B
ButtGump
I figured people here might enjoy this story from last night:
My wife and I recently went up to her grandmother's farm for a family get-together. As we were preparing to leave, I suddenly realized I had forgotten to ask her grandmother, Donna, a question. As my wife gathered up the food, I ventured the question, "What did Dan use to shave with?"
Donna cocked her head to the side at the odd question and had to think for several seconds. "Well, he used to use those old ... " Unable to remember the correct term, she trailed off as she made a vague drawing motion across her cheeks with her hand.
"A double-edge razor?" I asked. As she nodded I continued, "I don't mean to be too forward, but by any chance would you still have it, and would I be able to buy it from you?"
The same **** of the head returned. "Oh, let me take a look in the house and I'll see if I can find them." She left for the house as my wife and I continued getting ready to leave. As we were putting the kids into the car Donna came out of the house and handed me two razors. "They're not in very good shape, so I don't know if you really want them. And you can just have them, don't worry about any money."
I politely argued with her for a bit, asking if she really wanted to give them up, but finally relented. My wife and I said our goodbyes and drove home. When Donna had handed me the razors they were instantly recognized as Gillettes and I was fairly certain on the ID of both. Upon returning home I copied the relevant information off of both before dropping them in a water-filled pot to start the cleaning process. While the water began to boil, I went online to identify and date the razors. As soon as I was sure of my information, I paused for several minutes then got up and dialed the phone. "Donna, would you like to come down for dinner sometime?"
--
A week later as we cleaned up the dishes from dinner, I excused myself for a few minutes while I gathered some things into a shoebox. I returned to the kitchen and set the box on the table. "Donna, I need to tell you some stories."
A gleam entered her eye as she moved towards the table. I open the box as I said, "These are all the razors I own-"
"Oh!" she interrupted, leaning in quickly in interest. "That's quite a collection!"
I smiled as I looked in the box at my paltry collection of seven razors. "Actually this is nothing compared to quite a few guys." I paused as Donna and my wife settled down in chairs, then continued on. "One of the things
I like about wetshaving is that it's a connection to the past. It's something that my father did, and my grandfather, and so on back to who knows when. But another thing I like about it is that each razor tells a story. Lots of times when you find or buy a razor you don't really know what that story is necessarily, but usually you can find out at least part of that razor's story with a little digging."
I reached into the box and pulled out a razor. Setting in on the table, I said, "This is a Gillette Superspeed. I don't know most of the stories for my razors, but this one was made in the summer of 1972. Right around the time that some men were caught breaking into offices at the Watergate. It would be another two years before Nixon resigned in the wake of that incident."
I reached into the box again. "This is the first razor I bought. It's called a Gillette Adjustable, but has received the nickname 'Fatboy' due to the thick handle. This razor was made in 1960, just a few months before John F. Kennedy was elected President."
Another razor was placed on the table. "And this is a Lady Gillette. It was made just a few months before he was shot and killed in 1963."
Next came a thin-handled razor. "This is a British-made Tech. These razors weren't marked with date codes, so it's pretty hard to say when it was made. Most British Techs were made during the '40s and '50s, but since this one has an aluminum handle I'm guessing it's from the '50s or maybe even '60s. It's hard to get more of this guy's story, but he was made part way around the world, just as that world was becoming smaller and smaller."
I pulled a small case of the box and removed a rubber band from around it. As I opened the case I heard Donna say, "Oh my!" as only a grandmother can.
I pulled the razor out of the case and held it in my hand. "I found this at an antique shop here in town. It's called a Single Ring Old Style. It shines so much because it was triple-plated in silver. It was made in 1906. It had only been three years since the Wright brothers were down in Kitty Hawk introducing the world to powered flight. In two years the Model T would further revolutionize the world."
I pulled Dan's razors out of the box and set them both on the table. "These are the razors you gave me last week. I've cleaned them up, but haven't used them yet. And that's because of the story they tell."
I picked up a razor with a black, plastic handle. "This is usually called a WW2 Tech. They got that name since they were originally issued to all GIs in WW2, but the military kept issuing them until the end of the '50s. This particular one was made in 1951." I looked at Donna as she nodded in understanding. "That means this is the razor that Dan was issued when he went to Korea. I know he continued to use it after the war since the bars have all the plating worn off, but he didn't use it enough to wear down any other plating. He probably liked this razor, but it most likely wasn't his favorite razor."
I picked up the second razor. "This was his favorite razor. I believe it's called an Old Style 102A. This one was made in 1921, just three years after World War I ended. That means, though that Dan didn't originally buy this razor." I smiled at the last sentence, knowing that Dan and Donna weren't born until the early 1930's.
Donna shook her head, "Well, no. I believe that was his Dad's razor."
I nodded. "I figured that was the case. It was probably passed down to him when he was old enough to start shaving." Donna nodded in agreement as I went on. "The reason I know this was his favorite razor is because of the plating loss. There's virtually nothing left on the head after decades of sliding across his face. The handle is missing half of it's plating just from being held and used all those years. At the same time, both he and his father took very good care of this razor. None of the teeth are bent and the handle isn't cracked. They both were very careful with this guy."
I put the razor down and slid both of them towards Donna. "The reason I tell you all of this is because that's the story of these razors. You know more of the story too, since you have decades of memories full of Dan standing over the sink using these. So I didn't want to use these razors until I had asked you one more time if you really want to part with these."
Donna picked up the razors and looked at them. She turned her head up at me and said, "I think Dan would have wanted to keep these in the family and I can't think of anyone better suited to them. He'd be proud to have a grandson using them." She passed the razors back across the table to my hands.
--
On a recent thread in this forum, the question was posed: "Any razors in your collection you'd never sell?"
Yup, I have two.
My wife and I recently went up to her grandmother's farm for a family get-together. As we were preparing to leave, I suddenly realized I had forgotten to ask her grandmother, Donna, a question. As my wife gathered up the food, I ventured the question, "What did Dan use to shave with?"
Donna cocked her head to the side at the odd question and had to think for several seconds. "Well, he used to use those old ... " Unable to remember the correct term, she trailed off as she made a vague drawing motion across her cheeks with her hand.
"A double-edge razor?" I asked. As she nodded I continued, "I don't mean to be too forward, but by any chance would you still have it, and would I be able to buy it from you?"
The same **** of the head returned. "Oh, let me take a look in the house and I'll see if I can find them." She left for the house as my wife and I continued getting ready to leave. As we were putting the kids into the car Donna came out of the house and handed me two razors. "They're not in very good shape, so I don't know if you really want them. And you can just have them, don't worry about any money."
I politely argued with her for a bit, asking if she really wanted to give them up, but finally relented. My wife and I said our goodbyes and drove home. When Donna had handed me the razors they were instantly recognized as Gillettes and I was fairly certain on the ID of both. Upon returning home I copied the relevant information off of both before dropping them in a water-filled pot to start the cleaning process. While the water began to boil, I went online to identify and date the razors. As soon as I was sure of my information, I paused for several minutes then got up and dialed the phone. "Donna, would you like to come down for dinner sometime?"
--
A week later as we cleaned up the dishes from dinner, I excused myself for a few minutes while I gathered some things into a shoebox. I returned to the kitchen and set the box on the table. "Donna, I need to tell you some stories."
A gleam entered her eye as she moved towards the table. I open the box as I said, "These are all the razors I own-"
"Oh!" she interrupted, leaning in quickly in interest. "That's quite a collection!"
I smiled as I looked in the box at my paltry collection of seven razors. "Actually this is nothing compared to quite a few guys." I paused as Donna and my wife settled down in chairs, then continued on. "One of the things
I like about wetshaving is that it's a connection to the past. It's something that my father did, and my grandfather, and so on back to who knows when. But another thing I like about it is that each razor tells a story. Lots of times when you find or buy a razor you don't really know what that story is necessarily, but usually you can find out at least part of that razor's story with a little digging."
I reached into the box and pulled out a razor. Setting in on the table, I said, "This is a Gillette Superspeed. I don't know most of the stories for my razors, but this one was made in the summer of 1972. Right around the time that some men were caught breaking into offices at the Watergate. It would be another two years before Nixon resigned in the wake of that incident."
I reached into the box again. "This is the first razor I bought. It's called a Gillette Adjustable, but has received the nickname 'Fatboy' due to the thick handle. This razor was made in 1960, just a few months before John F. Kennedy was elected President."
Another razor was placed on the table. "And this is a Lady Gillette. It was made just a few months before he was shot and killed in 1963."
Next came a thin-handled razor. "This is a British-made Tech. These razors weren't marked with date codes, so it's pretty hard to say when it was made. Most British Techs were made during the '40s and '50s, but since this one has an aluminum handle I'm guessing it's from the '50s or maybe even '60s. It's hard to get more of this guy's story, but he was made part way around the world, just as that world was becoming smaller and smaller."
I pulled a small case of the box and removed a rubber band from around it. As I opened the case I heard Donna say, "Oh my!" as only a grandmother can.
I pulled the razor out of the case and held it in my hand. "I found this at an antique shop here in town. It's called a Single Ring Old Style. It shines so much because it was triple-plated in silver. It was made in 1906. It had only been three years since the Wright brothers were down in Kitty Hawk introducing the world to powered flight. In two years the Model T would further revolutionize the world."
I pulled Dan's razors out of the box and set them both on the table. "These are the razors you gave me last week. I've cleaned them up, but haven't used them yet. And that's because of the story they tell."
I picked up a razor with a black, plastic handle. "This is usually called a WW2 Tech. They got that name since they were originally issued to all GIs in WW2, but the military kept issuing them until the end of the '50s. This particular one was made in 1951." I looked at Donna as she nodded in understanding. "That means this is the razor that Dan was issued when he went to Korea. I know he continued to use it after the war since the bars have all the plating worn off, but he didn't use it enough to wear down any other plating. He probably liked this razor, but it most likely wasn't his favorite razor."
I picked up the second razor. "This was his favorite razor. I believe it's called an Old Style 102A. This one was made in 1921, just three years after World War I ended. That means, though that Dan didn't originally buy this razor." I smiled at the last sentence, knowing that Dan and Donna weren't born until the early 1930's.
Donna shook her head, "Well, no. I believe that was his Dad's razor."
I nodded. "I figured that was the case. It was probably passed down to him when he was old enough to start shaving." Donna nodded in agreement as I went on. "The reason I know this was his favorite razor is because of the plating loss. There's virtually nothing left on the head after decades of sliding across his face. The handle is missing half of it's plating just from being held and used all those years. At the same time, both he and his father took very good care of this razor. None of the teeth are bent and the handle isn't cracked. They both were very careful with this guy."
I put the razor down and slid both of them towards Donna. "The reason I tell you all of this is because that's the story of these razors. You know more of the story too, since you have decades of memories full of Dan standing over the sink using these. So I didn't want to use these razors until I had asked you one more time if you really want to part with these."
Donna picked up the razors and looked at them. She turned her head up at me and said, "I think Dan would have wanted to keep these in the family and I can't think of anyone better suited to them. He'd be proud to have a grandson using them." She passed the razors back across the table to my hands.
--
On a recent thread in this forum, the question was posed: "Any razors in your collection you'd never sell?"
Yup, I have two.
