It's Vintage Week! I know many of us have, use and love our vintage razors. But what about those soaps, creams and aftershaves that are no longer in production? This week will pay tribute to those vintage items that are, unfortunately, discontinued and no longer available at the local drugstore. The good news is that many can still be found at flea markets, antique shops, yard sales, and auction sites. Let's see what ya got! Inspire the rest of us to be on the hunt for those fabulous shave items we do so dearly miss.
Monday Tunes: Lightnin' Hopkins ~ The Essence of Lightnin' Hopkins He's become one of my favorite blues artists. Cream: Tom's of Maine - I'm just glad I was able to get a tube of this. Picked it up at Wegman's. Went back a few weeks later - NONE to be had. Yep. Discontinued. Brush: Kriss Kross - still has the original boar knot. Not one of my favorite brushes, but I really like the handle. May have to re-knot it sometime down the road. Razor: '61 Fatboy - this was given to me by a co-worker. I don't have to tell many of you that this is one great razor. I leave it locked @ 6. Works for me. Blade: '59 Gillette Thin - E3 date code. Not a bad shave from an old blade. They were in with a razor I picked up at an antique mall. AS: Pinaud Clubman - still in production after 200+ years. The product in the bottle may not be vintage, but the brand sure is!
Vintage Week, Monday: Hot Towel Burt's Bees SC as pre-shave Hot towel again Vintage Old Spice Shaving soap Every-Ready 100T Boar brush 54' Gillette SS Flair Tip w/ Voskhod blade 2nd shave Hot water / Cold water rinse Alum block Clubman AS Clubman talc No Menthol Monday. Decided to go with the vintage week. It was nice to get the Vintage Old Spice shaving soap out. It still lathers great with the ol' Every-Ready brush. What a delightful shave this morning
Steve, I have seen in some of your post that you hand strop your blades. How do you do that? Do you see a big benefit from it?
Tuesday shave: Folgers coffee black Hot towel Every Man Jack SC as pre-shave Hot towel again Vintage Williams Mug SS Burma-Shave bristle brush Gem 1912 SE w/ Personna Gem blade 1st shave Hot water / Cold water rinse Dickinson's Witch hazel Old Spice Classic AS Clubman talc
Piece o' cake. There are three schools of thought... 1 - It doesn't do a thing. Why bother? 2 - Even if it does work, blades are so cheep. Why bother? 3 - It works. It smoothes out the blade and give me a couple of extra shaves that are more comfortable than if I hadn't hand stropped. I'm in the 3rd school. I figure if it works for a straight edge razor , why wouldn't it work on a DE or SE blade? They have straight edges, too, ya know!
Tuesday Soap: Vintage Colgate Barber Soap + 2 drops Em's Woodstock EO - nice soap, just very lacking in the scent department Brush: Ever Read 250PB - still has the original badger knot. Nice little brush. I like it. Razor: Grafco OC - a rebranded Merkur 3-piece (Merkur logo on base of handle). Not bad. I'll keep it. Blade: '59 Thin Gillette - E3 date code. Day 2, 3+ passes. Neat to use an old blade, but I do prefer the modern A fun week so far. Hope the rest of you are enjoying it!
I'm getting the hang of hand stropping!!! Thanks for the info!!! If I could get a couple extra shaves out of a blade it's well worth it!!! Yes, enjoying it this week. Good choice of theme this week!
Wednesday Tunes: Lightnin' Hopkins ~ The Essence of Lightnin' Hopkins, disc 2 Soap: TSD Wild Rose - discontinued? Don't see it on the drop down menu Brush: Mohawk 3-338 with original boar knot - this brush is simply amazing. I will say it's become a favorite. Razor: '62 Slim Adjustable @ 6 - my birthyear. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I'm vintage! Blade: '59 Thin Gillette Blade, E3, day 3, 3+ passes Forgot to mention, as this is vintage week, that on Monday I was totin' an early/mid-40s Parker Duofold Jr. fountain pen. Today it's Parker 21, mid/late 60s. Yesterday was a modern Lamy Safari.
Wednesday vintage weapons of choice: DVH boar brush Williams soap British Gillette flare tip Rocket Gillette blade, rehoned & restropped in Allegro mod, L (brush & soap are easy choices: they're the only vintage brush & soap I have!)
Vintage week? Well for the remainder of the week I will be using my vintage Feather Injector and vintage Feather platinum injector blades!
Wednesday shave: Hot towel Lucky Tiger Molle SC pre-shave Hot towel Vintage Old Spice SS Every-Ready 100T Boar brush OC Gem Micromatic w/ Personna Gem blade 3rd shave hot / cold water rinse Dickinson's Witch hazel Old Spice Classic AS Clubman talc
Well..just had a good shave. The only other vintage thing there besides the razor was me..and maybe the bath towel I dried on...
Thursday morning vintage shave: Folgers coffee, BLACK Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle Vol. 1 Hot shower, Yardley bar soap Hand Strop blade Lucky Tiger Molle SC pre-shave Hot Towel Vintage Williams Mug SS Burma-Shave bristle brush 54' Gillette SS Flair Tip w/ Voskhod blade 4th shave hot / cold water rinse Alum block Lucky Tiger AS / Face tonic Clubman talc Hand strop blade
Thursday Tunes: Petra ~ Come and Join Us, from 1977 Soap: Vintage Old Spice - glad I bought two pucks. Still have one in reserve! Brush: Ever Ready 200T with original boar knot - meh Razor: '73 Black Handle SS Blade: '59 Thin Gillette Blade, day 4, 3+ passes Post: Old Spice Classic, not a vintage product, but very much a vintage scent - nice!
Steve, the hand stropping seems to be working. Last two shaves I hand stropped. I should of had some dragging with the number of shaves with the blades. But no,smooth shaves for high number of shaves on the blades. I am impressed. Like you said, blades are not expensive. However to still get a comfy shave with this many uses on my blades I'm a happy shaver. Besides it is something cool I get to add to my routine. Thanks for the advice!
Thusday's vintage weapons of choice: DVH boar brush Williams soap Gillette Old Style OC brandless German blade Allegro model L honer/stropper (used that yesterday as well)