A little while back – because four years is nothing – I wrote a little piece on the Rally dry shaver. And now, while aimlessly poking through online patent texts, I found the patent for it.
Filed in the US and Germany by a Swede, the Rally was, as I mentioned, a lawnmower for your face. A handy way to get rid of that five o’clock shadow. A great gift that would likely be used twice and then put in a drawer.
Continue readingA problem challenge with straight razors is that they require skill to keep sharp. A safety razor on the other hand – be it using double edged, single edged, or even wedge blades – requires a lot less skill. So it is perhaps inevitable that someone will come up with a straight that uses replacable blades. Today we often call them shavettes. But when A V Brokhahne and C Langbein patented an early version back in 1887, they choose a more descriptive name: attachable and detachable back for razor-blades.
Everyone needs a shaving mirror.
Everyone who shaves that is. But even a non-shaver might benefit from a modern mirror with a useful shelf and drawer. And best of all; according to Hobbies Weekly you can make one yourself.
Continue readingThe Big Fellow. A new – in 1920 – Old Type. Even if no one called it an Old Type back then, because the New Type wasn’t even a twinkle in Gillette’s eye.
So what is a Big Fellow, and how did I learn about it? Especially seeing as how I’ve not heard the term before, at least not used on a razor?
Continue reading
As much as the Great War can be considered ‘light’, here is some more light fare for summer.
More light fare for summer. Today we have a British short on how barbers were trained.
More light fare for the summer, this time a look at how a hairstylists, barbers and beauticians worked in the late fifties’ US.
“If attractive people are the leaders of society, then barbers and beauticians are the molders of leaders.” – although to me that is a very big if.
More light fare for summer. Perhaps Elmer should think a little before he has his head turned by a pretty skirt?
More light fare for summer. The key take-away is to make sure your barber is qualified.