The Apartment

I was watching this classic from 1960 and there's a scene where Jack Lemmon lathers up and, after being interrupted by an annoying colleague, he starts to shave. His razor looks like a Gillette SuperSpeed. He does a quick downward pass on the cheek and stops, opens the razor, sees it has no blade, and with a satisfied smile, he plucks a blade from his shirt pocket, drops it in, and continues the shave. 

Now, I'm sure most of us keep a bare blade on hand in our shirt pockets. Aside from that, it got me thinking about the days when most men were wet shavers and it was a simple process all around. You went to the local drug store. You plunked down a few bucks. Invariably you bought a Gillette (sure, there were the Schick renegades but they were a minority). You bought a can of the supergoop, feeling oh so modern, and a pack of blades. Then you got on with it. 

If my father could see my shave den, he'd want me to commit myself. If he knew what I've spent on shaving supplies, he'd walk out of the grave and throttle me. 

As one of those guys who often waxes nostalgic for simpler times, I do find that I love the variety and quality of hardware and software we now have available. One of the refrains of my dad's generation was "I hate shaving!" As a kid I heard that often. Well, I and legions of others love it. 

And for that we have this community to thank for creating the market that has been so wonderfully well-served by the many vendors and manufacturers who have made it possible to consider a chore a true pleasure.

The image of your father rising from the grave to throttle you resonates. My father is still alive and at 91 I think he’d summon the energy to throttle me if he knew what I’ve spent on shaving. And I consider myself a moderate!  

My dad is beyond “tight” with money. I’d stack anyone’s cheapness up against his. He comes by it honestly. Family hails from Yorkshire and I don’t think any Scotsman could beat a Yorkshireman for cheap. Call it frugal, call it what you like but my dad’s shaving kit when I was growing up was a model of cheap. Plastic/Naugahyde kit with a broken zipper and cracked plastic lining, razor was possibly a fat boy maybe a slim I’m not sure because I haven’t seen it in decades but it was missing pieces. I think he used Wilkinson Sword blades, his brush was just a knot on a plastic plug, boar dyed to look like badger and it was a small, pathetic thing, he used a bar of baby soap stuck in a plastic travel soap container for lather and I use the term lather very loosely here. He never used aftershave or post shave product of any kind. Just water and cold at that. He had a very heavy beard too and I don’t know how he managed. Maybe that’s why he always had a five o’clock shadow. I figure I’m balancing the universe by spending the money on shaving that he never did.

Great description. I can see your dad perfectly from it, or at least his kit and his daily shaves. Perfect! Any my uncle Roy, from Scotland, would likely agree with you about the Yorkshiremen!

I can’t imagine ever going back to one razor and soap and I sure can’t imagine going back to canned creams. Promise not to keep a DE blade in my pocket, wrapped or naked.