#1

Vintage Shaver
Seattle, WA
Here on the forums we talk a lot about the qualities of our various shaving gear - the weight, blade gap, and balance of razors, the sharpness, smoothness, and durability of blades, the backbone and tip softness of brushes, the cushion and glide of soaps and creams, etc. But what I especially appreciate sometimes, while shaving, is the other somewhat intangible quality that some of these items have for me in their ability to stimulate my sense memory.

For example, this morning I used an Elite Razor brush with a reclaimed poplar handle, and I was reminded that the Mona Lisa and many other early Renaissance Italian masterpieces were painted on poplar wood. And similarly, using the Triad red bronze razor handle, I remembered standing and looking at the Ghiberti bronze doors on the Baptistry in Florence during my junior college year of study abroad, being amazed at the thought of some of them being ripped out of their frames by the disastrous flood of the city two years earlier. Using the vintage Brooks Brothers shaving soap, I felt a sort of kinship with other past BB customers, including Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, and Fred Astaire. And finally, finishing my shave with old Pierre Cardin splash aftershave, I thought about its launch in 1972 and my memory of buying a bottle of it then - one of my first purchases of a "classy" aftershave - to use in preparing for my initial experience of being a best man at a friend's wedding.

A lot of the various things in my shaving gear collection, especially the vintage items, with their different fragrances, textures, colors, and feels, are able to bring to me the memories - many, but not all of them, happy and pleasurable ones - of meaningful times in my past. And this, as much as their more easily measured and described, objective attributes, is why I love this pastime of wet shaving.

BadDad, User 1429, CHSeifert and 10 others like this post
John
#2
Eloquently crafted post. This is why I cannot live without Floid Amber!

CHSeifert and Freddy like this post
#3

Posting Freak
Canada
Lovely post, John! Happy2

CHSeifert and Freddy like this post
Celestino
Love, Laughter & Shaving  Heart
#4

Member
Las Vegas, NV, USA
John, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Although I think most of us who have taken up this hobby tend to pay attention to details, your post has certainly reminded me to pay even more attention to the little things in wet shaving. Hopefully my experiences going forward within this pastime will help cement certain details into memory (or bring up experiences from the past), as they so clearly have done for you.

Freddy likes this post
Whenever I go to shave, I assume there’s someone else on the planet shaving, so I say “I’m gonna go shave, too.”
– Mitch Hedberg
#5

Vintage Razor Fan
Southwestern NY
Nice thought!

I only have a couple of items that bring back personal memories for me, but these memories are cherished and very welcome to me. Often, my various vintage razors and software seem to take me back to a time long before my own life. It's one of the things that I enjoy most about traditional wet shaving.

Matsilainen and Freddy like this post
-Rob
#6
Very nice post

Freddy likes this post
Cheers, Claus from Denmark
#7

Super Moderator
San Diego, Cal., USA
John, that is a great post. I, too, have one or two pieces of gear that trigger pleasant memories. While many may wonder why we consider wet shaving so pleasurable, your thoughts bring in a wonderful aspect that those on the 'outside' might never consider.

Blade4vor, Matsilainen and Cincinnatus like this post
#8

Member
Southern Ohio
Great post John. I agree with the others and wonder if most of us wet shave in the hopes of bringing back lost memories or to hearken back to a different time. I used a Wade & Butcher straight this morning and I can never help but to think of the history that razor has seen and where it might have traveled.

Blade4vor, Marko, Matsilainen and 1 others like this post
#9

Super Moderator
San Diego, Cal., USA
(01-12-2017, 02:06 PM)Cincinnatus Wrote: Great post John.  I agree with the others and wonder if most of us wet shave in the hopes of bringing back lost memories or to hearken back to a different time.  I used a Wade & Butcher straight this morning and I can never help but to think of the history that razor has seen and where it might have traveled.

^This!  I have stated this before and for me it is one of the great pleasures of using vintage hardware and software.  Using a 100 year old antique razor gets me thinking about its travels, how it eventually ended up with me, and, even, where its next stop will be.  It is almost a private bit of time travel. Smile

Blade4vor, Marko and Matsilainen like this post
#10

Member
Central Maine
(This post was last modified: 01-12-2017, 06:49 PM by ShadowsDad.)
(01-12-2017, 05:29 PM)Freddy Wrote:
(01-12-2017, 02:06 PM)Cincinnatus Wrote: Great post John.  I agree with the others and wonder if most of us wet shave in the hopes of bringing back lost memories or to hearken back to a different time.  I used a Wade & Butcher straight this morning and I can never help but to think of the history that razor has seen and where it might have traveled.

^This!  I have stated this before and for me it is one of the great pleasures of using vintage hardware and software.  Using a 100 year old antique razor gets me thinking about its travels, how it eventually ended up with me, and, even, where its next stop will be.  It is almost a private bit of time travel. Smile

Agree 100% to both posts and others that I didn't quote.

Matsilainen, Blade4vor, Marko and 1 others like this post
Brian. Lover of SE razors.


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)