Thread: Symbols of Sins Past

Gentlemen,

I have mounted a plastic disposable razor with a bow tied around it on the shave den wall as the symbol of my shaving sins past. The razor also reminds me of the joy I feel with a proper shave every morning — a gentleman's shave.

I wanted to shave with the straight razor in my twenties, but life got in the way and I had to wait until my sixties to embrace the art. Through the years, like many of the old timers, I used a variety of razors, from single and double edge to the ghastly cartridge and disposable ones. From time to time, I also used a brush and whatever shave soap I could find at the local pharmacy.

At one time in San Francisco, just for a short period, I also sported a goatee. I looked like a Corsican assassin, so I got rid of it.

These days, because of the arthritis in my hands as well as occasional straight razor fatigue, I split my shaves between the straight and the safety razor. Either way, the disposable razor with the bow tied around it serves as the gatekeeper for the purity of my humble shave den.

And you, gentlemen, do you have reminders in the shave den of your shaving sins of past?

Mine are not shaving related, but......

In my private office at work I have a pair of old jump boots......To remind me that people like to kick people when they're down.....so I don't do it!

The other is a big knife sunk into a block of wood......To remind me that people have stabbed me in the back........And to not do that.

I also have a rock that was thrown through the main office front door when someone broke in to steal a TV. $3000 worth of damage to the building for a $500 TV.

Obie, in 45 years of shaving, a disposable has never touched my face......neither has a cartridge. I do have a Gillette "dial a shave" for traveling that in my mind is an abomination.

Everytime someone dies in my family the heirs feel they should give me the deceased's electric. I give them away as fast as I can and I still have one Norelco to give away. If I can't find a home for it I'm taking it to the shop and plug it in to a 240 volt outlet just to see what happens.

I have two scars to remind me not to use a DE or a Mac III. I have no idea why but those two felt the need bite me like that. The DE was most likely user error, the Mac III was a loose blade.

My reminder is not in the den but sleeping in three different bedrooms over my head as I shave. My wife and two daughters. I will never forget the feeling of my first properly shaved face against my infant daughter's baby cheeks.

Shaving related!
I have an inch long and 1/8 inch wide scar on my left jaw line from an ATG shave two years ago.

I remember when I was 14 and my dad gave me his prized Sunbeam Shavemaster Electric Razor. It weighed about five pounds and the vibration left your hands tingling for a hour. I thought I was a king with that contraption and it set me up for a long tortured history of using electrics.

I guess I should take one of the old electrics I still have and mount it somewhere. Similarly as a kid when I went to Andy the barber he used the old fashioned mechanical clippers and I was terrified of them so a few years ago I bought a set and every now and then I take it out and look at it.

Spendur, don't just look at that mechanical clippers, use it. I bought one of those hand clippers at a flea market years ago for five bucks. Took it apart, cleaned it, honed the thing on a hard Arkie and oiled it. Works great for trimming up my bushy eyebrows.

I use a mechanical clippers for my neckline every time I cut my hair. I wouldn't want to use one all day but for a quick trim they work as well as an electric one.