What's new

The barber notch. Does it serve a purpose?

I have a Morley razor, 5/8" with a barber notch. I remember reading somewhere that it was used to work around the nostrils and such. While shaving my upper lip, I haven't felt at a disadvantage with a notch/no notch.

Is there someone out there who uses the notch? Or is this one of those things lost to time. Like the purpose of the saw nib on woodworking hand saws, where nobody quite knows for sure, but there are plenty of theories.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20211010_211357143.jpg
    IMG_20211010_211357143.jpg
    5.9 MB · Views: 24
The Barbisol cylinders for combs & such that might still be used by barbers (it's been a while for this shiny head) have a screened rack that can be lifted out and loaded, then slid back down into the liquid. A notch on the end of the razor could sit on top of a structural wire in the screen rather than a round, French, or square point wobbling around once lowered. I'm not basing this on any historical fact btw, I've just always thought it was a possibility.
 
The Barbicide baskets I owned did not have structural supporting wires, it was just a cup with holes in the bottom.
The instructions referenced hanging the blade over the edge so the scales stay dry.

W&B catalogs from the 1800s referred to the notch as a "Hollow Point".
 
think the point of a barbers notch was so that the blade could be opened one-handed using the notch.....or so I have read somewhere.

multi-tasking I guess.

camo
 
Top Bottom