This is quick and easy question to answer. I've looked around in SRP and I have't seen anything saying what the barber's notch is for. I'm sure it's simple and in SRP somewhere but haven't seen it. Thanks!
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This is quick and easy question to answer. I've looked around in SRP and I have't seen anything saying what the barber's notch is for. I'm sure it's simple and in SRP somewhere but haven't seen it. Thanks!
As far as I know it is for easy opening...
I take it the notch is not sharpened? I was wondering if it was sharp and used some kind of way for catching a difficult area that's hard to shave with the blade's edge. I don't own a razor with a notch so I wasn't sure. I know I have a hard time with two or three wiskers in both upper corners of my upper lip that I wished it was for! LOL!
I thought maybe for extra control while shaving a patient. Not sure though but they look nice and I want one
On larger blades it is handy in that it allows for more manuverability. Or such has been my experience
It seems there's no definitive answer to this nagging question, although several good possibilities are listed at this link in the Wiki FAQ.
My own theory? They created Barber's Notches because they somehow knew that 100 years later...I'd really like them. :)
I read somewhere that it's for shaving nose and ear hair. For the nose I guess you put the notch against the Major alar cartilage and use a scooping motion.
:)
They aren't sharpened, but funny story about how the only real cut I have had shaving with a straight came from a barber's notch biting my ear...
At first glance you would think it was to get around the nostrils more easily .... until you try it and then you know it ain't for that. :shrug:
I've read in some old texts that the notch is used to remove lather or mark an area that contains a mole or wart.
Special notice is used before lathering and the areas have the lather removed with the barber's notch before shaving... thus preserving the wart. lol.
I was told by a friend who is a barber, that when the civil war was over, so many men came home with one arm that it was started for them, so they could open the razor with one hand by hooking it on the wash stand.
Mackie seems to have a handle on it. The notch is basically for opening the blade. Barbers used their razors so often in any given day that the finger placed in the notch facilitated opening the blade. It is basically for convenience and the notch certainly fits the fingertip and vice versa. Please don't sharpen it to shave your nostril post!!!
I'm glad they don't make a switchblade razor. What a facilitator that would be!!!!!!
Jerry
~~~:beer2:
+1 on ease of opening. That's what I've been told, as well.
+1 to mackie's reason.
Arguing about. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by kcarlisle
I always love these threads when they come up, we get some imaginative stories and theories out of them... Unfortunately as of now there just is no definitive answer...
When I draw a blank on research, I always go back to look at the razors...
If you start back in the 1700's you can see the emergence of the "notch" from a simple C clipped out of the toe, as it then became more defined through the 1800's then ended in the early 1900's....
Personally I think just plain old aesthetics might be all it was... but maybe someday we might find if there was a true reason for it...
The barber's notch is for barbers of course!Quote:
Originally Posted by kcarlisle
Actually, it's for notching barbers.Quote:
Originally Posted by hoglahoo
I use the notch on mine for easy opening
It's how you knew if your barber was licensed or not. See, back in the day, razor sales people were only permitted to sell razors with barber's notches to barbers. Same with "for barber's use" razors. So, it was customary to ask a barber to see his razors before he shaved you, so you could be certain he was a qualified, licensed barber.
If you have razors with barber's notches and are not a licensed barber, do not despair. I have a valid license which is recognized by all member states of the United Nations. You may send me your illegally held razors, no questions asked, and I will ensure that you are not prosecuted any court, international or domestic.
I will box mine up right away and send them to you. Thanks for letting me know. I wouldn't want to get into any trouble..LOL
Grinding mine down to square, spanish or french points when I get home ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by mackie
Damn. Now I have to get a barbers license.
I think it's a Shibboleth. :)
Unintentionally, of course.
(Not trying to be funny, I just read that page recently and it seemed relevant.):angel:
:rant:
You guys have it all wrong. Wade & Butcher were Jewish, and they called it a "Barber's Notch" because anti-semitism in London was so high in the 19th century they couldn't well name it the "Moyl's Apprentice", the trendy name Henry Sears would no doubt have marketed the tool under in a freer, more egalitarian time.
I will say holli4pirating has the best answer on this.
The question is how or why this was started remains. I will answer...
While it was adapted into a type of "license", if you will, it was started by accident, more so out of argument. There are a couple of variations of the story. To elaborate on the story started by holli, the barber began arguing with the salesman saying he was the best barber and wanted a special razor which everyone could identify him by. A request for a custom blade so to speak. The salesman, needing to make the sale, said he would do something that had not been done to any razor and would surely be sought after.
The brilliant salesman jogged to the nearest blacksmith, grabbed his file and created a notch. The notch was brought back to the barber and quickly agreed upon as a likeable item. They coined the "barber's notch". As this quickly became a conversation piece, the barber's business really began to take off. All the people wanted to see this notched razor which was legended to be the sharpest of them all. Other uses and such for the notch began circulating after that.
The other story is the barber actually dropped the razor on its end and damaged it, he then took a file and created a "notch" in an e'ffort to make the chip that was created look more "natural". People would always ask about it when they were shaved. It just caught on and was adapted into what we see today.
Now, if you believe any of the above text....I would like for you to PM me. I have some real estate I need to sell.
Did we mention the barber's name was John Barber...
John Moishe Barber?Quote:
Originally Posted by holli4pirating
Back in the day barbers were in the dual profession of barber-surgeon. The barbers notch is convenient for heating and removing leaches.
I resurrected Alton Browns great great great great grandpappy and he was a barber. He said something about this, yelled "NO UNITASKERS!" then tried to eat my brain, so I had to shoot him.
+1 on that - a marketing exercise when the word 'cool' meant 'a bit warmer than cold'.Quote:
Originally Posted by FatboySlim
I heard the barber's notch was created so that in the future there could be long discussions on message boards that weren't about Williams soap. ;)
I'm also up for another 20 page discussion of the C12k.....Quote:
Originally Posted by DarbyRides