Ramblings on my old friends

My most expensive straight razor is a $180 Dovo. It's the first one I got. I figured when I started that I would go for quality.

Then I started buying old razors. For the last few weeks I've been shaving with an old 7-day set of Spauldings. Today I decided to do an evening shave, and I didn't want to use Saturday two times in the same day, so I reached for the Dovo I hadn't used in a while.

I hadn't any complaints about the shaves from the Dovo before, but tonight I realised that it was pulling significantly more than the Spauldings I've been useing. Perhaps it's time to take the Dovo to a hone.

The interesting thing is that the ivory handled Spauldings came in at $36 each. $250 for the old set. They were significantly less expensive than the Dovo, but the quality is equal or better. I know there are a lot of old $10 blades out there too that will equal or exceed the Dovo. We are lucky to live in such a time, when all of these formerly valued old blades are on the market at a pittance.

Sometimes I feel like I should go out and rescue them all. I could spend my whole income on fine old razors from E-bay at $10 each, any one of which could last me for a lifetime. I have a drawerful of oldies with character already, just waiting for the day I have a little free time to bring them back to life and shaving condition.

I don't really have any desire to sell razors, and I have more than I'll need for the rest of my life. One fun thing I've found to do is to teach a teenager how to shave with a straight, and then give him a restored oldie.

I got my brother-in-law to shave with a straight but it turned into a bloody mess. He accepted the soap and brush I gave him but decided he would pass on the straight.

That kind of reminds me of my Faulkner class last week. We've just finished The Sound and the Fury, and one of the things the professor asked us was would we recommend the book to others. My thought on that was, "It depends." If the reader is up to it, The Sound and the Fury is an amazing book, and despite being difficult is well worth the time it takes to understand it. If the reader is not inclined to work, however, if they read only for entertainment, information or when they have to, then Faulkner would only frustrate and confuse them.

I don't make it a habit to encourage my friends/family to shave with a straight. Even though I think there's much to be gained by acquiring and maintaining skills endangered by rapid fire use-and-replace culture, straight shaving is a major--and potentially injurious--commitment. My neighbor is thinking of trying it, but of all the people who know I shave like this, he's pretty much the only one voicing any interest. I like to talk about shaving now, more than I ever used to, but I still haven't encouraged anyone besides my neighbor to take this habit up. It's expensive, it's addicting, and for the first few weeks my face looked like I was some kind of idiot trying to shave with a straight razor. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I took the time and trouble. Like reading Faulkner, it was hard, and I don't think most people are willing to expend the effort to make a go of it, but for those of us who do, it is worthwhile.

Now I'm just sounding silly. I need more coffee, I think.

Dan