I was watching my father shave too. He used a Gillette Slim and Wilkinson blades.
Why don't people remember a double edge razor?
- Thread starter Larry C in Texas
- Start date
It would help if countries/cities wouldn't keep changing their names.
Wasn't Myanmar when I was in school. I didn't get the memo on the name change.
"Stay far to the right"
"Of the Oncoming Car"
"Get your Close Shaves"
"From the Half Pound Jar"
"Myanmar Shave"
Just doesn't quite have the same ring to it now does it?
I believe that what I said above would have been equally true 6 years ago, so I'm sticking with it.
Keep in mind that anyone younger than 50 was "born" into the cartridge age.
I was born in '63 and, other than electric, my earliest shaves were from a Trac-II.
Mom and dad both used electrics. There was a DE TTO in the cabinet that I always found interesting to "make it talk"... don't know if anyone actually shaved anything with it.
Mom used a shavette with a guard on it to trim my neck after giving me a haircut.
Tony's "neck trimmer" didn't have a guard, and he ran it up and down a belt!
I have a theory that the term DE is comparatively modern, and that in the pre-cartridge days they'd have been either "safety razors" to distinguish from a straight, or simply "razors" when straights were no longer common.
I remember playing with my grandfathers Gillette super speed(mind you I didn't know it was an SS), I just regarded it as Grandpa's razor and left it at that, it wasn't until I was looking for a better shave that I stumbled upon the world of DE's and soap and brushes, I thought I was destined to hate shaving with the new and best offering from Gillette or Schick
I'm 27 and my dad used what I believe was an Atra when i was young, then switched to the sensor, then the Mach3, and now he juggles back and forth between the M3 and Fusion, but he has bought several different variations of them over the past few years, as it seems he, like most is never totally satisfied with his current setup
I had plans on giving him a nice DE and blades as well as soap and brush for Christmas but my Mother said he tried a safety razor when he was younger and really Disliked it, and that he is happy with his "status-quot"
Any guy or girl of my age group most likely never had any contact with an old safety razor and therefore has no memory of them, If it weren't for the desire of a better shave and discovering B&B I most likely would have never remembered my grandfathers razors
I'm 27 and my dad used what I believe was an Atra when i was young, then switched to the sensor, then the Mach3, and now he juggles back and forth between the M3 and Fusion, but he has bought several different variations of them over the past few years, as it seems he, like most is never totally satisfied with his current setup
I had plans on giving him a nice DE and blades as well as soap and brush for Christmas but my Mother said he tried a safety razor when he was younger and really Disliked it, and that he is happy with his "status-quot"
Any guy or girl of my age group most likely never had any contact with an old safety razor and therefore has no memory of them, If it weren't for the desire of a better shave and discovering B&B I most likely would have never remembered my grandfathers razors
Exactly!! For me, knowing it is a Zombie at the start makes the reading that much more interesting. But, there are many times when I get a few posts into one before I remember I read it before . . . but get excited over a really interesting one that I had not yet read.
Yes, I know the date the thread was started is listed . . . but it would be nice to highlight the truly "zombiest" of the old resurected threads - those that are over five years old!
I don't think Gillette used "double-edge" in its advertising, but the term was in use. For example, see this March 1945 classifed ad in Popular Science. Also, GEM used to brand its vintage blades "Singledge" (see wrapper), presumably to distinguish them from "double-edge" blades. I can't put a date on the wrapper, but the postal address on the back has a zone number ("Brooklyn 1, N.Y."), not a ZIP code, which would make it sometime before 1963 -- in any event, definitely pre-cart.
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Yep. A bit of additional evidence - I heard the term "double edge razor" used in a Fibber McGee and Molly radio show from late 30's or early 40's (context was Fibber picking up single edge blades by mistake for his razor). So, the term's been around for quite some time. I heard the term used in person by my dad and grandfather as early as the 70's. It's not new.
I don't think Gillette used "double-edge" in its advertising, but the term was in use. For example, see this March 1945 classifed ad in Popular Science. Also, GEM used to brand its vintage blades "Singledge" (see wrapper), presumably to distinguish them from "double-edge" blades. I can't put a date on the wrapper, but the postal address on the back has a zone number ("Brooklyn 1, N.Y."), not a ZIP code, which would make it sometime before 1963 -- in any event, definitely pre-cart.
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What always amuses me is when people wear jewellery, 't' shirts, badges and buckles etc - all shaped like a DE blade, when they have probably never even seen one!
Shouldn't these people really be walking around wearing gold mach 3 carts!!
Shouldn't these people really be walking around wearing gold mach 3 carts!!
GEM also made double edge blades specifically for use in the Micromatic. Notice how they made it one word, probably to keep Gillette's lawyers away.
GEM also made double edge blades specifically for use in the Micromatic. Notice how they made it one word, probably to keep Gillette's lawyers away.
Singledge and Doubledge. Fascinating!
Why should people recall a term they never used, or had reason to hear? I daresay that "button hook" and "watch fob" would get the same lack of response. Who knows that "lock , stock, and barrel" refers to a complete musket?
Most people are (to me) surprisingly incurious about anything outside their daily lives and interests. So many younger people I know (and this would include thirtysomethings) are amazingly knowldegable about music and groups, but have no clue that their clothes are Chinese cotton crap, or that shoes can be polished and kept for years
Most people are (to me) surprisingly incurious about anything outside their daily lives and interests. So many younger people I know (and this would include thirtysomethings) are amazingly knowldegable about music and groups, but have no clue that their clothes are Chinese cotton crap, or that shoes can be polished and kept for years
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I don't think Gillette used "double-edge" in its advertising, but the term was in use. For example, see this March 1945 classifed ad in Popular Science. Also, GEM used to brand its vintage blades "Singledge" (see wrapper), presumably to distinguish them from "double-edge" blades. I can't put a date on the wrapper, but the postal address on the back has a zone number ("Brooklyn 1, N.Y."), not a ZIP code, which would make it sometime before 1963 -- in any event, definitely pre-cart.
GEM also made double edge blades specifically for use in the Micromatic. Notice how they made it one word, probably to keep Gillette's lawyers away.
Apparently it isn't a good theory... I'll get me coat.
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Carry one in your shirt pocket, and then you can display it and say, "Remember these?"
I have a couple in my car... a fatboy and an old type. I have had to show them to people, like at garage sales, to ask if they have any of these.
After a while, I just change the subject rather than trying to explain further and having them think I'm some sort of nut or something.
I generally follow this guideline for most topics of conversation.
Ben
This is where I'm at. I now possess the Gillette Aristocrat that I remember my Dad shaving with when I was little.
Nope, I don't carry a razor with me, but then I don't have occasion to talk to people all that much. The family all know---all too well, they tell me.
You know, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a family that complains about my frequent conversation of choice.
I love reading through old threads!! Prior to 2010 I had no idea what a double edge razor was. To me they were just old antique razors.
Until I discovered this sport, I had no idea what someone would do with a double edge blade. I might've seen the handles, but certainly wouldn't have figured out how to get a blade into it.
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