Originally Posted by
1OldGI
Oddly enough I got the same response from a local barber. I'm bald so I don't get haircuts but I had been casing this place for a while and it looked like an old school barber shop. One day while out running the bases (i.e. cruising antique stores for straights) I thought I'd stop in and inquire if he had any old straights he'd be willing to part with. State law says shavettes are mandatory so the logic was I this guy is indeed and old school barber, he's likely got at least a couple straights from back in the day laying around, right? The owner was a balding 60 something with a thick New York accent. So I ease into the subject by saying, "Do you do straight razor shaves?" "Not much anymore but I used to teach it back in Barber College.", he says. I said, "Would you happen to have any old straight razors you'd be willing to part with?" He proceeds to pull out a hand full of new shavettes and explain the concept to me. I explained that I knew all about shavettes and used them as "basic training" for traditional straight razors and that was what I was really after. That's when I got the "two heads" look. He then proceeded to tell me that straight razors are not only dangerous but not all that close a shave. I'd be much better off with a DE safety razor if I insisted on going old school. I told him I had shaved nearly daily for a year and a half or so with a traditional straight and while there were some pretty spectacular nicks during the learning curve period that I had become at least functionally competent in honing, stropping and use of same and that these days nicks were few and far between. So then he says, " Ever heard of Dubl Duck straight razors?" My eye's lit up like a five year old on Christmas morning. I stood there mouth breathing and stammered out, "You...You...You have Dubl Ducks!?" Inside I was doing a happy dance which quickly stopped when he replied "Yeah I've got two of them, they're really old though and I probably wouldn't be willing to sell them. Next thing I know, he hands me an old cigar box. The first thing I notice is a pair of what appear to be NOS Dubl Duck Goldenedge Straights. Even though, I know they're probably not for sale my little heart was fluttering at some outrageous peep show straight razor porn on Saturday morning. As I stood there mouth agape fondling one of the Ducks he says, "If I did decide to sell them I'd probably be asking $150-$200 a piece for them." That was a bit rich for my blood on that particular day but he could probably talk me into one of these days. The rest of the box was for the most part flogged out no name stuff but then I picked up a Wostenholm Pipe Razor. He pointed to a cracked scale and said, "You can't have these fixed anymore." I didn't have the heart to tell him I knew a guy in Sandpoint, Idaho that could make a dried cow paddy into a beautiful shave-ready showpiece. "How much?" says I. "I'll give it to ya for $10" he replied. I said, I'd think about it and be in touch.