What would your father say?

[Rusty Blade]

My father grew up in the Depression. He was a no nonsense guy. He worked hard all his life. I have his Gillette Executive razor. I think my father would be quite pleased that I have taken up old school shaving. He enjoyed a good shave. When he was in the nursing home I used to go in and give him a shave, hot towel and all the fixings, soap lathered in a mug, a clean shave and topped off with an aftershave. Made him feel like a million bucks.
What does your father think of your old school shaving habits?

 

[DEgeezer]

My father grew up in the Depression. He was a no nonsense guy. He worked hard all his life. I have his Gillette Executive razor. I think my father would be quite pleased that I have taken up old school shaving. He enjoyed a good shave. When he was in the nursing home I used to go in and give him a shave, hot towel and all the fixings, soap lathered in a mug, a clean shave and topped off with an aftershave. Made him feel like a million bucks.
What does your father think of your old school shaving habits?

My dad shaved with a Gillette blue tip and Everready brush as far back as I can remember. Great memories!

 

[CANES]

My dad is 85 and has used an electric razor since the 50s. He has never spoken to me about shaving. My mom gave me her blue handled Gillette DE when I went off to college because she said the blades were cheaper than the Trac II carts I had been using. That was in 1993 and I still use it occasionally.

 

[thombrogan]

What does your father think of your old school shaving habits?

Probably ashamed of me for not fixating on poker.

 

[1Pet5_8]

Dad was born in '39. Shaving every day was just a chore like brushing teeth. He never looked back after disposables and foamy.
So he thinks it's just unnecessary to use a brush, puck, and change blades.
I showed him some GEM razors I was all geeked about and asked if he remembered them. He said: "Back then they wouldn't get a second look. They would be regarded as just another tool to scrape off the hair from my face".
On the other hand, he never used an electric razor, and appreciates that I really enjoy the history of (and shaving with) my vintage stuff. He likes to say "whatever floats your boat, man".

 

[LRod]

Probably would be upset that I've paid $200 for a DE razor!
Think about it, they would pay less than $2 for a razor because they had to shave (wasn't a hobby) and
those same razors are still floating around and we pay a premium for them (we made it a hobby).
Plus we pay a premium for modern ones too!

 

[Slock]

He would scratch his head and shrug his shoulders. He never liked to spend money on anything. He was a depression kid as well.

 

[ShortRound131]

My dad was old-school and used an old cheap plastic DE, similar to the Feather Popular, and Barbasol. He would think I was mad for having soaps like SV, Ethos, MdC. Absolutely bonkers lol.

 

[BanjoCowboyMartaTobes]

I would have loved sharing with my father why he should try DE again and not use an electric. We would have enjoyed some sessions together surely. I can hear his laugh now, it would have been fun. He was born in ‘38 and other than the Phillips electric he gave me, we never spoke about grooming rituals.
My daughter on the other hand has her own Milord razor, brush and perhaps half a dozen soaps. Without blade, we enjoy a session every few months. As adolescence is coming I suspect these sessions will cool off but I’m tickled to have had the experiences.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Dad was the 12th of 13 children, he had 8 brothers and rarely saw anything new. Shaped by that environment he had an appreciation for clothes when he was able to afford things. Shaving was carts and canned goo, but dressing well was his thing. If he were here I think he would be happy that i get a lot of satisfaction shaving with and collecting straight razors.

 

[Markdad2]

My dad has 200 plus pipes. He had massive amounts of Tim's of tobacco, obsessive hobby tendencies run in the family. He had a beard for most of my life, he doesn't really have an opinion on my shaving hobby.

 

[silverlifter]

My first recollection of my father's razors was a Slim in the late 60's (he was a Connery/Bond fan, so no surprise there) and then in the late 70's a Schick Injector showed up in his bathroom. He was an engineer and was probably a bit of a tech geek. His soap and aftershave were Old Spice.

When he retired, he shifted to a Trac 2.

I think he'd approve of my shaving with a Slim, and probably be bemused by my small collection of straights!

 

[Dobric]

My father grew up in SFRY, he had de razor of poor quality, he gave up as soon as Mach 3 came out.
Last year, I gave him a gift, razorock nomad soap, boar brush, and kng C gillette with 4 different tucks of blades.
He was surprised, and mildly shocked.
After 1 month, he has never been happier
Also, he shaves 2 times per week, 1 pass only, his soap will last forever.
He is so happy he doesen't want any other soap or cream

 

[Tomo]

My dad has kept a short beard all of his life. I’ve never seen the bottom half of his face. The only person alive that has is his sister.

He knows that I use a straight razor and badger brush daily but is not surprised. It’s exactly the kind of crazy, eccentric thing that he would expect from me. He’s impressed with my honing skills and how sharp I am able to get the vintage razors on natural stones and leather. He inspects my BBS attempts with his hand when I meet him and nods with approval.

I keep telling him that I am going shave his beard off one day. Sometimes I stare at him quietly and plan exactly how I would do it. I think he can tell what I’m thinking and it makes him uneasy. He refuses to let me shave him. One day I’ll get him. In his sleep maybe or for a bet. I have to find out what’s under that beard.

 

[Eric_75]

My father mostly shaved with electric razors and BIC disposables. He was a devoted Barbasol man when using disposables. Some of his favorite aftershaves were Skin Bracer Original, Skin Bracer Sport Talc, Stetson, English Leather and Old Spice.

 

[Phoenixkh]

My stepdad, the only Dad I've ever had, lived in the mountains outside Helena, Montana while growing up. I should say, 6 months a year, he and his two sisters and parents lived in a two room shack near my grandfather's gold mine. He hunted and fished for food every day... and hated it by the time he married my mother.

He used an electric shaver everyday. He'd usually just sit in his rocking chair and shave while watching TV. He had very light red hair and a sparsely populated beard, if you know what I mean.. very light. He usually shaved at night because he left early in the mornings for his mechanic job.

It's a good thing he was cremated.. he'd roll over in his grave if he knew what I've spent on wet shaving.

 

[Mike M]

My dad would probably say "you have how many razors/brushes/soaps/blades?" But he'd probably approve of me having a Gillette Slim Twist (his old razor)

 

[OldSkoolMillennial]

Probably would be upset that I've paid $200 for a DE razor!
Think about it, they would pay less than $2 for a razor because they had to shave (wasn't a hobby) and
those same razors are still floating around and we pay a premium for them (we made it a hobby).
Plus we pay a premium for modern ones too!

Dad was born in '39. Shaving every day was just a chore like brushing teeth. He never looked back after disposables and foamy.
So he thinks it's just unnecessary to use a brush, puck, and change blades.
I showed him some GEM razors I was all geeked about and asked if he remembered them. He said: "Back then they wouldn't get a second look. They would be regarded as just another tool to scrape off the hair from my face".
On the other hand, he never used an electric razor, and appreciates that I really enjoy the history of (and shaving with) my vintage stuff. He likes to say "whatever floats your boat, man".

These two sum up how my dad, born in the late 40s, looks at it. He still has a Gillette Super Adjustable (plastic baseplate) but hasn't touched it since disposables and foam became the go to.

 

[taffy]

From what I remember of my dad he could not wait to ditch the wet shaving for an electric, most probably because of the speed of it as he worked early mornings. My father bought me an electric shaver as my first shaver. My partner's dad is the same, when she told him I wet shave, and with a straight, his reaction was to tell me to buy a Gillette Fusion, as he could not bear to go back to all the fuss of a wet shave.

 

[Dtownvino]

He would say collecting more than 2-3 razors is silly and a needless expense.

Still, in his basement there are cases of Coke in glass bottles from before the new coke came out. He’s a hoarder brought on by being born in 43 and his father spent more than a year in a military hospital during WW2 from Normandy. I imagine times were really tough back then so they were taught this behavior.