Thread: What did grampa do ??

We here fuss over our razors but in the old days they were mostly mistreated as was most shaving equipment. Ever seen a barbers strop? It was a well used piece of leather kept in good shape by the oil from their hands. Sure there were some who fussed like us but all these beat up razors you see in antique shops or on Eboy didn't get that way on purpose that's simply how most razors wound up through years of use and abuse.

That has some merit as I have my grandads straight and there isn't much left of it although,I do believe time itself has taken a toll as well as improper storage on my familys part.

I envy those of you who have something, from your older and or long deceased family, that was a part of their daily lives. I have one thing from my deceased grandfather that was made for decoration by his own hand. That in itself makes it a very valuable item to me, but it isn't like owning his razor or his pipe or something that was truly personal to him. Take pride in whatever item you have that was passed down from another generation. These things will eventually be lost to us.


Mick
Yet another P.S Nightblade that slang website had better cover rhyming slang too, or else you will be sadly left in the dark as to what the hell I'm saying. :-)

I was a butcher and sous chef during the mid 50s and carbon steel was king. The steel did change color depending on what was cut and the humidity of the room. What we call "patina" was a normal feature of all using knives. A fine hone line was the only shine. Grey was"in!" A Henkles' prime rib knife was $30 and:
In 2009, the relative worth of $30.00 from 1955 is:

$240.00 using the Consumer Price Index
$199.00 using the GDP deflator
$325.00 using the unskilled wage
$383.00 using the Production Worker Compensation
$554.00 using the nominal GDP per capita
$1,030.00 using the relative share of GDP
~Richard

Originally Posted by Evin

snip...
I agree with the other posts about care of a straight in the old days keep em sharp and rust free and accept that carbon steel changes colour like the season of the year.

[QUOTE=MickR;654073]I envy those of you who have something, from your older and or long deceased family, that was a part of their daily lives. I have one thing from my deceased grandfather that was made for decoration by his own hand. That in itself makes it a very valuable item to me, but it isn't like owning his razor or his pipe or something that was truly personal to him. Take pride in whatever item you have that was passed down from another generation. These things will eventually be lost to us.[QUOTE]
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I agree Mick. I am 65 years old and and I watched my grandfather shave. He rinsed his razor and wiped it off with a towel. My guess is that most men periodically sent their razor to the local barber for a good honing and he probably polished it as part of the service before he honed it.

I am fortunate to have my grandfather's Geo. Worthington finish strop and his leather wrapped cigar ashtray. A little nostalgia never hurt anyone.

mrsell63,......that was very genuine.I don't know any other way to describe that.Your history was simple ,interesting and I found it for some reason very touching . Can't explain why? Maybe it's the night air tonight ? If you smoke cigars....maybe you should break out grampas ashtray.I don't smoke and I almost could go for a cigar now. I bet he was a real good man ?... Have a very pleasant night sir.....Sincerely Nightblade

Originally Posted by Nightblade

mrsell63,......that was very genuine.I don't know any other way to describe that.Your history was simple ,interesting and I found it for some reason very touching . Can't explain why? Maybe it's the night air tonight ? If you smoke cigars....maybe you should break out grampas ashtray.I don't smoke and I almost could go for a cigar now. I bet he was a real good man ?... Have a very pleasant night sir.....Sincerely Nightblade

Ditto


Mick

I've been lurking here for a bit looking at information as I fancy trying my hand at straight razor shaving; it would fit in nicely with another hobby of mine (living history) and it's about time I got around to learning it. A razor arrived yesterday and I am awaiting a moment when there's enough time and the right amount of beard to have a first go (probably this weekend). I recently switched back to DE blades from cartridges after spotting the Merkur 1904 reproduction.

Originally Posted by MickR

Not every country was serviced by King Camp Gillette. During WW1 there were also people from Germany, Australia, Britain, Turkey etc. Now Britian and Australia may have had shaving gear supplied by Gillette, but I doubt it. However I don't know for sure. I'm pretty sure the Germans and the Turks weren't supplied with the new fangled DE but I could be wrong there too. My point being not every nation used King Gillette's new invention since it was only in production from 1904 or 6 and WW1 started about 10 years later.

As far as I can tell the Gillette safety razor was only issued to American forces, and the standard for other nations was the straight razor. I've seen it asserted by those more familiar with WWI than I am that safety razors can sometimes be found in excavations of trenches so presumably some soldiers were buying them privately.

P.S Just had a thought, When did the Roller razor come out? That may have been another razor used in that era.

If you mean the Rolls Razor then information on the internet seems to suggest that they appeared in the 1920s, but I'm far from an expert on the matter.

Originally Posted by MickR

I envy those of you who have something, from your older and or long deceased family, that was a part of their daily lives. I have one thing from my deceased grandfather that was made for decoration by his own hand. That in itself makes it a very valuable item to me, but it isn't like owning his razor or his pipe or something that was truly personal to him. Take pride in whatever item you have that was passed down from another generation. These things will eventually be lost to us.


Mick
Yet another P.S Nightblade that slang website had better cover rhyming slang too, or else you will be sadly left in the dark as to what the hell I'm saying. :-)

I don't recall or have anything shaving related from my grandfather; however, one my most prized possessions is a silver dollar that he carried in to WWII. He kept in constantly in his pocket and rubbed it when he thought of his family (they wouldn't let him have a wedding band). Anyway, after the war he kept rubbing this thing everyday in his pocket and it is worn down so you can barely make out the eagle and bust on the front.

I've had it now 20 years (geez) and also keep in my pocket everyday and pray that I don't lose it.

Means a lot to me.

From a WWI era cartoon...

Officer: Why didn't you shave, soldier?
Soldier: I did, sir.
Officer: With what? Your pocket knife?
Soldier: No sir, I lost my pocket knife so I had to use my army issue razor.



From Planet America, I remain &c
LG Roy