The ideal gift – anno 1941

The more things change, the more they stay the same… like bad ties, razors are a recurring suggested ideal gift for the man or father in your life. So it is today, so it was in 1959, and so it was in war torn 1941.

A 1941 ad for the ideal gift - a Rolls Razor
1941 advertisment for the ideal gift – the British Rolls Razor

Thinking about it, a Rolls Razor makes a lot of sense in a war. The razor uses a wedge blade, and the box has a built in semi-automatic strop and hone. Easy to use too, if YouTube is to be believed. This means that you would need one – 1 – blade, and that came with the razor. So while a Rolls Razor required more steel up front, over the years you would save materials. It is, as they say, an ideal gift for wartime Christmas.

Thinking about it, it would be an ideal gift for someone who cares deeply about the environment too. For the same reason too, you’ll only need one blade.

And it would be an ideal gift to me too, since I am a little crazy for old razors and such things…

A little of topic, the mention of the Lend-Lease Act is interesting and typical for the time. As far as I know, one of the provisions of the act was that war critical material – such as stainless steel – procured under Lend-Lease could not be sold back to the United States.

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