And It Cuts Like A Knife

Well, not really, but “shaves like a straight razor” just don’t have the same ring to it. I was clearing off some space on my desk. It’s really kind of an adventure, or more like an archaeological dig. There are layers of this, this and the other, which seem to accumulate without any conscious effort on my part. I think it’s really just an outward manifestation of my cluttered mind, but it doesn’t seem to be harmful, so I have learned to live with it. These are 3 of my favorite straight razors from my collection. The black handled one is a Red Point. The reverse side of the blade says “Anton Wingen Jr., Solingen Germany. That’s the original box there beside it. The red circle is surrounded by metal inlay and the letters “Red Point Razor” are inlaid metal as well. The next one is a Silver Beauty, and I just love the tortoise shell handle, with the little metal inlays. On the reverse it says “Hamburg Concave”. The third one is the plainest of the three, and the blade says “Manganese Steel”. The other side reads “Wester Bros. Anchor Brand, Made in Germany. I like this one because the handle is ivory, mellowed with age to the color of, well, old ivory. These were essential components of the morning toilet of well turned out gentlemen in the late 19th and early 20th century. There were enough varieties that a man would be able to find one that suited his style and station in life. They come from a time before everything was disposable. From a time when a man’s choice of razor reflected how he saw himself. Using one of these on his face and neck was probably one of the few times that it was not seen as “unmanly” to be delicate. And if he wasn’t when he first began to use one, I don’t imagine it took him too long to learn. Barbering these days is a slowly vanishing trade, and there are few men who have regular standing appointments for a shave. But back in the days of these razors, I can imagine few people a man would have to have more trust in than the man he lay back in a chair and bared his throat to, with one of these in his hand. And in case you didn’t notice (and I didn’t when I snapped the pic) there is an uninvited subject posing for his portrait on the box. Musca domestica, the common housefly, still around in mid-November. Hmm, maybe there is something to this global warming thing….