Who still has their very first razor?

[ShadowsDad]

Another post in another thread prompted this one. I thought it interesting enough to start it as it's own thread. Let's hear about your first razor(s), do you still have it/them?

I began blade shaving twice. Once unsuccessfully and this latest time. The first time with one razor. This latest time with 4 razors. I have no idea where they came from for the most part, all I have are guesses. I just had them.

I began in '69/'70 with a Gillette black handle SS. I still have the very same razor, and it was the first DE razor I used when I returned to blade shaving this time. Though it wasn't my first razor used this time. It has been mothballed however, since it's too mild to take up space in the cabinet.

My first razor this time was a a GEM Featherweight, and I still have it and use it from time to time.

I also had an AutoStrop VC4 that I got blades for from Razor Blades and More. I still have the razor, but didn't realize that it was gold plated and ruined it through love and polish. It's still capable of a shave, but it's ugly now; it never was a beauty even in the condition (pre love and polish) as it came out of the drawer. I have it, but it's in the mothball fleet.

The last razor I started with was a Travel Tech. I used it for a time, and now it's my travel razor. It's too mild as is, but with 1 or 2 shims it works fine. The kit has enough blades for far longer than I'd ever be away from home. The original case was in terrible condition so I made a new one. It's smaller than it appears in the picture. FWIW, It's made of Delrin and goatskin.

[desertbadger]

I do! Actually two of them; The first one bought is a Schick J1.
The second is a razor gifted to me by my uncle a '49 Super Speed (the razor was brand new, he never used it) I recieved three days after I bought the Schick Injector. This was in 1964.

Regards,
David

[jww]

Great idea for a thread. I was just thinking about this not too long ago -- and how I came into the DE community.

I first bought two adjustables off the selling forum of SMF in 2006. A 1959 Fatboy and 1971 Super Adjustable (the one with the black handle). I PIFed the Fatboy after a year or so to a young newbie who was fascinated with DE razors and wet shaving. The following Christmas, my good wife found a replacement for the Fatboy and put it in my stocking.

I still use them both, although lately I have landed on a Slim adjustable that I picked up for next-to-nothing (less than $15 including shipping) a couple of years after I bought the first two razors.

To date, I only have 6 or 7 razors including 3 Techs, a Superspeed, the afore-mentioned Fatboy and slims, as well as an EJ Chatsworth. I haven't added to my humble collection for at least 3 or 4 years now ... not since I got the Chatsworth. I am very happy with what I have -- the Techs and SuperSpeed will go to sons and son-in-law-to-be when I pass away --- or sooner if they express a desire to join the "club". Until then, they remain stored and well protected for generations to come.

[changabang]

I still have, but don't use, the adjustable Schick M1 I bought on the campus of UNH circa 1963-64.

[John N.]

As mentioned on another thread, my first was a Schick J3 w/ Hydro-Magic Lever (helps when cleaning). That razor is long gone, but I still have and use the next two: a Schick M3 Adjustable and a Gillette Super Adjustable w/ long black handle. These last two are in great shape and in the rotation. A testament to the build quality back when I was but a tyke .
J.
PS
All the above purchased new...I'm a bit older than I am happy with. I actually remember the day I purchased the J3. I had lost my license for a few weeks for speeding, and decided it was time for a real razor (had been using an electric for a year or so...I was 16.). Hitched into town and got the Schick & some foam (Noxzema I believe) went home and shaved while feeling quite manly.

[harper]

I haven't the slightest idea what the first razor I used was since that was around/nearly 70 or so years ago ... most likely it was my dad's that I shared. Since then I have probably had over 20 razors ... most of them OK but a few clunkers. Currently I use a Futura and I think it is an excellent razor but I also use a Power ProGlide Fusion, mostly for some hard to shave areas. The razor that made the greatest impact on me was the TRAC 11 which I found a real razor breakthrough and still rate it highly. I am fortunate that I don't have any real skin problems and almost any razor works well for me. The absolutely worst razor I ever used was some wind-a - blade contraption that Gillette put out for a mercifully short time. When I was a kid I tried a Schick Injector and found it wanting. I tried one again about 25 years later and still didn't like it. I doubt at my age I will ever buy another DE razor unless I somehow misplace my Futura.

[bernards66]

Well, I see that a couple of other members also started shaving in 1964 along with me. Unfortunately I do not still have that razor although I had it for a long time. It was a long black handled Gillette adjustable. I know that the tables say that the 'Super Adjustable' did not come out until 1969 but the same razor was sold under another name ( at least in some areas, I was in NJ ) since 1963. I had that razor all through my 'crazy years'; when I moved frequently, owned almost nothing, lived in Mexico, lived in flop house hotels in NYC, etc. etc. It always worked, never jammed or gave trouble despite serious mis-treatment and neglect. Somhow, I don't know how or when, I lost that razor while here in Tampa. I finally was able to get one like it although the one I have now was made in 1969. Although I don't use it much these days it is still one of the best shaving DEs that I've ever used.
Regards,
Gordon

[CMur12]

Unfortunately, my first razor is long gone. I'm guessing that I started shaving around 1967 and my first razor, which I then used for five years until a grew a beard, was a Schick Type L Injector.

- Murray

[brothers]

Like many guys, the very first razor I used was my dad's. I've still got it, it's a fat handled Gillette Tech that has the triangular holes in the base plate. The last time he used it was when he was 56. I used it as a fuzzy chinned teenager, until I decided to go get my own when I got to be around 15 or 16. One day he gave me some advice about shaving. He reminded me that he held a hot wet washcloth over his whiskers for a little while to soften up the beard prior to applying the lather with his Erskine brush. I imagine he used Colgate, OS, or Williams soap.

[fallingwickets]

first razor here was a merkur which i still use

becks has washed away any memories of the real first razor

clive

[jww]

Actually, I need to correct my post -- as I was referring to when I moved to a DE razor in 2006. Before then, when I first shaved, it was a Schick Injector adjustable. My dad used one, and that's what I got as I entered puberty. Used it for several years -- up until I turned to the dark side and bought an electric. I only used that for a couple of years, than went back to Schick, but by that time, alas, I was forced to move to cartridges due to my ignorance of the availability of classic shaving supplies. As a wet shaver I only used can goo for a short period of time, and produced lather mostly by a boar brush that I purchased at a drug store years and years and years ago (it's long gone now, btw).

I feel guilt-free now.

[JRTASTER]

My first wet shave was in 1956-57. My razor was a hand-me-down Gillette,
Butterfly,model unknown, which had been my Dad's.

Canned foam, possibly Rise. Bits of toilet paper festooning from the oft-nicked chin. Old Spice over=applied to impress the chicks who got within 10 feet, however much it burned on application.

I often wish I still had that first razor. And even more the carefree and totally clueless days that went with it!

Recently moved to in-laws' former home and found and now use a vintage 60"s or 70's Gillette Adjustable "butterfly" which had been my late father-in-law's. So I've come nearly full circle, including (according to SWMBO) the clueless part.

jr/John

[vtmax]

Ah yes, Gillette Superspeed from their first run. My father bought quite a number of them in NYC back in the day. I still have a few and they remind me of him.

Max

[brothers]

My first wet shave was in 1956-57. My razor was a hand-me-down Gillette,
Butterfly,model unknown, which had been my Dad's.

Canned foam, possibly Rise. Bits of toilet paper festooning from the oft-nicked chin. Old Spice over=applied to impress the chicks who got within 10 feet, however much it burned on application.

I often wish I still had that first razor. And even more the carefree and totally clueless days that went with it!

Recently moved to in-laws' former home and found and now use a vintage 60"s or 70's Gillette Adjustable "butterfly" which had been my late father-in-law's. So I've come nearly full circle, including (according to SWMBO) the clueless part.

jr/John

Yep, I think the clueless part gets worse with time, not the other way around. At least that's the message I get from my wife also.

[celar36]

My first razor is unknown Gillette from my father and its sitting in my parents house to be used everything I will flight for a visit

[Pauldog]

I'm pretty sure my first razor was my dad's Gillette slim adjustable. I'm also pretty sure I still have it, though I've bought and sold a bunch of the same model on eBay, so I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I also have his fatboy, his black knob Super Speed (with brass handle rather than aluminum), and his Korean War-era Tech, and I might still have my grandfather's Eversharp Schick bakelite handled injector.

[JRTASTER]

I'm pretty sure my first razor was my dad's Gillette slim adjustable. I'm also pretty sure I still have it, though I've bought and sold a bunch of the same model on eBay, so I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I also have his fatboy, his black knob Super Speed (with brass handle rather than aluminum), and his Korean War-era Tech, and I might still have my grandfather's Eversharp Schick bakelite handled injector.

wow, so nice to have a collection so filled with nostalgia

jr/John

[Exapno]

My first wet shave was probably with a Gillette Contour as it would have the late 80's. It could have been my dad's, I really don't remember. In fact, I can't remember what he shaved with, he must have been a wet shaver at some time as I remember his face having little squares of tissue paper on it where he'd cut himself. He switched to electric at some point, as did I. At that time, he would only have had access to what was on the shelves at the supermarket or chemist, which I suspect wouldn't have been great.

Ny first DE was a Merkur Futur. Not a great choice as a first DE and I sold it on pretty quickly.

[ThePossum]

Don't have my first one but have one like it. Most likely it was a Gillette Slim Adjustable. I have two of them and only use them occasionally.

[Ouchmychin]

My first was a Remington electric bought about 1946-7. It was ok for a starter but one day in the early 50s it wore through and nicked my face pretty bad. I recall hurling it against the sheet rock in our living room to show my displeasure. Needless to say, I shocked my wife and got told off and had to fix the wall (we were renting at the time). About 1948 my dad showed me how to use a straight razor and gave me one of his. I used it until the little ones starting to come along and reverted to the electric. After that I got a Gillette DE that I still use occasionally. I got another Remington about 1960 when they had square form heads and cut pretty well until the head wore out. Guess that is enough history.