Straight razors and a funeral parlor.

Hi Chaps,
As you all know im a Funeral director here in old blighty and I thought it would be awesome to change the razors in the mortuary to straights. Ok I know this subject may be taboo but I have no wish to upset anyone by opening this discussion up, I just wanted to let you all know that I have used a straight on several clients and had one family tell me that their Grandfather had never looked so good and after I told them what razor I had used they smiled and told me he would of loved it!

I have now taught the razor basics to my staff and its going down a treat! there are some issues mind you but my clients get the full treatment of a heated towel soak, proraso shaving cream etc I do not skimp on the shaving process! and I have found that the straights get into corners and areas that most conventional razors fail to do often leaving a client with a little stubble or patches in places.

I just wanted to share this, I know it will come across as weird and a bit morbid but my intention is to show that a straight razor has a place still in this modern world and that some of my staff after a bit of show and tell are now looking into getting a straight for home use, so I may have converted a chap or too at my yard.

You mean the health codes allow you to use an actual straight and not a disposable? Can your clients catch anything? (har har)-sorry about that.

Yes no problems, the funeral trade in the UK is largely unregulated and as long as the razors are washed down in dis-spray or some other powerfull antibacterial liquid it is fine....I did double check with the NAFD just in case lol! their thoughts were plain and simple...a razor is a razor...keep it clean and your fine.....so i was pleased!.

Reminds me of the Doc using an alcohol wipe on a death row inmate prior to starting a lethal injection I.V :)
at any rate more power to you,at least you will not need to buy steptic pencils.

Seems reasonable to me. I dated a funeral director for a while, and she always took great pride in doing the makeup and hair on clients. Someone's got to make them look good, I doubt the straight will give them much of a scare.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Reminds me of the Doc using an alcohol wipe on a death row inmate prior to starting a lethal injection I.V :)
at any rate more power to you,at least you will not need to buy steptic pencils.

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:rofl2: That last line gave me a good laugh.

Why not? I feel the best shave possible for the departed's final viewing is most appropriate. If the skills of the Mortician include proficiency with a straight razor, it is all for the better. BTW, I have chosen cremation! I will be scattered with a fine blade!

I know at least one parlour here in town uses a straight with disposable blades. I will have to find out if they use canned goo (I suspect that they do) but they have found that the blade is the best for a shave and control. It makes perfect sense as you can shave yourself with a straight without tensing parts of your face and trying to help the blade along actively. Also, with a cartridge you will get clogs if the person has not shaved recently.

I suspect that nobody there wants to figure out how to maintain a blade or they might be persuaded to go with an outright traditional (for some reason an 8/8 W+B seems appropriate.)

Cool. I honestly think this is great. The dead won't appreciate it, but at the very least you'll cut down on your consumables.
And it is nice that an old skill such as shaving with a straight is being used again.

Not weird at all! It's great to hear someone proud of their work, regardless of what it may be. I don't have any spiritual obligations to my corpse beyond my life, but I would be happy to know someone was taking the time to make me look good ;)

Morticians do an invaluable job. They are unsung heroes. My Mom passed six years ago and the mortician called me up, he had known my Mom his whole life and just thought something didn't look right. He asked if we could bring up her glasses. Using a straight, if one get better results, great. Kinda a win win, you get a chance to practice, and you'll never hear a complaint.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sherborne

Hi Chaps,
As you all know im a Funeral director here in old blighty and I thought it would be awesome to change the razors in the mortuary to straights. Ok I know this subject may be taboo but I have no wish to upset anyone by opening this discussion up, I just wanted to let you all know that I have used a straight on several clients and had one family tell me that their Grandfather had never looked so good and after I told them what razor I had used they smiled and told me he would of loved it!

I have now taught the razor basics to my staff and its going down a treat! there are some issues mind you but my clients get the full treatment of a heated towel soak, proraso shaving cream etc I do not skimp on the shaving process! and I have found that the straights get into corners and areas that most conventional razors fail to do often leaving a client with a little stubble or patches in places.

I just wanted to share this, I know it will come across as weird and a bit morbid but my intention is to show that a straight razor has a place still in this modern world and that some of my staff after a bit of show and tell are now looking into getting a straight for home use, so I may have converted a chap or too at my yard.

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I, for one, would like to seriously thank you for going the extra mile. In these days it appears to me that most businesses are out to make as much money as they can by taking as many shortcyts as possible while trying to convince their clientele they are receiving top-notch service.
I don't know about the UK but in the U.S. people spend ridiculous amounts of money when tending to a loved one's burial. I did some research into your profession while I was in college and I was somewhat disturbed, to put it mildly, with what I discovered about what went into body preparation. Basically what I found was that every shortcut is taken while charging as though the body had been treated to a day in a health spa and beauty shop, some of the details were down right disgusting and I will not disclose the details.
Knowing that you give a "full" shave treatment, including hot towels, makes me want to believe the rest of your preparations are shortcut free. If I am unfortunate enough to have to attend to another loved one's burial preparations I will ask about the shave. If the mortician or beautician, whichever they refer to themselves as, refuses to do so I may ask if I can perform the last shave. It might just prevent a 5 o'clock shadow at viewing time.
Babblibg again so I'll stop.
Thank you again and PLEASE keep up the good work. I guarentee you the family appreciates it even if they don't say so.

Bravo sir! I salute you for taking such pride in your work. I know that the families will appreciate the added touch.

To me this whole subject seems unworthy of discussion anywhere but a shaving forum.

As a funeral director, your responsibilities are largely client/family service. If this change improves your service...where is the discussion?

Now that I think about it, it might be suitable on funeral director forums...


Good show, sir!

That sounds like a classy way to go back into the dirt! Nice to hear - if I were to be put in a box that's how I'd like to be taken care of. This is just a neat FYI thread, unit. Since we're all straight shavers, and we all have one or two stories with them. This forum is a place for us to share those stories. Very cool!

Very cool, I think that's a great idea!! When I go into the earth (hopefully not for a long time :)), I'd be thrilled to have my last shave be with a straight. It really does add a nice little touch of class I think, genius thinking!!! Bravo!

Good to hear that their loved ones get to see them at their best, that one last time.

Sorry guys but after reading this thread I just HAD to reprise this little piece:

What happens When You're Gone.


I was getting ready to shave last night and picked out my weapons, my DD Golden Mandarin and my Thater Brush and hmm… lets see I’ll use Obie’s revenge (MDC soap) and finish with some Royall Spice AS. Well I’m lathered up and strop up the razor and start the first stroke down my chin and unnoticed the missus walks by and decides I’m in the way of her getting into the closet and slams the door into my back. Oh, sorry dear you didn’t hurt yourself did you? Why of course not the streams of blood running down my face are very becoming aren’t they? Gee you should be more careful ,yes YOU should shouldn’t you. Well, stopped the bleeding, ruined my shave and the thing keeps opening up in bed. Finally I doze off to slumber land and wakeup with a start and hey, what’s going on here, where am I?

I look around and I’m in some room in what looks like a funeral parlor. I see all these relations I haven’t seen in years and there’s some guy in the corner in a coffin. I see Cousin Art in the corner, heck when did he get out of prison? I thought he would be there another 20 years. I say how you doin Art? Why he doesn’t even bother to respond feedin his face with mini pizzas. I see Cousins Eric and Rob talking in the corner so I go over to them and they don’t respond either so I figured I’d stick around.

Eric says well what did he leave you? Heck if I know I got a box of rocks of some kind. All different colors, some blue some beige some green. Some got some oriental writtin on them. Some are sealed on wood bases. Now why would someone put a rock in a wood base? I got the perfect thing to do with them, I’m gonna use them to patch the stucco on the side of my house they’ll look good there and keep the wind out. What you get Rob? Heck I don’t rightly know. I think they be giant paint brushes? Really, I didn’t know he was an artist. Yea one is marked Plisson, France and it say size 85 and on the handle it say something about white mountain and …uh…I-v-o-r- uh you know that be from that outfit Ivor Johnson who make those Saturday Night Specials that be junk. Yea I got it here I’m gonna throw it in the trash. The others I’ll give to my kids to use to paint with.

I went back over to Art who was talking to Uncle Joe and Joe says he got these giant letter openers. Art says what you gonna do with those? He says I don’t know I got one Purdy one that’s all shiny and it say Maestro… heck that be Spanish for teacher. Some teacher used that to open mail. Yea I never did cotton much to school or those school marms I’m gonna throw it in the trash. The other ones I’m gonna use to pry open cans. How about you Art? Well, I got these pots with white stuff in them. One says something about Martins Candy I was gonna test it but the dog got it and boy we had some mess he got all foamed in the mouth and ran around the neighborhood like that and officer Johns shot him thinking he be rabid. I’m gonna use the rest of the pots to wash the goat. Just then Cousin Billie came over and said you know what that weirdo left me? I got all these leather belts. But they be too short to wear and they ain’t got no buckles. I’m gonna punch holes in them and put things in them. Joe says you stupid or something those be whips. He must have been one of those folks who whip themselves for fun or maybe he think he’s that Zorro fella. Yea one say something about Kana…err..kaya…heck it have the number one million on it and it be an inch thick. I’m gonna cut that one into little strips and make thimbles out of it.

I got to thinkin who the guy in the box was and what junk he left his relations so I walked over and looked down and hey wait a minute that’s me there.

So I see the funeral guy talking to his assistant and the assistant says how the deceased got those scars all over his face? The director say well my electric shaver quit on me so I had to use my Ginsu kitchen knife to shave him. It don’t matter he be one of those straight shavers and those guys are nuts anyway and they always slice their faces, they like it that way. That be a known fact.

All of a sudden I’m standing in this auditorium and there’s this auction goin on and the auctioneer says he got this collection of rare razors from this dude who passed away. He starts talking about how backwards these people are who actually use these and this guy was a real troglodyte. Yea he picks up the razor and shows it and starts saying how he can’t believe anyone would actually use this and starts berating the deceased and the crowd starts cheering and laughing at the deceased whose picture (in the coffin with all the scars on his face is flashed on this giant screen) and they start throwing things at the picture and no wants to bid on the razors and he has to pay people to take them away.

Next thing I know it’s morning and my face and pillow are full of blood and I have to finish the shave I started last night going around the cut. Yea, the missus says I wish you got rid of all this junk and just replaced it with a simple electric shaver. Afterall, when you’re dead and gone what is going to happen to all this junk?

I think thebigspendur's nightmare is something any collector with SAD or RAD has had. Last night I spent a couple of hours at the wife's grave thinking about her and that wonderful SRP Logo razor by Mr. Williams. Bless her heart, she thinks I'm digging a pond.

Dont let them "stiff" you on the tip! har har

My apologies to Nelson

A recent ebay auction featured a razor from an undertakers supply company. Once upon a time, straights were the standard for a clean shaven dear departed. I for one am glad to hear that somewhere, someone has returned this feature to a most undervalued profession.
Thank you, in advance, for taking care of me! ( I wont be here to thank you later!)

Wow, thank you guys for your kind words and messages of support, there are too many to personaly respond to but I will do my best to answer one or two:

In my parlour I pride myself on a job well done, I trained in a firm that once belonged to my Grandfathers cousins and my mentor was my Great Uncles last apprentice, he had joined the firm at 16 and is now the owner of it at 55, so I am over the moon to be have been taught by a great master, he hates Funeral homes/parlours that rip people off and is proud to be independant of the corporate funeral movement, this proudness he instilled in ME as well as being able to hold your head up high knowing that your doing the best you can for a grieving family.

I like my mentor put the work above profit, helping a family is the primary concern and profit is secondary, with this in mind we produce high end funerals for a good price and if you cant afford it then tell me and we can work somthing out, I like my mentor am a tradationalist and sadly we are a dying breed within the trade as the trade creeks towards becoming more profit focused and more modern to keep up with the coporate funeral companies such as Dignity and Coop.

I have worked for the corporation and didnt like what I saw, Profit was put before a job well done, put before the familys well being and I turned my back on it, in my little place we pride ourselves on our so called old fashioned or backwards ways, the familys always come first and my clients that I take into care are looked after as though each and everyone of them is a member of my own family........if you cant set the bar high then why bother? treat everyone as though it was one of my own.

Ok a straight saves money but it does produce a better shave and with a face thats not quite so pliable as one would wish for I find the straight gets the job done with ease and comfort without any damage, I would never cut corners nor save a buck by pulling a fast one, in the long run I may never become a rich man through my work and yes I may struggle from time to time financialy but at leats I can hold my head up high and say "Ive done the best I can and become the best that I could be".

I just wish that others would follow and stop chasing the pound or the dollar, we would all be a lot happier if we all focused on the job well done or be content from the pleasure we get from knowing we have made a difference without putting costs and profit before all else.

Anyway, I find im rambling and though im no saint I can safely say that I do a good job and id be happy to shave any one of you guys when the time comes.

;-)

You got it right about the ripoffs that occur with people that are grieving and not mentally able to make sound decisions at the time.When my last brother died (age 36) I went to the funeral home with my mother,They tried to sell her a 5K casket.
B.S, we want a simple wood box,got one for 400 bux,Next scam,than sir we will proceed with the embalming process,that will be an additional 400 Bux,B.S, we do not want him embalmed,The guy was flabbergasted,but sir,it is the middle of summer and we must proceed with the process ASAP,B.S, you have him refridgerated,put his head back together (bad car accident) is no law in my state that says a person has to be embalmed (read Jessica Mitfords, the american way of death)
As you wish sir,simple ceremony,simple box,simple plot,all for under a grand.

Hi Pixelfixed,
I hear you for sure, the corporation funeral parlor i once worked for were just the same here in the UK, they were selling cheap coffins for extortiionate prices and insisted on embalming! I can get for a family a oak veneered quailty coffin for £300 whilst the corporation were charging £1000 for a foil (paper looking wood pasted over chip board)!!!!!!!!!!!! and dont get me started on embalming....its not neccessary and certainly not a legal requirement, I for one do not recommend it unless in extreme circumstances, after all part of my job is to dothe basic body prep which is included in my price.

I know we have strayed a bit off topic but I can tell you now Sir, that I can produce a funeral £1.600 and make a little but of profit, when the corporation I use to work for after my training was charging £4,000 for the cheapest no frills funeral that looked awefull.......with mine you get good quality service with no short cuts.

Yes, it is sad to see the degree at which people who work in "service based" professions have become distant, or altogether lost to the main purpose. That being the service you provide to the client. It is difficult to go to a barber now without feeling like it is a get in, get out, cut as many heads of hair a day as you can business, and from what you describe the same direction has even been gone in at funeral parlors. Im not familiar with what the restaurant trend is over in the UK, but the lack of detail most waitresses give to providing you with an enjoyable dinning experience is sick...and then they go and get mad if you dont tip them the "standard amount"
So i commend you for your work, and hope someday more people start to take the pride in their work that your do.

I applaud you Sherborne. I have the same angst that you do over the end 'goals' that many have in our world. It doesn't make me angry, just more anxious and nervous. So I applaud you for all that you do across the pond. I enjoy the old fashioned, backwards ways. They are more fulfilling, and make me at least, a happier person.

Now I just need to find a way to free myself from it all and start being more backwards!!!!

I too applaud your ethics and class and quality of what you do. The straight certainly requires more effort/time than another method, but it bespeaks a caring approach. Kudos to you.

Planning on being 'ashed' and put in a relatives closet somewhere. Sorry.

Wish I could patch my cuts and nicks with a little putty or bondo!

:rofl2:

"The American Way of Death" by Jessica Mitsford is MUST READING!!! Read it before something happens. You will not be in the mood to research or negotiate when the time comes for you to do so. We lost a daughter a few years back, that is one deep and ungodly hole to climb out of. Funeral homes are a major rip off waiting to prey on the bereaved.

My father-in-law (78) learned how to use a str8 when he was 10 or 12 years old prepping the deceased in his father's funeral home. Gotta be honest - he turned out pretty weird. :D