Advent 2021 – second surprise

Gifts&Care are selling a solidarity advent calendar this year to raise money and awareness for the ongoing volcanic eruption at La Palma. Let’s see what is in the second bag!

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Rapid Shave: Soaks whiskers soft, but not sandpaper

Commercials can be odd to begin with. And when you’re trying to stand out from the crowd, or try to drive a point home, they can get weirder still. Like this one, for Palmolive’s Rapid Shave shaving cream:

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Advent 2021 – first surprise

Gifts&Care are selling a solidarity advent calendar this year to raise money and awareness for the ongoing volcanic eruption at La Palma. Let’s see what is in the first bag!

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Shave of the day 1st December 2021

Razor: Schick E2

Blade: Schick Injector

Brush: Vie-Long #12705B

Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango

Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm

Additional Care: Alum block

Adapter for a handle and a cartridge of different razor systems

Don’t you just hate how your preferred handle don’t fit your favourite razor blade?

No, me neither. After all, all double edge blades based on the Probak / Gillette patents fits virtually all double edge razors.1 In the same way, virtually all injector blades will work with virtually all injector razors. And all GEM blades work with all GEM and EverReady razors.

If, however, you’re not engaging in what I consider “traditional wetshaving”2 but are using cartridges instead… yeah, then you may be familiar with the problem this patent is trying to fix.

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Shave of the day 29th November 2021

Razor: Schick E2

Blade: Schick Injector

Brush: Vie-Long #14033

Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara

Additional Care: Alum Block

SOTD 2021-11-29 – first shave with a 1941 vintage injector

Shave of the day 26th November 2021

Razor: Gillette Slim

Blade: Treet Platinum

Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger

Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara

Additional Care: Alum Block

SOTD 2021-11-26

Angelo’s other lathering device

The stationary – as in bolted down – shaving cup was not Angelo Piccione’s1 first foray into making an overly complex self cleaning lathering cup. Six years before the stationary cup he filed a patent for a, well, lathering device. The objective is more or less the same as his later lather cup. In the words of the patent text:

This invention relates to lathering devices for use by barbers to produce lather for shaving purposes, and has for its object the provision of a device of this character which permits of easily and conveniently cleaning the cup and brush after each shaving operation and thus render the same more sanitary as well as facilitating the work of the barber.

From US Patent 1,448,674
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Shave of the day 24th November 2021

Razor: Gillette Slim

Blade: Treet Platinum

Brush: Vie-Long #13051M

Lather: Cold River Soap Works Olfactory Hue

Aftershave: Myrsol Formula K

Additional Care: Alum Block

SOTD 2021-11-24
SOTD 2021-11-24

Stationary shaving cup

Angelo Piccione filed a patent for a stationary shaving cup in 1928. Which brought up some odd mental imagery, since in my line of work the opposite to stationary is self-propelled or towed…

A number of inventions straddle the line between insanity and brilliance. And while it’s clear that Piccione took a large step towards one of the two sides, I’m not sure what way he went with this.

Not only does Piccione’s invention sounds like it was a piece of heavy machinery, but the patent drawing1 also looks the part too. We got multiple valves, springs, and linkages. We got pipes, sprayers, and tie-rods. I can easily imagine this device in shiny brass, chrome, and glass – and part of me really wants one.

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