Thread: The Truth About The Barber's Notch

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

let us know how long it takes to set the bevel on that one we'd greatly appreciate it.

I always get two circles into it then I eat the coticule. So I guess the answer to your question is the world may never know

Don't forget the panish point...

Originally Posted by Snake

Don't forget the panish point...

Here ya go .....

I just like the look of those raw and purposeful looking notches even though they may not serve any purposeful function. Those round points appear to have no purposeful function and look more like a butter knife, now how about we take that soft butter knife look and straighten (excuse the pun) her up and then carve out a hollow, now it really looks like something purposeful!

Perhaps this thinking applied over 100 years ago after downing some Victorian gin.

Originally Posted by BigJim

I eat pie with mine...I mean, wait, what are we talking about?


Still the best argument I've heard for the notch is NOT nose hair trimming. Noses vary too greatly, and a French/Spanish point razor would do as good or better a job. Not to mention that as long as there have been scissors, they've made small narrow pairs for trimming noses, pairs that work in small noses as well as bigguns! No, the best argument I've heard is that the notches were a development by post-war amputees for opening the razor; which is surprisingly hard to do one handed without a notch, particularly with a round pointed blade. The utility of said modification was not lost on manufacturers who then produced notch point razors. Eventually the more marketable segment for said razors was the barber, who still had use for such notched razors after King G's invention became the more logical choice for the shaving impaired. The result then was that the notch was associated with those who most commonly owned and used them: barbers.

That would depend on which war you are talking about. Timing matters here. If you mean the first world war, or even the Boer War then I believe the notched blades predate them both. The exact timing could matter a great deal.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Here ya go .....

Love it. Fry up some eggs and sausage, and you can use it to shave, and then serve breakfast!

Originally Posted by MickRussell

That would depend on which war you are talking about. Timing matters here. If you mean the first world war, or even the Boer War then I believe the notched blades predate them both. The exact timing could matter a great deal.

Specific wars I don't remember mentioned. I'd expect it to be something more along the lines of the Napoleonic Wars to the time of the U.S. Civil War to allow personal modifications time to be recognized and incorporated by producers. I don't know when the notch points first started showing up though, so it's just another guess.

Peace,
Jim

I think they're good for cutting nostril and ear hair, which a barber would be called on to do.

Here are some razors which show a sort of progression of hollow points, from round tip with no hollow to full hollow, to square with no hollow.



They are:
1: Wostenholm
2, 3, & 4: Joseph Rodgers
5: Howe
6: Joseph Rodgers
7: E A Berg
8. Fontenille
9. unknown maker, early, marked "silver steel"
10: Harrison Bros & Howson
11: unknown, french made
12: Alfred Williams
13: Joseph Smith
14: unknown maker, early, marked "improved silver steel"
15: James Bingham "Congruent"
16: Simpson
17: unknown maker, early
18: Wostenholm

The Joseph Rodgers nos. 2, 3 and 4 show a vestigial hollow/notch, useless for detail work like going around nostrils, ears, etc, and as each notch sits well below the top of the scales, useless for opening, too - it must have been just a design feature in this case.



Most of the early (pre and post 1800) razors I have seen have a smiling profile and a full hollow point. If you beat a bar of metal to a progressively thinner section on one edge you get this shape naturally, like some types of axe-heads. It seems that the notches and round tips followed from this early shape.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Most of the early (pre and post 1800) razors I have seen have a smiling profile and a full hollow point. If you beat a bar of metal to a progressively thinner section on one edge you get this shape naturally, like some types of axe-heads. It seems that the notches and round tips followed from this early shape.

AMEN! Form preceeded function. If this notch was so necessary to good grooming, why wasn't it incorporated into every razor? Today's barbers who are restricted by law to get by with non-hollow pointed shavettes still seem to perform the same close shaves around moustaches and nostrils without the aid of a notch or any fancy one-handed flip to open their psuedo-razors.

Regards - Walt

Neil, I need you to send those razors to me so I can see how they work above my mustache and report back with the results.

Kidding aside, the first thought when I saw the early ones with a very slight notch was that the purpose may have been to hold that end of the blade in a jig/fixture to facilitate working on it. As time went on it evolved from there. Just another thought to throw out there.