I saw an earlier post entitled ‘Homework’ but couldn’t re-find it when I logged back on with this. Maybe you all could point it to the right place..??


Ernest Hemingway in his ‘short stories’ did about as much as anyone to further the reputation of the Straight Razor as a lethal weapon in the consciousness of Americans.


I’d call your attention to ’Indian Camp’ …


“ He pulled back the blanket from the Indian's head. His hand came away wet. He mounted on the edge of the lower bunk with the lamp in one hand and looked in. The Indian lay with his face toward the wall. His throat had been cut from ear to ear. The blood had flowed down into a pool where his body sagged the bunk. His head rested on his left arm. The open razor lay, edge up, in the blankets”.

And, for a description of how straight razors are used in a fight by a ’practitioner’ Ernest again in “The Porter” a little known story..

“ Consider the razor,” George said. It toils not neither does it spin.” He held it out in the palm of his hand. It had a black bone handle. He opened it up and held it in his right hand with the blade out straight. “ You got a hair from your head?”

“How do you mean?”

“Pull one out. Mine are very tenacious.”

I pulled one out and George reached for it. He held it in his left hand looking at it carefully then flicked the razor and cut it in two. “Keenness of edge,” he said. Looking at the little end of the hair that was left he turned the razor in his hand and flicked the blade back the other direction. The blade cut the hair off close to his finger and thumb. “Simplicity of action’, George said. “Two admirable qualities.”