Hopefully the response by the community here will allow this thread to continue beyond the initial installment, as it illustrates the shaving culture in America following World War II, as well as how I became involved in using vintage Gillette Super Speed razors. Thanks! Tony
My father was rather reserved; perhaps a trait borne from his experiences as a Radarman Third Class aboard the Attack Cargo Ship USS Veritas, AKA 50. Launched on June 16, 1945 from the Providence, Rhode Island dry docks- just two months after his induction into the Navy, the VERITAS operated along the Eastern seaboard, making cargo runs as far north as Boston, and then heading south to Hampton Roads, loaded with troops and armament. The ship was decommissioned on 21 February1946, and he received his Honorable Discharge on April 2, 1946. His battle station was at one of the twin 40mm gun mounts on board ship, and although the ship and crew never engaged in combat-he lost an appreciable amount of hearing from training on those guns. Still, like many veterans, my father never talked about the war and the endless nights spent scanning the ships radar. I never knew him to be unshaven- perhaps a naval tradition which stayed with him the rest of his life.
Coming home for many servicemen, like my father, was nothing short of being shot from a howitzer- perhaps he was an airman who survived all of his twenty-five missions in a B-17 over Germany; a soldier campaigning across France, or a marine island hopping in the Pacific. Many veterans later exercised skills acquired from wartime experiences, as the birth of the Hot Rod culture in Southern California illustrates. Others were swept into the vast manufacturing landscape required for victory. Returning home was a re-acquaintance with loved ones or family; things reminiscent of the war were discarded or packed away-even the khaki canvas cased US Army issue shaving kit fell into disuse. Jumping back into a less regimented routine still involved shaving, perhaps with the old standby Gillette safety razor they used before hostilities. Art Deco styling cues, popular before and during the war were still prevalent, includingthe designs of their shaving brush handles and the graphics found on their razor blade boxes after the war. Brushless shaving creams in tubes were popular well before the war and as military standard issue, but with the appearance of pressurized shaving cream in 1949- the future habits and attitudes of the American shaver would be changed forever.
On the domestic side, World War II provided enormous benefits to those Americans who returned from the war unscathed, or who continued their lives on the home front. Economically, the war ended the Great Depression, which stubbornly lingered until 1942, with full work capacity returning as a product of wartime mobilization. Veterans, on the average, spent three years in the service, which they regarded as lost time from finishing school, finding a job, or starting a family. In short, those who came back were in a hurry- treasuring their new-found homecoming as a welcome trade for the hardships endured in combat. The returning ten and a half million veterans enjoyed a booming economy, buying goods as fast as defense manufacturers could retool. This included Gillette, whose wartime contracts for razors, razor blades, and fuel metering units for aircraft carburetors would close, causing the company to set their sights on how to make those servicemen look their best in civilian life.
God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown
My father was rather reserved; perhaps a trait borne from his experiences as a Radarman Third Class aboard the Attack Cargo Ship USS Veritas, AKA 50. Launched on June 16, 1945 from the Providence, Rhode Island dry docks- just two months after his induction into the Navy, the VERITAS operated along the Eastern seaboard, making cargo runs as far north as Boston, and then heading south to Hampton Roads, loaded with troops and armament. The ship was decommissioned on 21 February1946, and he received his Honorable Discharge on April 2, 1946. His battle station was at one of the twin 40mm gun mounts on board ship, and although the ship and crew never engaged in combat-he lost an appreciable amount of hearing from training on those guns. Still, like many veterans, my father never talked about the war and the endless nights spent scanning the ships radar. I never knew him to be unshaven- perhaps a naval tradition which stayed with him the rest of his life.
Coming home for many servicemen, like my father, was nothing short of being shot from a howitzer- perhaps he was an airman who survived all of his twenty-five missions in a B-17 over Germany; a soldier campaigning across France, or a marine island hopping in the Pacific. Many veterans later exercised skills acquired from wartime experiences, as the birth of the Hot Rod culture in Southern California illustrates. Others were swept into the vast manufacturing landscape required for victory. Returning home was a re-acquaintance with loved ones or family; things reminiscent of the war were discarded or packed away-even the khaki canvas cased US Army issue shaving kit fell into disuse. Jumping back into a less regimented routine still involved shaving, perhaps with the old standby Gillette safety razor they used before hostilities. Art Deco styling cues, popular before and during the war were still prevalent, includingthe designs of their shaving brush handles and the graphics found on their razor blade boxes after the war. Brushless shaving creams in tubes were popular well before the war and as military standard issue, but with the appearance of pressurized shaving cream in 1949- the future habits and attitudes of the American shaver would be changed forever.
On the domestic side, World War II provided enormous benefits to those Americans who returned from the war unscathed, or who continued their lives on the home front. Economically, the war ended the Great Depression, which stubbornly lingered until 1942, with full work capacity returning as a product of wartime mobilization. Veterans, on the average, spent three years in the service, which they regarded as lost time from finishing school, finding a job, or starting a family. In short, those who came back were in a hurry- treasuring their new-found homecoming as a welcome trade for the hardships endured in combat. The returning ten and a half million veterans enjoyed a booming economy, buying goods as fast as defense manufacturers could retool. This included Gillette, whose wartime contracts for razors, razor blades, and fuel metering units for aircraft carburetors would close, causing the company to set their sights on how to make those servicemen look their best in civilian life.
God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown
