Really shaving like my Grandfather

[lowjax]

I've jumped head-long into this DE stuff (well, not as deep as some of you) and am in the middle of trying out 5 razors, 6 different blades, 23 different soaps/creams, and 9 different after shaves. I'm loving every minute of it.

However, this morning I was thinking of my grandpa and thought how this is nothing like he would shave. I decided to shave like him today. He would buy one of each thing and it would probably be the cheapest thing he could buy. He would use that razor, blade type, soap, brush, and after shave until it was discontinued.

With that in mind, here is this morning's shave:

Merkur 34c
Wilkinson Blades
Van Der Hagen Deluxe Soap
Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
Old Spice

It's about as simple and cheap as you can get and you know what? It was my best shave in about a month. Instead of trying all kinds of different combinations, I went basic and it worked great!!

I do love trying different things, but it is good to know I can always go back to shave like my grandpa and have a wonderful shave.

 

[jpakstis]

All this "shave like your grandpa" talk is funny to me because my grandpa shaved with a can of Foamy and Bic disposables.

 

[life2short1971]

Mine shaved with Gillette foamy a brush(probably EverReady) and a Schick Eversharp injector.

 

[NCJack]

Didn't get to know mine, but I'm told it was a straight razor over the kitchen sink, followed by my Dad. Grandmother and the five girls, my aunts, got the bathrooms

 

[Daiku]

My grandfather used a blue-tip and always washed his face with Camay soap. His skin was just like mine, and I'm having pretty good results using his routine. But I'm pretty sure he used Foamy from a can, and I will not give up my Arko!

 

[Marco]

My grandfather did shave with the same tools for +60 years. Same brush, same soap, same razor, same blades and same aftershave. From the memories I have his face was always smooth like a baby and he did shave every morning.

P.S. His only soap was Cella, Crema Sapone Extra Extra Purissima.

 

[Shave_Rat]

My grandfather didn't use the same razor for 60 or whatever years, he got about 20 years out of it, then got a new one, and got 30something out of that one, and trust me, both of them show the use. I know since I have them, and both need some help and replating, which will be done someday. lol

I also found out from my dad he face lathered using his hands and regular bar soap. The part that confuses me is the only bar soap in the bathroom anywhere was that Lava pumice soap... while I can't imagine using a pumice soap to lather and shave with, I'd not put it past my grandfather, either. He was one of those old school farmers, still out in the fields doing manual hard labor at 85yo.

Much as I love and miss my grandfather, I'll pass on shaving like he did. lol

 

[celestino]

Jeff, well done and enjoy your simple shaves!

 

[euro]

Never knew what my grandpa used to shave with. I asked my mother she said he had a DE razor and used Palmolive cream. My father used to shave with a Gillette DE system, Palmolive cream and Wilkinson blades. He bought his DE razor back in the 60ties and shaved with it every 3 days. That is what I can call quality. I hope my Merkur 34C HD will last very long too, as it exists of two parts I think it can't be broken.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Never knew what my grandpa used to shave with. I asked my mother she said he had a DE razor and used Palmolive cream. My father used to shave with a Gillette DE system, Palmolive cream and Wilkinson blades. He bought his DE razor back in the 60ties and shaved with it every 3 days. That is what I can call quality. I hope my Merkur 34C HD will last very long too, as it exists of two parts I think it can't be broken.

With the 34c, if you over tighten, or drop the head, that screwpost can snap off, so there is a chance of breaking it, but with care and proper use and cleaning, it should last a pretty long time.

 

[BlackBard]

There are probably more shaving hobbyists today than there were in grandfathers time. Back in the day few men collected razors, brushes, soaps, etc. They just used them as tools for their regular grooming. This is likely true today, for most men around the world.

 

[lowjax]

There are probably more shaving hobbyists today than there were in grandfathers time. Back in the day few men collected razors, brushes, soaps, etc. They just used them as tools for their regular grooming. This is likely true today, for most men around the world.

I agree totally with this. I think people today do this with everything. People didn't collect much stuff back when my grandfather was a kid. They were so poor that everything they bought had to be useful. That's kind of what I was getting at, but you nailed it better than I did.

 

[Monsieur Blaireau]

I shaved for nearly thirty years with my grandfather's safety razor. I don't know how long he'd had it before he died and I got ahold of it. I also have his straight, which dates from the nineteen thirties and, though it's got some water stains, shaves just fine. The theory was you buy the best you can afford that will get the job done and keep an eye toward it lasting. Disposable was not part of the equation.

I stopped using my grandfather's DE because the plating started coming off the head. That may have been just an excuse; I wanted to see what a new, minty fresh safety razor would be like. So I got a couple: an EJ 89 and an R41. It's great comparing them against each other and experiencing the extremes of mild and aggressive shaves they provide. I don't know that either one is a match for my grandfather's razor, though. And that may be in part because of the ethic it represents, and that I keep reminding myself of (though it's little help in curbing my worsening ADs): it's about getting a good shave, which has more to do with the technique and the experience - by which I mean experience over time as well as the experience of the moment - than with the stuff.

Now, let me tell you about the three brushes I got from Leon today . . .

 

[RaiserLiebe]

...I also found out from my dad he face lathered using his hands and regular bar soap. ... Much as I love and miss my grandfather, I'll pass on shaving like he did. lol

My grandad raised 9 that were born starting in 1929. So you can imagine, not a lot of disposable income!
He too shaved using bar soap. He took the little chips from the shower that were too small to wash yourself with, put them in a coffee mug, and whipped up lather (if you can call it that) from the chips! LOL.
Mike

 

[Shave_Rat]

My grandad raised 9 that were born starting in 1929. So you can imagine, not a lot of disposable income!
He too shaved using bar soap. He took the little chips from the shower that were too small to wash yourself with, put them in a coffee mug, and whipped up lather (if you can call it that) from the chips! LOL.
Mike

lol.. at least he had a brush? I'm guessing both our grandfathers had leather faces.

 

[Foyle]

My grandpa shaved with a Remington electric. I'm not going back to electrics--ever.

 

[BBrad]

My grandad raised 9 that were born starting in 1929. So you can imagine, not a lot of disposable income!
He too shaved using bar soap. He took the little chips from the shower that were too small to wash yourself with, put them in a coffee mug, and whipped up lather (if you can call it that) from the chips! LOL.
Mike

Exactly what was done by a working man in that era! My grandfather, with six kids by 1929, worked 12 hours a day in a paper mill and shaved with straight razors (of which two are now mine) and used the soap scraps. Think about it - no extra money during the Depression, hungry mouths to feed, nothing was wasted. The soap of that day was also very basic - an animal fat based (tallow) soap with no fragrance. In soft water it would make an outstanding lather. There was no scent to it at that point, but that's what his Bay Rum was for!

 

[MegaBullfrog09]

Like many, my grandpa was dirt poor and lost his dad to pneumonia when he was 6 during the Depression. He went to work hauling coal and fighting off the bigger kids so they wouldn't take his money, went to Cat during the war, joined the marines and went to Korea... I know he used a straight during the war, either a Super Speed or Tech when my dad was growing up. But, my dad said when he got around to learning how to shave, my grandpa used a two bladed disposable and always used canned caca.

 

[ironfist]

Great storys guys! Love reading them all

Im lucky that i have 2 grandpas and a grandma

One of them who is 75 used a gillette tech and either a slim/fatboy.

My other who is 85, im not sure what he used, not got round to asking him but i will soon and will post back!

 

[nhaas77]

This post I fully agree with! My grandfather would never have owned several razors and soaps. If he were still alive and found out I was buying a razor for the sake of collecting them he would smack me on the back of the head. One razor all you need!