Thread: Sun June 22nd - Sat June 28th

UGLY RAZOR/GREAT SHAVE DAY 7:
It was a long week, but finally, it's come to a close. We all know the point of this little exercise was simple: a great shave has little to do with a particular name or aesthetic. Great shaves can be had with some real ugly ducklings with only a little honing and TLC. And with a bit more effort, some of these have the potential to be beauty queens as well.

For this last day, I selected one of my all time favorite razors. My wife had gone to an estate auction earlier this Spring in Kalona, Iowa at an Amish farm. Knowing I was always on the lookout for old straights, she bid one dollar for this one and brought it home to me. It's an old Montgomery Ward mail order razor. the scales had broken off long ago, and some very old cotton bandaging has been wrapped around the tang and sealed with some kind of varnish, making it in effect, a stubby kamisori. It was the ugliest razor I'd ever seen. Without question.

I began to give it a good looking over, and made a couple of observations. The wrap looked like it had been applied about 50 years ago. The hone wear, though beyond excessive, was consistent on both sides of the blade. The impression I got was that the same person had been honing that razor for a long time with the same stroke. Wear along the edge was also very consistent, and the blade was the same width at heal and toe down to less than 1/10th of a mm. The edge itself was sharp. I mean honmeister-meister sharp. Definitely shave ready.

Then it occurred to me. Somebody loved that razor. For a long time. Amish are widely known to be thrifty. The same old Amishman had probably owned that razor his entire life, his one razor. He probably ordered it out of a Montgomery Ward catalog in about 1930, broke the scales in about 1965, did a field repair, and continued to use it to his last days.

I did no restoration to the blade, but did whittle out some bone scales. It would be one of the last razors I'd ever get rid of.

With a Wee Scott, a puck of Williams, and a healthy splash of Floid. Bliss!

razor: newly redressed and newly rehoned Blue Duck Special No. 1, 5/8
brush: whipped dog
soap: Mitchell Wool Fat
As: Pinauds
3 pass BBS on 3 day stubble. Incredible shave.

Just a quick one this afternoon, nice shave though

Merkur 37C, Cremo Shaving Cream, Aqua Velva Classic

Originally Posted by entropy1049

UGLY RAZOR/GREAT SHAVE DAY 7:
Then it occurred to me. Somebody loved that razor. For a long time. Amish are widely known to be thrifty. The same old Amishman had probably owned that razor his entire life, his one razor. He probably ordered it out of a Montgomery Ward catalog in about 1930, broke the scales in about 1965, did a field repair, and continued to use it to his last days.

I did no restoration to the blade, but did whittle out some bone scales. It would be one of the last razors I'd ever get rid of.

With a Wee Scott, a puck of Williams, and a healthy splash of Floid. Bliss!

"They" called it a "temporary, field repair", but we know they were made to last; hence, the old saying that "There's nothing as permanent as a temporary solution."

And good for you, Mike, honoring the man's razor (now yours), and honoring the man, himself; in short, honoring yourself. Brilliant!

In Hebrew, we talk about making a קנין on an item -- an "acquisition" -- and, while "acquiring" an apartment involves receiving the door keys, still, it's an act of transferrance from Person "A" and given to "Person "B" -- it's ritualistic, and in doing so it honors both parties, as well as the object, itself. So, too, with the Amishman's razor and its baggage... its history -- which is there, unhidden, and which must be told, and which we call Provenance. I'm glad it's you, Mike, who've inherited this razor, with it's historical baggage and all the rest. It'll change you... help make you a better man (as well as a clean-shaven man). We'll be watching.

SOTD 28 JUNE



Hot shower
Semogue 1460
Mitchell's Wool Fat
'68 Lady Gillette
Astra SP (3)
Aqua Velva musk

Pre: Jack Black Pure clean
Strop: SRD Latigo
Razor: Stiletto
Brush: Semogue 1305
Soap: TOBS Sandalwood
Scuttle: G12
A/S: Aqua Velva
Cologne: Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme

Greaves 7/8, "Universally Approved, William Greaves and Sons, Manufacturers of Fine India Steel Razors"

3" SRD Roo Strop
Shavemac Custom Badger Brush
T&H 1805
Thayer's Astringent

+ 1 lute playing Imp, turned to stone.