Thread: The Truth About The Barber's Notch

I'm going to find some mundane house tool, like a spatula, and put notches in all of them so I can confound some poor sap in the future. Having a thread started on "SpatulaPlace.com" is going to be my legacy.

Perhaps a moot point - there are Barber's edition razors, the Celebrated etc which have notches. But there are also muted square points by Wade and Butcher which state 'For Barber's only/For Barber's use.' Here is an example after a quick search.

I believe back in the day particularly when shaving others as Sharptonn points out, for the purposes of shaving around the styles of facial hair which were popular in those days, the Barber's notch/Sheffield notch/ 'B-N' was desirable but not necessary. From then on it became fashionable, in a similar way to spoilers are on cars. They do not aid in preventing (a BMW 3 series for instance) from taking off, but give a sporty look.

So perhaps subsequent razors manufacturers (I have seen German Bokers and American Cases with notches) copied the look for the style, having regard to older imports from Sheffield?

There is not one answer anyone can find that is the be all and end all to a topic which I am sure will continue to crop up in more threads after this one, but this is what I believe to be the rationale behind it.

Originally Posted by Scipio

From then on it became fashionable, in a similar way to spoilers are on cars. They do not aid in preventing (a BMW 3 series for instance) from taking off, but give a sporty look.

Actually, especially on a rear wheel drive car, spoilers aid in traction at high speeds. Sorry to go O.T.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Actually, especially on a rear wheel drive car, spoilers aid in traction at high speeds. Sorry to go O.T.

Good analogy, to a guy with a mustache, a barber's notch makes trimming under the center of the nose area easier. BTW, I'm not saying that is why they made it .... but it does make it easier for me .... YMMV.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Actually, especially on a rear wheel drive car, spoilers aid in traction at high speeds. Sorry to go O.T.

Yes, but if the car in the said example is underpowered then the spoiler is precluded from having any effect, merely serving aesthetic purpose.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

I can feel the heat of the forge as I shave

You're putting too much pressure on the blade, man.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I'm going to find some mundane house tool, like a spatula, and put notches in all of them so I can confound some poor sap in the future. Having a thread started on "SpatulaPlace.com" is going to be my legacy.

Like mine... notches so the grate of the grill nicely fit the spatula.
The spatula can reach under meat and fish gaining more leverage
to lift the food from the furious fanned flames of my grill.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I'm going to find some mundane house tool, like a spatula, and put notches in all of them so I can confound some poor sap in the future. Having a thread started on "SpatulaPlace.com" is going to be my legacy.

What you do is you hide caches of notched spatulas, and include a handwritten letter. The letter explains that due to the rarity and high value of notched spatulas, and recent spatula thefts, you are hiding them to safeguard them for auctions at Sotheby's in the near future.

Alternatively, you could stipulate in your will that you want to get burried in armor with full regalia, and a notched spatula in your hands; The notched spatula being the symbol of leadership in the secret brotherhood of masons you belong to.

That'll keep the historians and archaeologists on their toes.

I have read this thread before & again. Good thread Jimmy. I have come up with the following conclusion. It was for ease of trimming around the mustache. Another was that it was for marking moles or warts on a mans face by the barber. Another is balance. Tom also came up with an excellent one I think in post #51. This is & has been a very interesting thread & of course it has come up again, so I will give a link to this post which no one so far has mentioned in this latest discussion. The real truth is, unless someone comes up with the real reason in writing on an old document somewhere, we may never know the real answer but it might be in this thread!