Thread: Why sets of seven?

I saw one 7 day set that had an 8th razor.They had a name for it but I can't remember what they called it. It was to use when you sent your razors out to be honed. It had a space in the box so I don't think it was just made up by the seller but who knows. I will try and find it, it didn't end that long ago.

I'm pretty sure that gents who could afford to have butlers and staff did not bother with shaving themselves... They would have the barber visit on a regular basis to shave them in their own home. Thus the need for "Barbers Only" wide razors... they would hold more lather before needing to be wiped off... the barber, who was not working in his own shop, would need to improvise on things, thus the reason to minimize having to wipe the lather off the razor.

2, 3, 4 and up to 7 day sets were for those who didn't quite have the money to pay for servants or barber visits. I'm pretty sure the main purpose of these multi razor sets were to stretch out the need to send the razors to the local barber for honing... few gents would hone their own razors like we do today. Those who could not afford to purchase a 2 or more razor set, were more than happy when King Camp Gillette invented the safety razor with it's inexpensive, factory sharpened blades. In fact, looking at how the straight razor took a dive in the 50s and 60s, Mr. Gillette was on to something when he figured that the average gent would prefer to purchase his blades over maintaining a straight, never mind keeping a steady hand using it!

Today, we make a hobby out of shaving with straight razors, having untold amounts of money to spend on hones of all kinds, multiple strops and heaven knows how many razors!

My father made a living as a barber in the mid 1900s, he had a steady stream of customers, each and every day, who came in for a proper straight razor shave. But, my father never shaved with a straight razor himself... nope, a Gillette safety razor and Wilkinson Sword blades were his choice. He spent many an hour honing and making pasted strops to keep his razors going for work, but for himself, the DE blades were more than good enough, and they were cheap too! And no.... there was no such thing as a 3 pass shave at home.... 1 pass was good enough. At work, a customer would get a 2 pass shave normally, one with the grain and one against. I don't recall anyone getting a 3 pass shave, but then... I was just a kid and I spent most of my time reading the comics dad had in the shop whilst waiting for closing time.

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

I'm pretty sure that gents who could afford to have butlers and staff did not bother with shaving themselves... They would have the barber visit on a regular basis to shave them in their own home. Thus the need for "Barbers Only" wide razors... they would hold more lather before needing to be wiped off... the barber, who was not working in his own shop, would need to improvise on things, thus the reason to minimize having to wipe the lather off the razor.

2, 3, 4 and up to 7 day sets were for those who didn't quite have the money to pay for servants or barber visits. I'm pretty sure the main purpose of these multi razor sets were to stretch out the need to send the razors to the local barber for honing... few gents would hone their own razors like we do today. Those who could not afford to purchase a 2 or more razor set, were more than happy when King Camp Gillette invented the safety razor with it's inexpensive, factory sharpened blades. In fact, looking at how the straight razor took a dive in the 50s and 60s, Mr. Gillette was on to something when he figured that the average gent would prefer to purchase his blades over maintaining a straight, never mind keeping a steady hand using it!

Today, we make a hobby out of shaving with straight razors, having untold amounts of money to spend on hones of all kinds, multiple strops and heaven knows how many razors!

My father made a living as a barber in the mid 1900s, he had a steady stream of customers, each and every day, who came in for a proper straight razor shave. But, my father never shaved with a straight razor himself... nope, a Gillette safety razor and Wilkinson Sword blades were his choice. He spent many an hour honing and making pasted strops to keep his razors going for work, but for himself, the DE blades were more than good enough, and they were cheap too! And no.... there was no such thing as a 3 pass shave at home.... 1 pass was good enough. At work, a customer would get a 2 pass shave normally, one with the grain and one against. I don't recall anyone getting a 3 pass shave, but then... I was just a kid and I spent most of my time reading the comics dad had in the shop whilst waiting for closing time.

Regards

Christian

Awesome story - thanks...

There's a barber down the street from me, we've talked straight razors, he uses a DE as well for his customers, won't use a shavette....had him give me a shave as well, goes to show you, technique is King...