Grandpa's Gear

I've read many times about guys asking their dad or granddad if they still had their old razors. Well, both of my grandpas passed away about 25 years ago. I had asked my dad when I first started wet-shaving if he still had his dad's razor. He basically laughed and said "we just used to toss those cheap things out".

I don't know why but I never asked my mom or grandma...she's 91 but recently suffered a stroke. Seeing as how there may not be much time left, I asked. She said she had no idea but to check the medicine cabinet and basement. Well, I haven't had a chance to get to her house (a two-hour drive) but I got a call from my mom yesterday. Not only was the razor in the medicine cabinet but grandpa's brush and an Old Spice mug with soap still in it!

Mom doesn't know what kind of razor it is and simply told me it was silver. I'll be heading over to my parents house some time today to pick up everything. My guess is that the razor is most likely a SuperSpeed. I also plan on picking up a card for Grandma...hopefully, the card and a hand-written letter will be a little more pleasing to her than the Get Well cards she's been receiving!

The anticipation of picking up Grandpa's old razor has been fantastic...a million times better than waiting on a new soap or razor to arrive in the mail! Hopefully, this little lesson will encourage someone to at least ask

Congratulations and I hope your grandma recuperates, quickly.

Wonderful post, thanks and best wishes for your grandmother's speedy recuperation.

Cheers, Steve

Thanks guys - we're praying for her!

That's awesome Jason! I would have loved to acquire some of my Grandpa's old shaving gear. I hope your Grandma gets better soon.

That's awesome Jason! I would have loved to acquire some of my Grandpa's old shaving gear. I hope your Grandma gets better soon.

Thanks Jeff! She's doing better today...less tired and more strength.

Picked up the gear this afternoon. Razor is a SuperSpeed and is in rough condition. The twist knob will open the doors but is loose. Plus, there is quite a bit of gunk on it and a few areas are turning green. There was still a blade in it and it has left some rust on the base plate. Hopefully, it will clean up well enough that I can get the code so I'll have some idea of when Grandpa bought it. The brush doesn't have any markings and doesn't appear to be vintage. The Old Spice mug has soap scum but I didn't see any chips. Still can't believe all of this has just been sitting in a medicine cabinet for 27 years

Wow that's pretty sweet.

No matter the condition, it's just neat to have a razor from previous generations!

Glad to hear your grandmom is doing better.

I haven't had a chance to clean the gear as well as I would like to but here are some Before & After pix after the initial cleaning.  The cleaning process so far has simply been scrubbing with a toothbrush, alcohol-bath, barbicide-bath, and a run through the dishwasher.  It is an F2 which the chart I found indicates it was 2nd quarter of 1960. He probably used the razor for a good 30 years!

The twist knob is broken and I thought about trying to figure out how to fix it.  Then I realized, Grandpa worked it "as is" for probably quite a few years.  And the thought of loading/unloading blades with the same "broken" feature that Grandpa used is more intriguing/sentimental to me than fixing the issue.







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