Thread: Barber's notch

It isn't

Called a Barber's Notch that is, we have so far only found it to be named a Hollow Point or a Hollow Notch the only references to Barber's notch are new...

Keeping that in mind and looking at different points for razors, it might be just another point design


PS anyone that finds a pre 1970's reference to the name "Barber's Notch" like in old advertising etc: that would really be cool... and please post it up... Collector books, are not a solid source, as they basically have no more weight then what we would post here...

I did a lot of research on this when I inherited my Great Great Grandfather's C&S Barber's Notch razor. The short answer is NOBODY knows!

The best answer I could come up with: What we commonly call barber's notches today have waxed and waned in popularity over the years. One source (I honestly can't remember what now...I'll have to find time to go digging again) claimed to have examined years when BN's were more common vs less common, and found a correlation to violent conflicts in the region of origin for the razor. The suggestion they made, which was in line with other sources/guesses I'd found; was that barbers notches were in fact designed to make the razor easier to open with one hand, and were particularly popular/common in years following war when there were an increased number of amputees in the "shaving community." To me this makes the best sense. It's not authoritative, but it makes the best sense.

I'd suppose then, that with a decrease in straight usage (thanks Mr. Gillette), as well as a decrease in amputees (thanks advancing medical science) these easy-to-open blades were preferred primarily by the barbers who used them out of convenience, and therefore the association built to the point where the "hollow tip" or "notch tip" razors are called "Barber's Notch" razors.

Again, this is all conjecture. But I was really curious about this (when I first saw the C&S I didn't even know there was such a term as a "barber's notch" - I was an ignorant wretch! ) and searched all over the net, and old books, and this was the best I could find.

Peace,

One thing I always do when I am trying to figure something out on razors is to look back even farther,,,
If you look through this Razor club you will find many of the even older razors with the beginnings of a Hollow Point...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...d-shavers.html

I believe that the "Barber"s Notch is just a more formalized design and basically just evolved into what we know so well from these earlier C points

JMHO and huge conjecture....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

One thing I always do when I am trying to figure something out on razors is to look back even farther,,,
If you look through this Razor club you will find many of the even older razors with the beginnings of a Hollow Point...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...d-shavers.html

I believe that the "Barber"s Notch is just a more formalized design and basically just evolved into what we know so well from these earlier C points

JMHO and huge conjecture....

I imagine it's probably an evolutionary thing.