Thread: Why is a str8 razor called str8???

I always just assumed that it was called 'straight' because safety razors had their angles set by the cartridges ie. straight as opposed to angled. Thinking about it now it makes far more sense now that I know about the existence of ancient curved razors.

Most of the the people I have spoken to about it refer to it as a 'cut throat.' I have never heard of any one cutting their or anyone else's throat with one though. Imagine 'cut throat place.com.'

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I believe it went like this:

Originally there were "razors", that were what we know today as a straight razor.

Then the "hoe" style safety razor was invented. The razor had a 90 degree angle, or greater, so it can be used by the person shaving themselves easier. Naturally, the names "angled", or "bent", or "broken", or "obtuse", didn't make much sense. Since the blade was protected and since rust was easily preventable the name "safety" seems to have caught on pretty well.

So we have two razors, those that are "safety" razors, and those that were "straight".

This prevented the terms "unstraight" or "unsafety", which I'm sure we all appreciate.

That was pretty much the point I was trying to make earlier but you did it much better.

I believe it is a case of a word having to be invented in order to specify just what we are talking about. In other words, a 'retronym' - a word which has only come about after the meaning of the original has become ambiguous.

As Morty and AFDavis have pointed out, originally there were just razors. They couldn't be confused with anything because there were no other types around. Then came another type - the safety razor, so a retronym had to be used for the original, as 'razor' wasn't good enough anymore - both being 'razors'.

'Camera' is another casualty. At first they were all large and lived on tripods. When smaller ones came we had to invent a retronym - stand camera and hand camera, when celluloid film made a debut we had film camera and plate camera. When most families had a 35mm film camera the film bit got dropped - just camera was used. Then along came cine-film - cine-camera. Now digital is here we are having to use film-camera again and digital camera. Its gone round in a circle. Almost.

I'm glad that all we have to contend with is staright-, open- and cut-throat!

As for 'straight' - it doesn't necessarily mean 'in a straight line' - it could be used in the sense of genuine, real, or true. Maybe it was just used to signify that the older type of razor was the genuine article or a true razor? Who knows!

Regards,
Neil

I don't know, but always knew them as open razors this side of the pond until looking on these forums.
Often wandered why handles are called scales? anything to do with fish or snake scales maybe due to shape???

Originally Posted by Deckard

I don't know, but always knew them as open razors this side of the pond until looking on these forums.
Often wandered why handles are called scales? anything to do with fish or snake scales maybe due to shape???

I agree, the english version has been 'open-razor' for a very long time, probably a contraction of 'opening' razor. 'Straight' is, in my opinion, a more american term, probably not as old as the open-razor one.

Scale is probably used in the sense of a thin, plate-like covering.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by ignatz

Although I cannot say when the term "straight razor" came into use, I do know that this form has also been referred to as a "folding razor" as well as an "open razor".

You must also bear in mind that when the term "safety razor" also used to refer to a regular straight razor having some sort of built in comb or guard to prevent the blade from accidentally biting deeply into the skin.

And to clarify the point. NO, razors have definitely not always been straight in form.

I am totally there with you on this

Originally Posted by ignatz

If you go back in history to the earliest forms of shaving, using sharp shells, or pieces of knapped flint or volcanic glass, then it will be obvious that these shaving devices were anything but straight.

Moving forward on the time line into the bronze age, we find razors used by the Egyptians which tended to be a cross between a lotus flower and an axe head. Razors in Ancient Egypt

The razors from the old Scandinavian cultures also tended to be curved.File:Bronze age Razor - Firse sten Passage grave Falköping Sweden.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Witness the fan shape of the ancient Roman razor shown on this page: Antiquities

And I could go on...

Bear in mind that earlier civilizations were not so fixated on the idea of "straight line=good".

I understand this too...but that's the evolution of the tool. What I am interested is that someone, at some point, decided to call this a straight razor and this nomenclature came, most certainly way after early civilization versions of these "cutting tools" (for lack of a better word). I remain curious to know when was this term was coined and why did they decided to call it "straight"?

The best answer, which I also tend to think is the logical one, is that the term "straight" came about right about the time when the DE (or other forms of razors) came about to make a distinction between it and these others

Originally Posted by ignatz

Many modern manufacturing methods make a straight edge seem like the best answer, but this is not necessarily so for all things.

My preference, in particular, is for a razor with a good bit of smile.

All hail the curve!

I agree with you on this too...otherwise, it would hard to make a distinction with other blades...they all have straight edges

Originally Posted by Johan

Can it be that the thing is called a straight razor, because the most of them have a straight edge, so "everyone" can hone the thing on a simple stone?

The framebacks I have are pretty difficult to get sharp because of the rounded edge.

I suggest to use the term straight razor for the one with the straight edge and frameback for the frameback and as a general term cutthroat or open razor (where is the irony-smily??) .

Johan...my suspicion is that "No". Even the framebacks are considered a "straight"

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

I believe it is a case of a word having to be invented in order to specify just what we are talking about. In other words, a 'retronym' - a word which has only come about after the meaning of the original has become ambiguous.

As Morty and AFDavis have pointed out, originally there were just razors. They couldn't be confused with anything because there were no other types around. Then came another type - the safety razor, so a retronym had to be used for the original, as 'razor' wasn't good enough anymore - both being 'razors'.

'Camera' is another casualty. At first they were all large and lived on tripods. When smaller ones came we had to invent a retronym - stand camera and hand camera, when celluloid film made a debut we had film camera and plate camera. When most families had a 35mm film camera the film bit got dropped - just camera was used. Then along came cine-film - cine-camera. Now digital is here we are having to use film-camera again and digital camera. Its gone round in a circle. Almost.

I'm glad that all we have to contend with is staright-, open- and cut-throat!

As for 'straight' - it doesn't necessarily mean 'in a straight line' - it could be used in the sense of genuine, real, or true. Maybe it was just used to signify that the older type of razor was the genuine article or a true razor? Who knows!

Regards,
Neil

Very good points Neil...the analogy with the camera is a good one. But even in those cases, the retronyms fit the tools functionality, e.g., film camera, digital camera, etc.

Originally Posted by Morty

Every once in a while, someone posts a section of an old catalog from the late 1800s - early 1900s. In those catalogs they are only labeled "razors," not "straight razors." My thought is that "straight razor" is a recent nickname that may have originated in the U.S. after safety razors were developed in much the same as "cut throat" razor is the nickname popular in the U.K.

I guess I don't really have a question; it's more just an observation. In those old catalogs (the ones that I've seen posted on SRP), what we call a "barber's notch" razor the catalog labels a "hollow point" razor. I think "hollow point" is much cooler than "barber's notch."
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Morty, I think you may be on to something there...My investigation of the name didn't turn up much, except that razor is the English corruption of the French word razeur which means "some sharp instrument used to remove hair from the face or other parts of the body."

My intuition is hinting to me that there probably was no need to distinguish staight razors from any other type of razor. A razor was a razor--until the safety razor or DE came along.

Originally Posted by BladeRunner001

This may seem like a naive question, and I do apologize in advance for it. But, I have been wondering (for awhile now) about the choice of nomenclature for a str8 razor.

*Why is the straight razor called just that...a straight razor??*
...snip...
Anyone ?

I watched this thread and last night stumbled on one of the
videos showing modern razor productions with opposing
grinding wheels.

It dawned on me that hot stamped blanks ground this
way would have a straight line to them unlike some
of the more sweeping smiles so common on old blades
that were hammered and ground by hand on single treadle
driven wet grinding wheel.

Note how straight the blade in the upper left is:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post149702

Note the sweep and arch of the blade on the lower left
and second from the bottom on the right.

Straight:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post149900

Not straight:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post149906
and also not straight:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post150274

Thoughts?
... and yes there are all now open blade razors
to make a contrast with closed or captive safety
razors.