Thread: Do we really need more than one razor?

I recently tried to thin the heard and was quite successful for several months with only 7 razors. I had another 7 or 8 razors that were deamed (2nd string) and benched. Then I fell in love at the flea market and my active rotation was 8 that worked for a while and then this morning I pulled out one of the 2nd string razors, touched it up and got a great shave. It won't be long now and the entire 2nd string will be added to the active roster and another 5 or 6 flea market rescues. But yeah, everyone needs 25 razors, right? The beauty of it all is that no matter how many razors you have, there's always some sick freak right here on SRP that has at least twice that many. You see pictures of some guy's collection with 100-250 razors and think "Man, that guy has an illness." Four and a half seconds later you catch yourself thinking, "Gee, I wish I could be that sick."

Personally I think there should be more sick freaks out there collecting and restoring old razors. At least we know that those little pieces of history will live, and be loved for the rest of their foreseeable future. Better that than relegated to rusted, barely identifiable scrap metal.


Mick

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

I suspect that's how most working class men did it for many years. Truth be told a hundred years or so ago, owning even two or three razors was probably a privelege reserved for men of serious means.

Exactly. Whereas now we have multiple (if not dozens of) razors, four and seven day sets were a class status symbol. The common schmuck might even be lucky to have one razor; it wasn't uncommon for many to not know how to shave themselves, and would save their pennies to get a barber shave once a week.

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

The beauty of it all is that no matter how many razors you have, there's always some sick freak right here on SRP that has at least twice that many.

Yeah!!! That's what I'm talking about! I sat back and started thinking about how many razors I had. Then I realized that there was a sick freak here on SRP that had twice that many!! I know, I went and counted them and I had twice as many as I thought!!! I'm really mad at that freak!! But I love those razors. Happy Days!!

Regards,

Howard

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

Allow me to be the first to scream "Shennanigans!" and move to strike this thread in its entirity Seriously though, I suspect that's how most working class men did it for many years. Truth be told a hundred years or so ago, owning even two or three razors was probably a privelege reserved for men of serious means. Working men often times used the razor that was passed down to them by their father and in turn passed it on to their son (when he was old enough to shave.) I can't imagine a rotation of just one razor would, functionally, be a problem. Again though, like most ADs the question is: Are you in it just to shave or is it a hobby? From a purely functional standpoint none of us needs more than one razor, one hone, one strop, one brush, one soap or cream, one aftershave and one cologne (optional) but then again, how much fun would that be?

The only flaw I find with this statement is that I'm sure many men shaved at the same time as their fathers, so I don't think they waited until pops passed on for their razor. I would think that men acquired a razor and then, maybe, received their dad's razor while passing their own onto their sons. But the nostalgic, romantic image you paint seems to fall short of a realistic situation. I mean, I started shaving at 14 and my dad was 43, so I am sure he was still shaving.

I don't see a flaw, I wasn't as tall as my dad when I started shaving and so if it came to it, he would in actual fact, be passing down his razor to me to use. Until such time as I was old enough and earning enough to perhaps buy my own.


Mick

A friend of mine has a few razors but only uses one of those to shave himself, a old silver steel razor that hasn't seen a hone for over 10 years according to him. Myself in the beginning I collected a few but as time goes on I seem to be happier with less then more.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Exactly. Whereas now we have multiple (if not dozens of) razors, four and seven day sets were a class status symbol. The common schmuck might even be lucky to have one razor; it wasn't uncommon for many to not know how to shave themselves, and would save their pennies to get a barber shave once a week.

Ryan!

You're right on the money here!!

As I’ve posted many time before, my old Boy Scout Scoutmaster gave me his father’s razor and his brother’s razors. Only one razor for each brother! My old Scoutmaster had taken his razor to Marine boot camp but had to send it home, and it was lost in the mail!

PLEASE NOTE!!!! He sent ‘HIS’ razor home!!! He didn’t send ONE of his razors home!

There was no such thing as RAD (Razor Acquisition Disorder) years ago! A straight razor was a tool that was used and taken care of!!

I have a razor with the coffin case that was given to me by a lady in her late 70’s or early 80’s that was her husbands grandfather’s and the price on the case says $2.50. In the time that the razor was purchased, it would have cost that man at least 2-3 days pay if not more!!!

The Art of shaving with a straight razor was passed down from generation to generation!

I do believe that razors were often passed along, but they were also given to a young man as in a ceremony from a Boy becoming a Man!

Yes our obsessive collections would seem as odd to an historic gentleman as FAD (fork acquisition disorder) or TAD (toaster acquisition disorder) would be for us today ;-)

I use the same razor every day. I get a BBS shave every day and when it need it, I tuch it up. I own about twelve. One of these days, I'll move on to one of the others.