Old-Timey Granbury, Texas Barber

[LarryAndro]

I found an old-timer in Granbury, Texas who gives straight razor shaves, so drove down this afternoon for the experience. Figured I could get some pointers, and if nothing else enjoy the hot towel and relaxation. Summarizing, the shave was very disappointing. Everything else was very enjoyable. My field trip report follows...

The shave was with a razor with disposable blades. Very disappointing! (I think we know what Lynn thinks of disposable blades due to a post of his a day or two ago.) The shave was BBS, but very disappointing as well. BBS smooth... in this case meaning Boar Butt Smooth, if you don't mind me hijacking the acronym. When done, I was still bristly. Just not as obviously so as before. There was one patch, about 1 inch square, that was roughly smooth. That's it!

I'm shaving again tonight. I couldn't sleep with a face like this!

But, for those who aren't asleep, let me talk a little more about the experience...

The barber, Johnny, moved to Granbury, Texas two years ago from Fort Worth, Texas. He said he had a big following in Fort Worth; men who got straight razor shaves. And, I suspect he is right. Which leads me to wonder what gives! Why would so many men, (if true), patronize a barber who gives such poor shaves? Possibly, his skill is less due to his age of 79 years. But, possibly, older men who frequented barber shops when straight razor shaves were more common didn't expect as much as we do now when we shave our own faces. I don't know. But, would definitely like to hear others' opinions.

Every once in awhile I get the impression that the old-time farmer, or merchant at his shave just wasn't as interested as we are in what we would consider a quality shave. If you looked shaven, which I nominally did, maybe that was good enough. ("If the shave gets me thru Sunday church, I'm good!")

Johnny was friendly enough. And, the experience certainly refreshed fond youthful memories of the camaraderie and laughter and banter in old time barber shops.

One more disappointment was that he obviously considered his equipment - he had a lot of the old equipment laying around - boring. It was at the end of his day, with no waiting customers, and he was in a talkative mood. (Isn't it a national law that barbers have to be talkative?) But, I just could not get him to understand that ** I ** was interested in seeing his razors, talking about honing, and so on. We ended up visiting a little. But, I felt like I was trying to pump water out of a dry well.

But, I did glean a little...

Before he went to "straight razors" with replaceable blades, he stropped with a strange device that was more like a paddle than a strop. It was about 1 inch square by 10 inches in length. It had an extendable heavy wire handle that retracted into the "strop." One side was leather in appearance. The other side, which he treated with paste (next paragraph) looked to be a very fine woven cloth of some type. The cloth looked somewhat like what a tightly woven cloth garment would look like if it was coated with dark paste, and used for a very long time. Who knows! Might have been anything. But, it didn't look like leather at the least.

He said he treated the "strop" with a rare paste, and pulled a small box out of a drawer. The lettering on the obviously very old box was foreign. There were two square hard rectangles in it that looked like Dovo black paste in color. The texture was like sidewalk crayons, or the SRD Chromium Oxide "stick." I asked him if the abrasive in it was ash or lamp black or something like that. He had no idea; just used it.

I asked Johnny about honing. He used a barbers hone, and the "strop." Beyond that, if he had any other equipment he didn't mention it even when I did the Perry Mason number on him! I asked him how he tested the sharpness of his straight razors, or how he could tell when they were ready. He couldn't tell me that either. He "just knew."

Another disappointment. He used plain old Noxzema for the shave. Said he quit using shave soap about 10 years ago. Again, not what I expected or wanted.

When done, he splashed "foo foo" after shave over my face. It felt good, and the scent - even tho not all that good, seemed to trigger memories. Maybe, foo foo (spelling?) is something used in the past in barber shops. Said he was introduced to it by his barber father, and just kept using it. Claimed it was French after shave. So, maybe not foo foo, but feux feux!

The shave was WTG, and then XTG in some locations. No ATG; said he just never did it. Johnny said that WTG was really all that was needed, but that after the XTG I would be very happy. Well...

I did get to view a little of his equipment. Saw my first Dubl Duck.

One interesting comment about blade metal. He said the metal in straight razors "has certainly improved a lot since he got started", which was about 1945. He indicated that blade metal in more recently made razors took a better edge, and held it longer, than the commonly used razors when he was younger.

I don't have any complaint about my early 1900s razors. But, have never used or seen a recent Dovo or other quality blade. Are more modern razors superior?

The price for the "shave" was $10. He apologized to me for the exorbitant cost, and said they cost $1 when he started. I gave him a 10 spot, and a $5 tip. He was appreciative. The $5 made me feel better than any tip I've given for a long time! Go figure.

Enough rambling! Johnny was a good guy. Just didn't give a good shave.

And, that concludes "Larry's Big Adventure"!

PS I included a picture of myself, Photoshop'd to black and white to accentuate the old-timey flavor of my straight razor experience, after my shave this afternoon. I think you will agree with me, the shave was less than optimal!