Thread: Let's Have a Contest.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

OHO! thebigspendur never said 'straight' , did he? You Gem, Gillette and Christie Hoe guys better get in here! Quick!

Oh, chill, fellas! Only a day or two to go! HAR!

No biggee!!!!!

I'm new to the forum and I am just a babe in the woods when it comes to straight razors. So my authority to judge the merits of one razor compared to another is unfounded.
But I do have a for my submission a commentary.
For those not in the USA, please forgive my American flag waving. I have spent the last 30 years of my life in Connecticut, just an hour drive from Worcester home of the Torrey razor. I have heard the stories of the rise of industrialism in New England. I have heard the tales.

I believe a dissertation could be written concerning the comparison of what made the American razor great and why The United States became a great country. The United States is the great melting pot, hopefuls came here to make a better life for themselves. They brought their heritage, knowledge and expertise with them. For example, Joseph Turner, the first President of the Torrey Razor company learned his trade as a small lad in none other than the Wade & Butcher factory. For many years he practiced his craft in Sheffield England. He came to America worked at his craft and joined his razor company with the Torrey Razor company which was a strop manufacturer. Through hard work the Torrey became one of the most popular razors in America. It was through his hard work, and improvements in the manufacturing process that brought him success.

Joseph Turner, just a small thread that made up a part of the every growing fabric of America. Like the steel of a razor those early Americans were tough and resilient. Great factories were built in New England that gave opportunity to those willing to make a life for themselves. In those days ingenuity made for success. So the success of the Torrey Razor Co. was due to an immigrant coming to America with a skill. With that skill, hard work and ingenuity, excellent razors were made. Multiply that thousands of times with thousands of immigrants and that is what built America to what it is today. One shoe at a time, one watch at a time, and yes, one razor at a time.

I'll get off my soap box and please enjoy a picture of my future projects.....Made in the USA

imgur: the simple image sharer

link to the photo....couldn't get it to load

Woo Hoo! The image:

Nice entry!

My great grandpa and grandma came here from Holland through the great country of Canada. London Canada to be exact. They busted their axes in Capitola and Santa Cruz.

Thanks for posting the picture, I kept coming up with an error when trying to load it! Thanks Again.

I can simplify all this down to one word "Great"

You see there is a very good reason why this land is called Great Britain, everything we 'used' to make was Great.
Now unfortunately Americans have missed out here by being far to humble and not giving yourselves a "Great America" and for that reason and that reason only I am afraid your razors fall into the Not Great category

Obviously, by making the above statement I remove myself from the possibility of winning the prize as I don't really wish to own a Not Great razor

Originally Posted by jaycey

I can simplify all this down to one word "Great"

You see there is a very good reason why this land is called Great Britain, everything we 'used' to make was Great.
Now unfortunately Americans have missed out here by being far to humble and not giving yourselves a "Great America" and for that reason and that reason only I am afraid your razors fall into the Not Great category

Obviously, by making the above statement I remove myself from the possibility of winning the prize as I don't really wish to own a Not Great razor

Well. you don't win the popularity contest either! There may be a category for you, though! In fact, I am certain of it!
No prize, however!

So being new to this my idea of why the US made razors are better is probly very wrong. With that said every razor I look at or touch is different in it's own way but the one thing that I have seen in all of them is the pure history that is put into the ones that are made in the US. Two people can both make an equaly high quality razor but when you add a piece of history to it it turns into something else all together. Like I said before I am new to this so I am going off of what I see and feel in the razors, but after being in the gun industry for over 30 years and seeing what a true craftsmen can do I am left speachless some times. For me it is all in how it is built what the persone went thru to go from raw materials to finished good is amazing. I have made, sold and fixed more guns and knives than I care to count but one thing is a constant. When some one brings me and old knife to restore like the one I am working on now I take pride in bringing it back to it's former glory and beauty and I try very hard not to change that to much. Straight razors for me are a new form of art and I am loveing it so far. So thanks for taking the time and helping us noobs out "thebigspendur" we need it.

Final call gents. Just hours to until midnight tonight GMT.

Originally Posted by DickWhitman

Tough. Dependable. Durable. Efficient. Simple. Underrated. Classic.
All accurate adjectives of the American straight razor.

After having owned a few of the fancy European blades with the gold etching and scalloped spines paired with exotic woods and horn scales, I've found that my utilitarian U.S. Steel gives a shave on par with anything our friends across the Atlantic have to offer. What those elaborate razors cannot offer, however, is a link to the history of my ancestors here in the States.

When I pass a Torrey, a Robeson, a Geneva/Genco, or my personal favorite, the Shumate, across my face, I'm filled with a sense of nostalgia and a connection to a simpler, prouder time in our young country's history. A time when things were made as a labor of love, not just a means to an end.

I think of all the lives and families that were supported by the wages earned in the factories that produced these little works of art. I think of the men who forged these blades and then later used them to shave themselves with.

American straights offer so much more than what is seen on the surface. What they have runs deep into the pitting of our souls as Americans. Their patina adds to their appeal. Something that cannot be buffed or sanded away...

Just a reminder to the judges.