Personal Shaving History

[RHensley]

This will be either interesting enlightening or just plain boring. At any rate here it tis.

I grew up on a farm where we killed our own hogs and beef and chickens. When it came to hogs a shot between the eyes and a knife to the neck then a quick bath in scolding water. we took our old knives from the house and scrapped the hair off the pig before butchering. This explains my first attempt at straight razor shaving. It was in the late 60s when I tried shaving with an old straight duel razor . After that I put it aside and went back to the Gillette safety razor with the copper blades. Most folks never saw these blades but I assure you there was at one time these very cheap blades. I think they were less than 60 cents a pack of 5. I may be wrong. I went into the USAF in Jan. 69 . When I got to my first base after basic I found a barber shop with this young barber who talked me into using one of those new straight razors with the changeable blade. My problem was the blade would not stay in the razor (because of improper use). Now after I got out of the service in 73 I found a couple of straights at a pawn shop that was new in the box. Solingen and a Sheffield. Now thinking that new in the box meant that they were shave ready. well I did shave with them but not that good. Not much better than the old razor I tried when I was in my teens. So I went back to the safety razor. by now there was better blades. But not by much. The plant I worked at had a company pick nick and as luck would have it I won a brand new Remington electric shaver cordless. Fancy. I kept it plugged in for the quick touch up you know. Now back in those days It was kind of like now. I wouldn't shave for at least two or three days. I had a heavy beard in those days. Heavy and thick. I remember this as if it were yesterday. I got off work on a Friday afternoon and went home took a shower clean cloths and grabbed the Cordless Electric razor and out the door I went. I had a DATE! I got about 1 1/2 mile down the road when the New fully charged Remington Electric shaver chocked down on my face while going about 70 mph. I pulled over turned the car off and I had to take the head off the razor and by luck I got it off my face. Back to the safety razor I go. After that by then they had come out with the plastic through away razors and I used them until about maybe sometimes in the 90s when I tried the straights again. The about 15 or so years ago I found the First SRP. That's when I got back into straights again. I found some razors on eBay and sent them to a someone to hone. later I found that person to be one of my GOOD FRIENDS. This person not only helped me with learning how to use a straight but to hone a straight. A gentleman, friend and mentor. I've met lots of folks here on SRP. All great folks. I've blessed and happy to have met you all. Anyway maybe ya'll will get a kick out of this little trip down shaving lane for me.

 

[Bill M]

Great story.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[someghai]

Awesome! Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Roger!

 

[Pun1sh3R]

Mr. RHensley,

Ever since working on my Great Grandfather's Razor, I have been piecing together a similar story, my story.

My goal is to add the personal value to my gear that no one knows except me.

Example;
Story Behind my William Gilchrist No.13- Rescued from Ebay, Sent to Max Spreacher for refurbishment (Unbeknownst to me.)
I open the box on my Wedding day and shaved with it before I said IDo.

I have a Similar History section written about how I discovered Wet Shaving and my Journey.

I have personal biography from several of the makers of some of my gear. The story of the craftsman behind the object.

I have been typing and editing as things pop into my head.

My ultimate goal is to hand write this into a Rite in the Rain hard cover journal and store it with my gear.

That way some day some heir can know more than I knew about my Great Grandfather.

I would also like to develop some form of Chain of Custody log in the book and leave pages for others to add onto down the road.



Frank

 

[Pun1sh3R]

Mr. RHensley,

If this thread is open for Other's journeys, I will post part of what I have written over the past few months.

Frank

 

[RHensley]

Mr. RHensley,

If this thread is open for Other's journeys, I will post part of what I have written over the past few months.

Frank

As far as I'm concerned it's open to all who shaves and they way they started. I think it's interesting and in my case kind of funny especially when the electric hung on my face. at that time you would have thought I could talk to birds because of all the fowl language.

 

[Pun1sh3R]

*This is a exert from a currently 5 page long document that is in progress*

Wet Shaving Journal/Journey

Forward:

I received a straight razor from my grandmother in 2013. It was her father’s razor. I carefully put it away until I had the ability to restore it. Fast forward eight years. I find the razor again and decide to get to work. I started asking questions about my Great Grandfather and searching for information on the razor. I turned up very limited information. I noticed things about my Wet Shaving Journey and the gear I was using that I would have loved to know about my Great Grandfather and his razor. What follows is the story of my journey, the equipment I have procured and “Their” History/Stories.

My hope is that long after I pass, this information along with my gear may be enjoyed by future generations. Enjoy.

Journey

I started shaving at the age of 14 (1995). It was freshman year of high school and I was in the Naval Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps (NJROTC). One of the requirements for being in uniform was to be clean shaven.

My first razor was a disposable two blade Bic razor. I used Gillet shaving cream out of a can. The process was pretty straight forward. Spray the goop out of the can, rub it on your face and take if off with the razor. The peach fuzz on my face came off with it. Every so often the razor would gunk up or become dull, so in the trash it went and out came a new one.

Toward the end of the 1990’s multi-blade disposable razors became more and more popular. They started adding more blades to the cartridge heads. It went from 2 to 3 to eventually 4 and 5 blade cartridges by 2009.

My Razor through the early 2000’s was a Gillette Mach 3. Cartridges had become expensive ($30 for a refill pack). Trying to stretch them out as far as I could, I decided to grow a Goatee.

In 2009, my Brother (name) was living in San Diego, California. He called me one day and said “I have a surprise for you, you need to come down.”

A couple of weeks later, down in San Diego, (brother) had taken me to a local Barber Shop. “Brotherhood of Barber Surgeons”. When we went in, it had a “Old School” feel from the 1940’s. The Barber gave us each a beer, then sat me down in his chair. We were there for a Straight Razor Shave.

It was an amazing experience. Hot Towels, Warm Lather, facial massage and a multi-pass shave with a single edge razor. It was the best shave and the smoothest my face had ever been up to this point in my life. I was hooked, but nervous about using a open blade razor on myself.

The next day I found myself at “The Art of Shaving”. This store had everything for wet shaving in one place. I talked to the sales associate about wanting to straight shave and he advised me in another direction. “Why don’t you start wet shaving first, then step up to the straight Razor?” I ended up leaving the store with a Murker Double Edge Safety Razor (DE Razor), Brush, Shaving Cream, Pre-Shave Oil and After Shave Balm.

I was excited to start my adventure, but with slow beard growth, I had to wait several days. Three days later, I had enough stubble to give it my first go. What a horrible experience! Not only did I remove my beard stubble but also layers of skin. There was a huge difference between the disposable razors that I had been using for 15 years and the DE Razor I just tried. While using the Disposables, you would use a fair amount of pressure to get them to work. I did this with the open blade design of the DE and butchered my face.

During the next week of healing and waiting for the scabs to come off, I started researching Wet Shaving. In hindsight I should have done this first. I found myself on a internet forum called Straight Razor Place. They had a whole section dedicated to beginners. I spent hours and hours reading posts of peoples experiences. Both failures and more importantly what they had done for their successes.

The second shave with my DE razor was a lot more successful, without the pain. There is a light touch and a “feel” that one has to learn for themselves. One of the key’s for me was the idea of removing only the oil layer on my face.

During beard prep for wet shaving, there are pre-shave steps, you apply a “Shave Oil” or other products to your face. This aids in lubrication prior to lathering. Once I set my goal to remove the oil off the skin the shaves became better and better over time. Soon I had graduated from a single pass shave with the grain of my beard to completing full 3 pass shaves (With the Grain, Across the Grain and finally against the Grain).

I found that DE shaving in and of itself could be a deep rabbit hole. Different comb types, gaps, different razor blades. I spent enough time with the DE system to get comfortable with it. DE razor shaving is still my go to for quick and efficient shaves. But my ultimate goal was to shave with a straight razor.

In 2010 I began my Straight Razor Journey. This time however, I did my research first, back to the forums. The recommendation was to start with a “Shave Ready” vintage straight razor from a known supplier. Shave Ready means that the razor was honed (Sharpened) correctly. One of the members from the forum owned a online store, Whipped Dog Shaving. Mr. Larry would purchase vintage razors, clean them up, hone them, then sell them at a reasonable price as beginner kits. I proceeded to buy the “Sight Unseen Razor with Poor Man’s strop kit”. The kit came with everything I needed; Razor, Strop, Balsa Plank with Chromium Oxide for edge touch up and a sample of shave soap.

The first shave was a success. While being extremely nervous and careful, it took a while to complete the shave. I had to re-lather several times as the lather would dry out with how long I was taking. I completed the with the grain pass, then finished the other two passes with the DE Razor.

Over the next several months, confidence and muscle memory built. Single Pass shaves turned into two pass shaves, then finally three pass shaves. It took a long time to get to great/smooth shaves with a straight razor. But the masculinity and sense of accomplishment of completing a shave with a straight razor is a great feeling.

I then developed Razor Acquisition Disorder (RAD). Straight Razors come in a variety of different styles, sizes, tips styles and blade materials. You could still acquire antique razors that needed work for a fair price, buy new from big brand corporations or commission a custom Razor Smith to build you one.

One of the options that was becoming popular at the time was disposable blade straight razors. The first company that introduced them called their model the “Shavette”. This name was coined for all disposable blade straight razors from that point on. I purchased a Shavette style razor from Feather. It had its own unique blades. While it imitated straight razor shaving it was not quite the same. They were convenient though, when the razor edge dulled, you replaced the blade. I tried several styles over the coming years, with the models that used DE blades snapped in half. While traveling for work to Alaska for 12 Years, these styles were what I used primarily.

2012 – For the groomsman gifts at my wedding, I put together a Wet Shaving Kit for each of the gentlemen in the bridal party. My best man, (name), was gifted a Dovo Straight Razor in his kit. The rest of the gentleman received DE Razors. The morning of my wedding day, January 13th 2012, I presented each groomsmen with their gift. Part of the morning preparation was teaching all five of them how to wet shave. It was amazing to me to pass on the knowledge I had gained over the years and share information about shaving that I feel was long forgot.

Frank