So, these two things have been on my mind for a while.
First, the earliest memories I have of seeing anybody shave are from the late 1980's or early 1990's, I was just a little guy back then. I only saw plastic cartridge/disposable razors, and canned goop. When I was very, very little, I do recall my mom buying my grandfather a gift set containing a mug, a plastic container of shave soap, aftershave, and a shaving brush. I know he promptly switched to the soap and brush instead of goop, commenting on how it reminded him of 'Way Back When', coke-cola in glass bottles, crystal set AM radios, etc. When he used up the last of the soap, though, it was back to the goo. Though I never saw him use them, and he wound up giving them to me, he had a ball end Tech in his medicine cabinet complete with some blades, and a Super Speed and Fatboy dug up from god knows where, so I know that at one point he did use DE razors.
My dad, on the other hand, has apparently ALWAYS used plastic and goop.
So, when were the first canned-goop type creams invented, when were the first cartridge/disposable razors invented, and when did the majority of the population switch to these?
Again, same question for other parts of the world, when did Canada, the UK, Western (and Eastern, for that matter!) Europe, Australia, etc switch from old style to goop and plastic?
Second, what about GI issue shaving kits?
WWI and WWII (And thus, Korean war era) kits are pretty familiar to me. My grandfather told me some about the one he had in WW2, though he mentioned he preferred to use his Rolls razor and sold his kit off to a Chinese soldier, who was eager to pay twice what it was worth (And five times what American cigarettes were worth, but that's another story...). I've also seen GI reenactors with their Gillette kits shaving in their steel pots, and their German army counter parts huddled around the old coal scuttle with German made Bakelite DE's, so again, pretty familiar stuff. We use stuff made out of better materials, but the concept is the same.
I'm assuming that the average GI of the late 80's and more modern times has used modern items.
But, what about that gap of 1960's up till the 80's? What kind of stuff would they have been issued/used?
Third, while writing this, I just noticed something. I've seen vintage shaving equipment from "western" countries, but what would "east bloc" countries like Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, etc have been shaving with? I don't think I've EVER seen a Russian made DE, SE, or disposable!
First, the earliest memories I have of seeing anybody shave are from the late 1980's or early 1990's, I was just a little guy back then. I only saw plastic cartridge/disposable razors, and canned goop. When I was very, very little, I do recall my mom buying my grandfather a gift set containing a mug, a plastic container of shave soap, aftershave, and a shaving brush. I know he promptly switched to the soap and brush instead of goop, commenting on how it reminded him of 'Way Back When', coke-cola in glass bottles, crystal set AM radios, etc. When he used up the last of the soap, though, it was back to the goo. Though I never saw him use them, and he wound up giving them to me, he had a ball end Tech in his medicine cabinet complete with some blades, and a Super Speed and Fatboy dug up from god knows where, so I know that at one point he did use DE razors.
My dad, on the other hand, has apparently ALWAYS used plastic and goop.
So, when were the first canned-goop type creams invented, when were the first cartridge/disposable razors invented, and when did the majority of the population switch to these?
Again, same question for other parts of the world, when did Canada, the UK, Western (and Eastern, for that matter!) Europe, Australia, etc switch from old style to goop and plastic?
Second, what about GI issue shaving kits?
WWI and WWII (And thus, Korean war era) kits are pretty familiar to me. My grandfather told me some about the one he had in WW2, though he mentioned he preferred to use his Rolls razor and sold his kit off to a Chinese soldier, who was eager to pay twice what it was worth (And five times what American cigarettes were worth, but that's another story...). I've also seen GI reenactors with their Gillette kits shaving in their steel pots, and their German army counter parts huddled around the old coal scuttle with German made Bakelite DE's, so again, pretty familiar stuff. We use stuff made out of better materials, but the concept is the same.
I'm assuming that the average GI of the late 80's and more modern times has used modern items.
But, what about that gap of 1960's up till the 80's? What kind of stuff would they have been issued/used?
Third, while writing this, I just noticed something. I've seen vintage shaving equipment from "western" countries, but what would "east bloc" countries like Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, etc have been shaving with? I don't think I've EVER seen a Russian made DE, SE, or disposable!
