Straight Razors

[goatsnguns]

Just wondering if anyone else on the Forum collects Straight Razors??

 

[susieqz]

grampa had one. i'd collect it if i could trace it.

 

[Ozark Marine]

Don't collect them, but once or twice a month I get a shave from my barber.
Something about those hot towels, warm shaving cream and the feel of that straight razor being drawn across my mug cannot be described.

 

[goatsnguns]

Suzie,

Tried to PM you but your mailbox is full

 

[goatsnguns]

OM,

I mainly collect them. Tried shaving a couple of times, lots of red but oddly enough no pain, too sharp to hurt!! I have shoulder problems now and even have problems shaving with a safety razor so have given up on the Straight Razor Shaving, but still like to collect, mostly American made blades.

 

[STCM(SW)]

Come on guys, just take your time and shave like your Great Grand Father did!

upload a gif

 

[Skeet 028]

I happen to have about 60 or so. Lived in a small town and the mom and pop store my parents owned had a barber shop in it. He passed away when I was about 12. I took all the shaving mugs to the people who had left 'em with the barber for their (usually) twice weekly shaves. I still have most of the razors he had as well as the hand powered clippers he used. Then I ended up becoming a barber and bought many of my own razors. I've bought a few at auctions also. Can't sharpen a knife so well but can sharpen a straight razor. Weird huh?? I still have a hot lather machine but prefer to use a brush to make my lather.. I quit cutting hair for a living . Nasty job!

 

[Onomea]

Hey guys! I know nothing about straight razors. But I do like knives, swords, and blades in general. How about some pix, and some explanations, background, about your interest?

I'd like to know the history, the manufacturers, the uses (of course, shaving being the design purpose, but carried as a weapon, way back when, too, right?)

(Growing up, I understood this, the carrying of a straight razor, to be something within the African-American community, but other than pop culture of the time, have no reference.)

I'd like to know the straight razor styles, the cultural references (e.g., in blues music), etc.

And, I have always thought of straight razors as, well, sort of cheap and utilitarian. So if there are high end ones, I'd like to hear about that, too.

In short, why are you guys into straight razors? Why do you collect them? As a collector, what do you look for?

(To me, it sounds like more fun than collecting stamps, but, as I said, I do like blades in general.)

I'd like to know.

 

[old bear]

Arlo, just cus you asked.

This is a Shrade brand "safety-button" knife. Purchased in San Francisco, Ca circa 1921. Went to work with the first owner daily for years. Spent many years in my, guy stuff locker, as I tend to lose pocket knives.

It's now in the capable hands of Mule Packer going to work every day.

P.s.

I don't want anyone to believe that Chip is O.C.D. or anything, but I happen to know that he touches up the edge on that guy, nightly

 

[Mule Packer]

Fred, you're absolutely right. In fact, it helped cut the string on a couple of hay bales early this morning.

And, I am the first to admit, I touch it up every night on the old Arkansas stone. Yeah, maybe I am a little OCD, but I just like to think of it as maintaining a quality tool.

 

[Onomea]

That Schrade is a beaut!

On straight razors, Goatsnguns tipped me off to a swell forum: The Straight Razor Place. All sorts of information there. It looks like a very intriguing hobby, to be sure.

 

[NYlakesider]

Come on guys, just take your time and shave like your Great Grand Father did!

upload a gif

My father who died in 1998 used a straight razor all but the last two years his life. He started shaving as a young boy just as WW1 started! He had a couple real good Solingen steel razors and a couple razor straps. I have the razors but for the moment I can not find them.

He did not cut himself often but he did on occasion. As dad was a undertaker he kept a small bottle of embalming fluid with his shaving supplies. That stuff would shut the bleeding down fast!

 

[old tanker]

A little better than sixty-two years ago as I was watching my great uncle shave, I asked, "Uncle Tony, why do you use that barber kind of razor instead of one like Dad uses?

He responded, "Shaving with a straight razor is a useful skill for a man to have. When you are old enough, I'll teach you. Besides, someday, when you are married you will understand."

About 10 years later, Uncle Tony was good to his word and he set me up with a razor and taught me to use it. It was cool and awed my friends. But after a couple of years, I wound up in the Army and life in the barracks meant a return to safety razors.

Not many years after, I got married and was living off-post. One morning, running late, I picked up the dull, soggy, matted, leg hair clogged mess that was my razor, and my great uncle's words came back to me. "Yes, I was married and finally understood."

That evening the 4/8 Henckels he gave me when I turned 16 came out of the closet, the strop went into the bathroom. So except for hanging onto a good DE Gillette for those times I had to live in the billets, and these days for traveling on the airlines. I have been gratefully using my meager collection of razors for over half a century now and have passed on Uncle Tony's wisdom to my sons and nephews.

Here's one I picked up in Butzbach while I was stationed in Germany 1972. Not a fancy razor, but a very nice shaver.

 

[zzzippper]

I shaved with one. Once. I looked like I'd on the losing end of a cat fight.

 

[Qball]

Just wondering if anyone else on the Forum collects Straight Razors??

I have a few..

 

[e3mrk]

I have one that You can change the Blade in it when it gets dull.
it was made by the Boker and Co.in Germany.
I'm trying to find some blades for it.

 

[Mexican Kerry]

I would do some serious damage to myself with one of those. I shave about 3 times a year, I cut myself even with one of the new fangled gazillion-blade lazor razors.

 

[chief38]

I have shaved almost all my life with a Double Edge Gillette Tech 3 piece Razor and have often thought about getting a Straight Razor but never have. Unless one is very slow, deliberate and exceptionally careful I would expect a few bleeders when shaving if a close shave is desired.

I would imagine that in today's world a nice shave with an old Straight Razor would be quite satisfying and STILL might get one some day.......

 

[vonn]

Haven't seen a barber shop that offered shaves in years. Used to have a barber that used a razor to finish a haircut but not any left around here.

 

[old tanker]

I have one that You can change the Blade in it when it gets dull.
it was made by the Boker and Co.in Germany.
I'm trying to find some blades for it.

There are a couple of versions of those type razors, sometimes called shavettes. Dovo made a version that uses half a double edge blade.

Hair shapers use a blade with a spine, similar to the old Gem SE blades.

Search Amazon for shavette and hair shaper, one of them should get you what you are looking for.

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/Dovo-201014-Stainless-Shavette-Pack/dp/B0043J65LC/ref=pd_sim_194_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5NDTVMAFXZXP4RCFM0FG"]Dovo 201014 Stainless Shavette, Pack of 10 - Folding Camping Knives - Amazon.com[/ame]