The Bigspendurs Weekly Shaving Brainbuster #4

[thebigspendur]

Good morning shaving fiends.

This weeks brainbuster will require a true/false answer.

We all enjoy using our premium badger hair shave brushes though some like their boar brushes too. Of course many other critters have been used over the years. Horse was used in the late 19th and very early 20th century until anthrax concerns caused a stop to that practice and people have experimented with human hair too.

Probably the wildest experiment was in the mid 19th century when Charles Bissonet in France invented a process for using duck down to make a shaving brush. Those that are familiar with the way cowboy hats made of beaver hair are made know how they start out as a loose clump of hair which through wetting and heating and chemical application the hair compacts down to a solid material which is fashioned into a hat. Well this is the general idea and he had set up a factory to produce these brushes when a fire broke out before he could begin production and it wiped him out. He never did recover and died a pauper.

So the question is, is this a lot of hooey the delusions of a straight user who has honed one too many razors or is it the gospel truth.

Check back on Wednesday for the amazing answer.

[AFDavis11]

I think it's true!

[dave5225]

I think false . Why ? I don't know , but a duck down shaving brush , I don't think so

[mry314]

I think it's false.

I tried to google the name, and the duck shaving brush, but no hit. I mean i found a Charles Bissonet, but he was born and christented in St. Louis.

[Henrico]

Since Charles Bissonet is an anagram of A Sinless Botcher, I vote false.

[JimR]

Duck down? No way...Now GOOSE down, sure!

[crushnbugs]

My vote would be FALSE...

[thebigspendur]

Gee, is it Wednesday already?

Those of you that have followed my posts know I have a fondness for Dubl DUCK razors. Also one of my favorite comedy characters was W.C Fields who played a character (I think it was in The bankdick) named Bissonet.

So alas, this was just the delusions of someone spending too much time honing Dubl Duck razors while watching Donald Duck Cartoons

But Duck down brushes hmm.

Be sure to tune in to next weeks thrill packed episode because thebigspendur has a treat for all of you. Next weeks question comes with a mystery prize (shaving related of course) to the one with the best answer but to win it will require you to show ingenuity, guile, intelligence independent thought and plenty of good old west horse sense.

[ryrelav]

FALSE.....

[Gigmaster]

I would regard that with a certain amount of scepticism.

Initially, since duck down has denser barbules than goose down, one might suppose that it would be superioir, and in fact, adult Eider down is the most sought after natural thermal material. However, most ducks are slaughtered for restaurant use, and are seldom more than 6 weeks old, hence the down is immature, with small barbules. It does not hold together well, and tends to bunch up. In addition, duck down has a much higher oil content than goose, rendering it very resistant to absorbing water. This would seem to preclude it's use in the manufacture of quality shaving brushes.

So, in a nutshell...whoever came up with this idea is quackers....if in fact anyone ever really did.