Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Lea Shave Stick
Brush: Omega #50014 travel boar
Razor: Merkur 985CL Open Comb travel razor with Treet blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Lea Shave Stick
Brush: Omega #50014 travel boar
Razor: Merkur 985CL Open Comb travel razor with Treet blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
An injector is one of those things I want to try at some point, but it seems that they are harder and more expensive to get hold of than good old DE’s or even out of production SE’s… but if Mr A F Terenzi’s invention had taken off back in ’58, they might have been a lot more common these days.
Taking advantage of the tab that sticks out the side of a dispenser of injector blades, he came up with a simple, seemingly easy to manufacture injector head that allowed the shaver to use the dispenser as a handle.
In the inventors own words, this addressed
the need for an economical razor to take the place of one forgotten or lost in transit or while travelling or when needed, particularly when unexpectedly called away from home or for use in guest rooms, hotels, motels or the like.
In addition, the inventor pointed out that such a razor head would be semi-disposable:
…an improved, simplified razor blade holder utilizing injector type blades which are currently available and sold in injector blade dispensers, and which according to this invention the blade dispenser may be readily used in conjunction with the improved holder to provide a handle means therefore. As the improved holder of this invention can be economically manufactured, each injector blade dispenser may be provided with a novel holder of this invention so that a user may be provided with a fresh, clean razor with every purchase of such blades, and thereafter the holder may be discarded along with the blade dispenser upon exhaustion of the blade supply.
It is a shame this invention didn’t take off… I would much rather have found something like this in my hotel room than a cheap, plastic disposable, and it would have made a handy, compact travel razor.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Lea Shave Stick
Brush: Omega #50014 travel boar
Razor: Merkur 985CL Open Comb travel razor with Treet blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
I keep coming back to the free book Shaving Made Easy, since it’s both a fun read in it’s old fashioned way and I learn something new.
Today I was looking up what the author had to say about mirrors;
Position of the Mirror.
The mirror should hang between two windows if possible, so that when you look into it the light will fall directly upon both sides of your face. You will then be able to get a good reflection of either side. Remove the collar. To prevent soiling the shirt, place a towel around the neck in an easy, comfortable manner, pinning it at the side.
The importance of good light aside… remove the collar?
Turns out that a well dressed gentleman a century ago not just shaved in his shirt, but said shirt had a detachable collar like this one:
The upside was that the collar could be kept clean and well starched, which apparently was the Done Thing for a respectable gentleman at the time… so well starched in fact that the Norwegian (as well as Danish and German) term for a detachable collar was “Father murderer” – the idea being that the stiff edge could slit your throat if you turned your head around.
While we might still slit our throats with out razors, at least our shirts aren’t going to be the end of us these days…
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint
Lather: Lea Shave Stick
Brush: Omega #50014 travel boar
Razor: Merkur 985CL Open Comb travel razor with Treet blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Orange
Lather: Mike’s Natural Orange, Pepper & Cedarwood Shave Stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE mixed badger/boar
Razor: (Probably) Merkur Bakelite slant with a Treet Platinum blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
More is better, right? And before we had razors with multiple blades, we had razor blades with multiple edges… and if two edges (DE) is good, then three or four edges must be better!
I suspect that was the line of logic Mr J K Waterman followed in 1909 when he applied for a US patent. In is own words, the object of his invention was to provide to the public:
…a safety razor which will be adaptable to all portions of the face, and which will have a great extent of cutting edge, and withal will’ be simple of construction and convenient of manipulation in assembling and separating its parts…
The actual design don’t look too bad, even if getting the curvature right on the head must have been tricky – a regular DE is a two dimensional curve (yes, even a slant), whereas Mr Waterman’s invention required a head curved in three dimensions.
The sticking point with this razor is the blades though… as can be seen in the drawing, they have the shape of a Maltese cross, and would be much costlier and more difficult to manufacture than regular DE blades. Shame really, because the idea of four edges is oddly tempting.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Lavender
Lather: MIke’s Natural Coconut (sample)
Brush: Vie Long 14033 mixed horse/badger
Razor: (Probably) Merkur Bakelite slant with a Treet Platinum blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid After Shave Cream
Shaving made easy is a book from 1904 that I have mentioned before on my blog.. it’s an interesting read and it’s free (as in beer), so why not download it and give it a read? Even if it’s 110 years since the book was printed, the advice given is just as valid.
On my latest read through of it, I spotted the following sage advice:
If a man cuts himself while shaving, it is usually due to certain causes that are easily avoidable. The principal causes are six in number:
- First—Attempting to shave with a dull razor.
- Second—Using a sharp pointed razor.
- Third—Shaving with a razor that is too hollow ground, so that the edge springs and bends on the face.
- Fourth—Holding the razor improperly.
- Fifth—Shaving upward against the growth of the beard.
- Sixth—Shaving in too great a hurry.
If you will avoid these mistakes and exercise proper care, you will seldom cut yourself. But when you do, it will be well to know how to treat the wound. If it be slight, the bleeding may sometimes be checked by using pressure. Covering the fingers with a towel, simply press the cut together. If this does not stop the flow, use an astringent. The styptic pencils, made especially for this purpose, are the best, and may be obtained at any store where barbers’ supplies are kept. In case you should not have the pencils, alum may be used. In any event do not be discouraged, for such accidents sometimes happen to the best barbers.
I suspect the second and third reasons don’t quite apply to those of us using a DE or SE, but the other four holds true.