I just answered a PM regarding 7/8 razors and the lack of blanks for 7/8 thumb notch razors in Solingen. Personally I’d be willing to pay a pretty penny for a 7/8 thumb notch razor made by Aust or Wacker. I like all of my modern 7/8 razors regardless of maker (Aust and Thiers Issard), but personally I find it hard to understand why large razors are so extremely popular. For one the size makes them unwieldy. I can’t subscribe to the point that the added weight means that you don’t need to add pressure when shaving. I mean you don’t need to add any pressure when shaving with a 4/8 razor either.
An argument that I can understand though is that the size gives them a menacing look, especially if they are close to wedge and have patina after having been used for a century or more.
I guess that my lack of understanding for popularity of really large razors can be due to cultural differences. Being a Swede very much means having the mindset of an engineer and often being absurdly practical and totally missing out on the meaning or use of extravagance. Swedish straight razors are a good example; well made of high quality steel, but lacking any kind of gold etching and rarely larger than 5/8.
I’d like to exemplify my reasoning with a joke I was told by other Swedes after that my family moved back to Sweden in the 1970’s:
A Swedish businessman is on his first business trip to the USA. The plane lands in New York at an airport the size of a city. After getting his luggage he gets a cab the size of a delivery van. When getting into New York he there are high rising buildings large enough to house the population of a Swedish city. He checks into his hotel and gets a room the size of an apartment. Being tired after the journey he lays down on the bed large enough for a family. When rested he goes down to the hotel restaurant and orders a steak and a beer. The steak is so large that it’s barely room for it on the plate and the beer glass is five times the size of a Swedish beer. Since he’s well mannered he eats and drinks it all. Feeling drunk and overstuffed he pays the check, tips the waiter and decides to go to the men’s room. Being drunk he takes the wrong turn, stumbles and falls into the hotel pool. The hotel guests can hear his high pitched desperate screams:
Don’t flush, please whatever you do don’t flush!
An argument that I can understand though is that the size gives them a menacing look, especially if they are close to wedge and have patina after having been used for a century or more.
I guess that my lack of understanding for popularity of really large razors can be due to cultural differences. Being a Swede very much means having the mindset of an engineer and often being absurdly practical and totally missing out on the meaning or use of extravagance. Swedish straight razors are a good example; well made of high quality steel, but lacking any kind of gold etching and rarely larger than 5/8.
I’d like to exemplify my reasoning with a joke I was told by other Swedes after that my family moved back to Sweden in the 1970’s:
A Swedish businessman is on his first business trip to the USA. The plane lands in New York at an airport the size of a city. After getting his luggage he gets a cab the size of a delivery van. When getting into New York he there are high rising buildings large enough to house the population of a Swedish city. He checks into his hotel and gets a room the size of an apartment. Being tired after the journey he lays down on the bed large enough for a family. When rested he goes down to the hotel restaurant and orders a steak and a beer. The steak is so large that it’s barely room for it on the plate and the beer glass is five times the size of a Swedish beer. Since he’s well mannered he eats and drinks it all. Feeling drunk and overstuffed he pays the check, tips the waiter and decides to go to the men’s room. Being drunk he takes the wrong turn, stumbles and falls into the hotel pool. The hotel guests can hear his high pitched desperate screams:
Don’t flush, please whatever you do don’t flush!