Wet Shaving Genetics

StraightRazorRookie · Post by **StraightRazorRookie** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 5:48 am

Was just rereading the intro to Chris Moss' excellent work, The Straight Razor Shave. I was reminded that this tradition of wet shaving was typically handed down, father to son.

Alas, not having sons, I have no one to hand this excellent ritual down to.

I taught myself to wet shave when I was about fourteen. Probably learned what I knew from watching numerous TV commercials. (Remember Farrah Fawcett lathering up Joe Namath in that Noxema commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM59nSkjEWU)

My dad used an electric, and he never showed much interest in teaching me to shave anyway.

So... I'm curious. Does anyone have stories about learning to wet shave - or teaching it?

jww · Post by **jww** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 6:02 am

Yup -- My pop was a Schick Injector man. So - when it came time for me to scrub away the peach fuzz that had become embarrassingly too long, he simply showed up one saturday morning with an adjustable injector, a can of some shave foam (I can't recall the name) and some Old Spice after shave. I used to watch mesmerized as a little boy on weekend mornings when Dad would shave, and could barely wait for my turn. He reminded me how dangerous an open blade was, and also how key it was to have soaked my face well prior to shaving with water as hot as I could stand it. I have only diverted from wet shaving for a short period when I tried an electric thinking it would be more convenient.

When I got into DE shaving, I showed Dad a bit of my collection -- he just grinned and said how he remembered the Fatboy when it first came out, and how scared he was to wield one. By that time, he had been forced to go to an electric razor because of sever tremors in his hands and arms. As some of you know, he passed away early in the summer of 2009. Man do I ever wish I could talk shaving with him again. Wonderful times.

desertbadger · Post by **desertbadger** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:09 am

My dad taught me to shave when I was 13 because my mom told me to shave the whiskers off my face. He used a Schick Injector so that was my very first razor. A short time later, one of my eccentric uncles found out I was shaving and gave me a brand spankin' new 49' Gillette Super Speed that he bought in 49' and then stashed away. I still have both of those razors and a lot of fond memories.

Regards,
David

StraightRazorRookie · Post by **StraightRazorRookie** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:51 am

Cool stories guys. Keep 'em comin'!

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:57 am

I taught myself - always had the basic elements down, just not the right tools! I stumbled upon the term "DE" in 2005, googled it and here I am!

I do look forward to teaching my sons...

paddy · Post by **paddy** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:58 am

a sorry tale to tell here. my dad was pretty much an electric man. i think that he wet shaved now and again, but for some reason he never did that father/son thing of teaching me how to shave. i had to learn all that myself through trial and error when i first started wet shaving when aged around 13 with cartridges and canned shave gel.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:52 pm

Ed, No, my story is not dissimilar from your own. My father did teach me a good deal about dressing; matching shirts with ties and that sort of thing, but like yours, he always used an electric so there really wasn't much to 'teach'. I also am self taught circa 1964. I was lucky because I found a good article on men's grooming in an back issue of a Playboy magazine and it covered the basic dos and don'ts and spared me from any blatant mistakes. I've taught both my sons traditional wetshaving, which they do, more or less. They use shave brushes and quality cream but neither was interested in tackling the DE, both opting for single blade Bic disposibles instead. Hey, I did what I could.
Regards,
Gordon

m3m0ryleak · Post by **m3m0ryleak** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:41 pm

Sometime in the sixties, I started "borrowing" my Dad's Gillette adjustable which he did not appreciate. One, being an ignorant teenager, I would leave the razor in the second floor bathroom and he have to come looking for it. Two, he never did offer to give me any shaving pointers and after almost slicing off one nostril, I was banned from using his razors. I ended up with an Norelco electric razor for years and a long line of carts after that. There was a distinct lack of Norman Rockwell in my family.

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:30 am

m3m0ryleak wrote:Sometime in the sixties, I started "borrowing" my Dad's Gillette adjustable which he did not appreciate. One, being an ignorant teenager, I would leave the razor in the second floor bathroom and he have to come looking for it. Two, he never did offer to give me any shaving pointers and after almost slicing off one nostril, I was banned from using his razors. I ended up with an Norelco electric razor for years and a long line of carts after that. There was a distinct lack of Norman Rockwell in my family.

...ahhh, now I see - this might explain the winging of the 1305 across the bathroom

jbc · Post by **jbc** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:21 am

I take it you have daughters rookie. You do know that women do the same job we do just on different parts of their person then we do. The techniques they use are identical to the techniques we employ and the razors we use can be equaly as effective on your daughters. So I would suggest showing them.

My pop has always used what ever most people are using in that era, however foolish I might think that is. He currently uses as Proctor and Gamble Gillette Fusion ProGlide. My grandmother always used a man's 1940s model super speed, she said that she got it from my grandfather. Other grandpop sued a 1960s model super speed, I have a twin to it. I have a five year old son who will inherit my two dovo inox blades as well as lessons on how to shave without killing himself.

StraightRazorRookie · Post by **StraightRazorRookie** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 2:11 pm

Sorry to be delinquent...

Yep, daughters. nearly 27. Twins. Sensibility tells me they will not listen to me about shaving. Not at this point anyway.

Falstaff · Post by **Falstaff** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:47 pm

My fondest memory is watching my father shave when I was 5 or 6 years old. Later in my youth, I'd sneak into my parent's bathroom only to remove the blade from my dad's Gillette Fat Boy, lather up, and practice shaving. Hell, when I hit puberty, I must have shave my 3 wihiskers twice a day.

marsos52 · Post by **marsos52** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 5:18 am

i dad used a super speed and a rolls razor

when it was time for me to start shaving..he wanted me to use a electric
my grandfather bought a electric and didnt like it so i ended up with it..
it didnt shave it plucked the peach fuzz and hurt like hell..

i still have that electric razor and it still runs and still plucks instead of shaves

dad never taught me to shave with a de or the rolls.. at 85 yrs young now adays he uses a multiblade and i have his super speed and rolls

i basically taught myself to shave with the de razor.. with a little help for a family friend who suggested to me a need to shave this way... never looked back since

marc

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 5:15 am

My dad had only one razor, but he had two shaving mugs and two brushes. That's it! He had a '30's Tech, the one with the triangular holes in the base plate, and it always was and still is too aggressive. Gillette modified it soon afterward, and the Tech heads with the rectangular heads are one of Gillette's best and most widely favored heads.

He used SC in a tube until they invented the canned stuff. He used that until he got his Old Spice mug and soap sometime in the early to mid '70's.

Getting back to the Tech, which I still have, I remember that he often had one or more bits of tissue on his face due to the cuts he received (for decades). He showed me how he shaved, and he was happy to let me use his razor. I have a clear memory of how one morning he showed me how he softened up his whiskers by applying a wet hot washcloth to the whiskers. Because I used his razor, and so did my younger brother, I often had cuts and tissue on them.

In high school I bought my own razor, new off the shelf, a Slim. I was so butt-ignorant, and being quite accustomed to the feel of an ultra aggressive razor, I promptly set the Slim on 9 and proceeded to cut myself every time I shaved, so instead of using my massive teenage brain power (I knew everything, of course) I decided I hate the razor. I've still got that one too.

I know that if my dad was still around, he'd be as interested in all of this wet shaving lore and paraphrenalia as I am. I'm very lucky to have his two shaving mugs and brushes, in addition to the razor. I've rebristled one of the brushes and gave it to my son. I've still got the other one, my dad's first brush, and am making plans to rebristle it with a nice soft badger knot at some point.

Montecristo #2 · Post by **Montecristo #2** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:36 am

These tales are fantastic, keep them coming.

StraightRazorRookie · Post by **StraightRazorRookie** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:50 am

Monte, thanks for bumping the thread. I wanna hear more too!