have any shaving forums to frequent! :rofl I do recall that he used a Gillette of one variety or another (I now have his last one, a '60 SS) but I remember nothing of creams, soaps, aftershaves, etc. I do know that he did not own a brush and I actually think he used a bar of Lux bath soap for shaving. God, I hated that stuff, but it's all Mom ever bought! Lathered in his hands and slapped it on. If he could see me now!! As for a shaving "den"? Uh, no. Just a bathroom. Recreating would be easy...open the door and voila! Now that I think of it...I know what Mom's getting for Christmas! Bought my son a C&E Best LAST Christmas. He won't use it (hey, I tried!) so he gave it back to me - still in the box. I haven't used it either. Also retrieved the Merkur HD and tub of Taylor's Lavender. What do you think...REGIFT for Mom?! Wanna bet she won't use the HD because it's not TTO?! I'll probably just keep the razor. Anyway, thanks for the post, John; made me think back...
