what was he thinking, this mysterious man ?

You bought a vintage or antic SR and you are happy, because it looks nice and because you will restore it.
Now this razor is yours
But do you think ? ...

...Behind this razor there IS the history of a man (a mysterious man that you don’t know and you will never know) who he shaved every morning, maybe to go to his job, to go to meet his sweetheart, to go to the war and maybe never come back and never touch again his SR.
Shaving is an intimate moment, what was he thinking when he shaved? His sweetheart, his family, his fears, money, ambition, death?

Now this SR is yours,
So, in your workshop, in front of your tools, when you will remove the pin of THIS SR or when you polish the blade, think about that !

bye

I often wonder the history of a vintage blade, whom it belonged to and how many it's been owned by before and their lives etc. what kind of man bought for instance a 1840 razor new. The United States was only 64 years old. Could be he was a young child when Independence was declared. What were his dreams etc. as a history buff I think of stuff like this often

Laurent, you need to study the books written by Rusell Targ (a laser physisisicist) and Jane Katra (a spiritual healer). They have finally declassified the CIA-funded psi studies they were involved in and profited immensely by publishing a few books on the subject!

If you get "into it" I highly suggest you get competent at Ben Kingsley morphing, specifically from the movie "Suspect 0" (zero, not O). You're only a trance state away from the answer to all of your questions.

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Originally Posted by AxelH

away from the answer to all of your questions.

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I don't seek any answers

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Originally Posted by laurent

I don't seek any answers

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I think it is more fun to wonder. I do the same with my old pocket knives and wonder what stories they could tell.

Yes, that brings to mind the case of the haunted kamisori and that mysterious young Japanese kamakazee Pilot.

Hmm I wonder what happened to him.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Yes, that brings to mind the case of the haunted kamisori and that mysterious young Japanese kamakazee Pilot.

Hmm I wonder what happened to him.

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A legend that will never die!

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Originally Posted by nun2sharp

A legend that will never die!

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Nooooooooo! Not that again! :gth
Seriously, I have unpinned some with homemade repairs, two different scales, one ivory and one wood, pinned with nails, initials and names on them. I do wonder and sometimes feel kinda bad. For a bit! :)

Yes, I think about this from time to time as well. After all, you are using another man's razor, not a new disposable plastic piece that only you will use before it goes to a landfill.

That being said, we probably tend to romanticize our visions of the former owners, with tales of chivalry, civility, courage and, dare I say, aristocracy. The truth is most likely more mundane; perhaps a coal miner who worked 15 hour days, 7 days a week to support his 8 children who all ran around him while he shaved because his dwelling was a single room.

Yes, perhaps some things are better left to the imagination....

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

Yes, I think about this from time to time as well. After all, you are using another man's razor, not a new disposable plastic piece that only you will use before it goes to a landfill.

That being said, we probably tend to romanticize our visions of the former owners, with tales of chivalry, civility, courage and, dare I say, aristocracy. The truth is most likely more mundane; perhaps a coal miner who worked 15 hour days, 7 days a week to support his 8 children who all ran around him while he shaved because his dwelling was a single room.

Yes, perhaps some things are better left to the imagination....

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Excellent! Our imaginations do tend to exaggerate, and you are right. Most were probably owned by the common man who shaved once or twice a week and to him it may have been just a chore. Of course this is my own opinion. I am sure all of MY razors were used by celibate Kings who were shaved by beautiful virgins that spent over 3 years training by royal barbers. Or - perhaps they were cheap giveaways by some hotel or baseball team. YMMV!

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

The truth is most likely more mundane; perhaps a coal miner who worked 15 hour days, 7 days a week to support his 8 children who all ran around him while he shaved because his dwelling was a single room.

Yes, perhaps some things are better left to the imagination....

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Funny thing is that's what I tend to think and it makes them even more special to me as it's closer to my current circumstances than any far fetched fantasy! An average razor for a fairly average guy but lovingly looked after for years and years. I don't always agree with giving an old razor a mirrored finish, sometimes I much prefer a bit of pitting and patina and going easy on the old boys. They've led a long life and deserve a bit of rest sometimes...

I also hate to admit I've had some fairly sinister thoughts about who old razors could have belonged to. I've thought it's easy to think it could have belonged to an unspoken war hero or pillar in the community glass half full but could also have belonged to someone less than savoury in the eyes of society glass half empty. It's one of those things I don't put much thought into but it has crossed my mind before! Sad I know.

It's interesting y'all think about the previous owners. I think about some guy named John Barber, or William Greaves, or Joseph Rodgers pounding away on a red hot piece of metal, forming what will be my straight razor. I know that most of mine were made in a razor mill by the thousand, handmade by hundreds of child laborers in England, but I try to think of them as something special...

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Originally Posted by laurent

Shaving is an intimate moment

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Sometimes those thoughts go through my mind when I drink a glass of water. What is more intimate than letting the same H2O course through your veins that has coursed through the veins of so many others in not only the recent past but for millenniums? Was the very same water I am drinking now refreshing for them when they drank it? Or did they accidentally swallow it as they were drowning, dreading every last fluid ounce of it? Was it part of their first suckle as an infant or was it part of their last gasping effort to quench the unquenchable thirst of a passing soul? Was it someone experiencing the freedom of a parched throat or the captivity of being waterboarded?

Sometimes it is better to just drink it and go on with your life, other times there is cause for pause - and now, for me, that time has passed. Nobody knows when it will strike again

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Originally Posted by coachschaller

Excellent! Our imaginations do tend to exaggerate

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I was just about to say the same thing!

This is why I buy vintage blades instead of the new ones. Having grown up on a farm I always think of previous blade owners being everyday blue chip men. Farmers, miners, rail workers.

Being half german I wonder too how many of my very small collection have shaved other german faces as well.

Or the very razor you now loving polish and hone and strop might be the very razor some deranged syphilis infected fiend used the cut the throat of his infecting lover or some poor wretch in an alleyway in some forgotten town and haphazardly thrown into the nearest garbage pail only to be discovered by some grubby garbage man who upon finding it thought he in fact found a treasure because he could never afford such a nice a razor as he now held in his hand and now you hold in yours. Perhaps a cursed razor forever bound to cut the throat of its next owner, patiently waiting ......

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Originally Posted by Tsunami

Or the very razor you now loving polish and hone and strop might be the very razor some deranged syphilis infected fiend used the cut the throat of his infecting lover or some poor wretch in an alleyway in some forgotten town and haphazardly thrown into the nearest garbage pail only to be discovered by some grubby garbage man who upon finding it thought he in fact found a treasure because he could never afford such a nice a razor as he now held in his hand and now you hold in yours. Perhaps a cursed razor forever bound to cut the throat of its next owner, patiently waiting ......

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You may have just described a vintage Bismark I have. I swear the thing is cursed. It demands blood sacrifice every time I use it.:chop: Always wanted to use this smiley.

I mean I think objects could be inherently cursed. like my wedding ring. The pain didnt stop until I took it off and got divorced! Lol

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

perhaps a coal miner who worked 15 hour days, 7 days a week to support his 8 children who all ran around him while he shaved because his dwelling was a single room.

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A man that faced the hardship and danger of going down the pit day after day to feed his children is as least as much hero as the soldier, who in the heat of battle charges the enemy and wins a medal.
Many of our heroes won their acclaim by chance , not so the miner.

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Originally Posted by welshwizard

A man that faced the hardship and danger of going down the pit day after day to feed his children is as least as much hero as the soldier, who in the heat of battle charges the enemy and wins a medal.
Many of our heroes won their acclaim by chance, not so the miner.

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No doubt, and I wasn't trying to say that the coal miner wasn't as valiant. I was simply saying this scenario is more mundane (and likely more realistic) than the fantasy that your Sheffield razor belonged to the Duke of Wellington and your Solingen was used by Otto von Bismarck....

Anyone who braved Dickensian conditions to support their family is definitely a hero in my book....