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

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.