I am a very lucky guy for many reasons, but one of them is that I own an old razor that used belong to an old friend of the family that is – as far as I can tell – in near mint, unused condition. What better way to try SE shaving than with a razor that has a history attached?

Thanks to the friendly fellows at The Shave Nook I identified the razor as an Ever-Ready Model 1914, also known as the little lather catcher. Most of the guys who uses SE razors promised me that it was a wonderfully smooth and mild shave… more on that later

First we got to have pictures!

Riches revealed; a SE razor and almost full packs of blades.

Focusing on shiny objects is hard…

Two packs of blades, one full, one missing one blade – which is in the razor.

Everything out of the box.

Just the razor – nice knurled grip, balance near the head.

Closeup on the head – an interesting (to me) open comb with a bar. Not a spot of rust either, or even much dust.

The head head-on. The lettering on either side says “LIFT HERE” in a non-serif font.

The head opened, showing the blade that is in the razor. Two little tabs on each side holds it in place.

The blade out of the razor. I’m not sure what “radio steel” is, but I know that back in the day radio was a buzz word much like digital was in the 90’s.

A better view of the lettering on the blade.

The head with no blade. It’s a little hard to see, but the text says “American Safety Razor Oo. Inc. New York”. Again, it’s practically spotless.

The underside of the head, reading “Ever-ready” and “Patented March 24/14”

Another view of the underside. Seems to be a very slight bow to the bar connecting the ends of the comb, but that might be the surface I photographed it on.

One of the unopened blades. Compared to today’s packaging, this is pretty awesome.
    
This is the old, original blade. Notice how the solid sides lets the hooks on either side hold the blade in place easily.
    
Closing the lid though, it seems that the blade is pushed forward a bit and rests against two small bumps on the razor. The bear-trap lip seems to hold it securely in place too…

The only downside is… I can’t get it to give me a good shave. I can get a near BBS shave on my face with it in a single stroke, but once I get to my neck…. lets say I haven’t had this much razor burn and weepers since I started traditional wetshaving. I’m not sure if it’s the blade flexing – the original blades were certainly thicker and more rigid than the modern GEMs – or if it’s just me not being able to hold the EverReady at the right angle down low on my neck. At any rate it is a real shame, since I would really enjoy using this historic razor… but for now I’ll have to put it aside. Who knows, I might give it another go in a few months and see how I fare then?