Thread: A Barber's Reminiscence

Visited my barber today. Joe's a mid 60's lifer who learned as a young lad in Italy. Always great conversation. His shop's unchanged since the early 70's. Old red leather barber's chair, worn linoleum floors, hand painted window sign & fragrances a shop like this should have. You know the place.

I'm telling him I've started shaving with a str8. All stop!! "Seriously"? Once I let him near my hair again I tell him how much I'm enjoying shaving again. He went from surprise to interested to supportive.

As I'm getting ready to leave the empty shop he asks if I'd wait a minute, disappears into the back and emerges with an old box. Inside is a collection of str8's and old stones. As he's pulling them out he's telling me how long it's been since they've been used. All were definite vintage items. He told me there was a time he'd do 25 to 30 shaves a day.

He then grabs a stone and razor walks over to the counter, gives the stone a soaking and proceeded to hone the razor. We stood there for 15 or 20 minutes talking about the fine art of honing while he worked it to a fine edge. You could see right away he still had a smooth touch. Happy with the edge he pulled out an old strop, did 40 to 50 laps, put it into a box and handed it to me. Told me to give it a try and if I liked it then it's mine. Only condition next time in I bring a few of mine. I was stunned but gratefully accepted. What a nice gesture.

The spine shows honing wear but I love that this was a working razor. Solid blade, scales show a lot of age but are solid, the pins are a little loose. I'm not sure if it would be worth restoring? Any thoughts on possible restoration would be appreciated.

Well, you can't get a better quality razor than a Puma. it shows it's age but still has plenty of life left in it. I'd get some new scales and clean it up a bit.

So, how did it shave?

Originally Posted by CastSteel

So, how did it shave?

Don't know yet. Going to try it tomorrow.

As a Straight Razor user and the son and grandson of Barbers I can appreciate this. My grandfather would give shaves with a traditional Straight of which I have a few, my father on the other hand uses shavette style razors and injector blades.

Enjoy the Puma!

My barber is an older Greek gentleman and his shop exudes everything that's great about a barbershop. Newspapers, good conversation, Clubman talc and splashes of bay rum post haircut. Stuff you don't get at Sportclips.

I recently mentioned to him that I took up the straight razor and asked him for some tips about honing. He laughed, stood back and said "Why in the world would you want to do that"??? He then proceded to tell me how much easier it is for him to use the shavette and that he has less worry with disposable blades in this age of diseases, etc. He pointed proudly to a shadow box on the wall that had his old strop and a few very nice razors in it and said "I do miss using them".

After he finished he opened up a drawer and gave me an Ahconite barber hone and said "Good luck my friend, this will keep you going with your razor".."Don't cut your ear off" with a laugh...Now when ever I go in for a haircut he asks how I'm doing with my straight shaving.

At Christmas time when you go in for trim, he'll pour you a shot of Ouzo for the holidays--that's service..

cheers,

Marty E.

Why can't I find these barber shops where I live? I don't care about them giving me their old equipment (though it'd be awesome to receive such fine gifts), I just want the atmosphere and maybe to glean some tidbit of knowledge. I know of several places that have tried to replicate the feel, but it's just not the same.

I want the smell of hair tonics, Clubman, cigar/cigarette/pipe smoke and old newspaper. I want the off color joke since the ladies aren't around. I want the conversations and debates between civilized men.

Man, I guess the only thing for me to do is take my computer into the shave den and talk to you guys while shaving and smoking a pipe after reading the newspaper.

That razor has character!