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Hairdressing & barbering

My grandfather also used a cut throat razor well into the 1950's but I only remember my father using a safety razor.

I remember that he used to re-use his safety razor blades by resharpening them. He would take the blade out of the razor and rub it along a thick piece of bright red glass that looked as if it was cut from the side of a beer bottle. It obviously wasn't as it was the wrong colour and had moulded edges.

He'd rub the blade a few times up and down the inside curve of the glass and then turn the blade over and do the other side. The curvature of the glass presumably wore a new cutting edge onto the blade.

I assume that it was a means of prolonging the life of blades during WWII when, being made of metal, they were probably difficult to come by. He continued the practice long after the end of the war, though - he was always careful with his money.

I reckon he'd have met his match with today's multiple bladed wet-razors.
 
It is remarkable that the invention of the disposable razorblade opened the market up to a large number of razor blade sharpening inventions.

People would use the inside of a glass tumbler, or the famous Lillicrap's Hone, made around 1930. They were made from green glass, which when Lillicrap's discovered the green colour came from Uranium quickly used this as a marketing method.

I also have some interesting intricate mechanical devices for sharpening razor blades. I'll have a go at filming it working if anyone is interested.
 
Hi Morturn,
I remember (vaguely) my Grandfather having a little machine to sharpen his blade. He reckoned to get a year out a blade with this. He told us that you could no longer buy the machines because Gillette bought up the patent, for obvious reasons!
Cheers,
Stan
 
I remember watching Grandad use his Cut Throat razor, and hardly daring to breathe in case he did just that!! He would carefully sharpen it with his belt, which he hung over a hook in the kitchen, stroking it alternately on each side.

I have one which has a broken blade, but is very useful for odd jobs. They sometime had ornate handles, like mine, which is black and "carved", and has it's own leather case.

(You can sharpen scissors by closing them round the neck of a glass bottle as though you were trying to cut the top off!!!)

rosie.
 
Thats correct the old teddy boys used to carry them the aston and the king standing teddy boys but on the whole
they was never much trouble from there it would have been a rare case if some-one attacked with them the old teddy boys of king standing used to use to old bed springs in gang fights
and the only time ever recorded was the teddy boys appeared at the aston cross picture house to see the one and only blly hayley not only rocked around the clock but rock the teddy boys and they dance down the isles and slashed all the seats in the house my old man used the stropp and the blade astonian
 
Does anyone remember the Rolls Razor? It was enclosed in its own container and it was sharpened by moving the handle back and forth.
 
I have a roles razor, most junk shops sell them, they must have made thousands.

The roles razor seems to bring to mind a guy called John Bloom; washing machines. think it all went bankrupt in a big way.
 
John Bloom,bought out Rolls Razor company mmainly I think to obtain their good name. As you say they made washing machines. These were (I believe) sold mainly by doorstep salesmen whose methods , if they were anything like my Cousin who worked for them, would not be acceptable today - thank goodness
 
I have a Rolls Razor on a curiosity shelf and figured out how to use it but have never done so. I use an electric trimmer on my beard...it has a trim depth control and does a quick job. Barbers still use the open blade to trim around hair with a little warm lather. The Rolls was not a 'cheap and nasty' device and I was suprised how much weight there was to the total unit. Chrome plated box and ingenious method of operation to reverse the blade on the back stroke when sharpening. Can't think that the total unit would have given a great shave thouigh but remember guys swearing by them....er...through the snicks and whisker stubs.
Can't agree with your disertation on family look-ups here. They are of interest only to the requester generally in my opinion and the history involved is encompassed by that unit pretty much in total. You can make a glossy case for anything...it does not make it so.
 
Has anyone heard of the Pyramid method of sharpening safety razor blades ? just place your old blade beneath a compass aligned pyramid and overnight it becomes sharp. Food will supposedly last longer if kept under a pyramid. I can already feel those raised eyebrows and knowing looks Arkrite gets plenty off youngsters and the not so young.
Though WW2 is a way back for some people local memories can cast long shadows. I know of a number of families in my area that had members dealing in the black market. In some peoples mind it was if it was only yesterday. No one likes it spread around that granddad was a black marketeer. The odd pig was one thing but wholesale butter sales another.You still to need tread carefully in case you crush tender toes.
 
Yes Arkrite, I have heard about the "Pyramid Theory"!! (I'm used to the raised eyebrows too!!) I believe they were on sale in the 1970's?
 
I can still picture dad standing at the sink (1940s & 50s) stripped to the waist, braces hanging down shaving with a cut throat - he always used one. During the first World War a fellow soldier asked him for a shave but unfortunately the guy moved and received a terrible cut -"filling a fire bucket with blood". Dad would have been on a charge if he hadn't been sent to the Front at that time.

I remember most Teddy boys wore studded belts (on top of one to hold up their drain pipes) rather than razors
 
When I started in hairdressing in 1968 my boss was an Italian lady named Carmen, that was the name of the shop in Four Oaks. She had trained in Italy as a barber and always used a cut throat razor to cut hair. I must admit it was magical to watch her she was so skillful with it. She would cut her English husbands hair with it and shave him. This was only done out of hours as there were no unisex hairdressers then. As has been mentioned she would sharpen the razors on a leather strap then put them away in a small pouch. We were only allowed to use safety razors to cut hair. Funny the things that stay with you as a memory.
 
I read somewhere that generally Cut throats were used by barbers as they were V difficult to use on your own face.Most men didn't shave in the week. Toffs grew moustaches and beards and sideboards. The American King Gillette invented the safety razor and gave a razor to all the American Troops in WW1 so when they went home they all bought his blades.
 
This trade card for Platts of 40 Dale End shows all the different services a dresser of hair might offer in the mid-1800s.

ImageUploadedByTapatalkHD1422785266.811313.jpg

One interesting service is their plaiting and weaving service. They worked with jewellers to produce all sorts of items, but I've seen some items come up on the Antiques Roadshow etc where a piece was produced from the hair of a person after they had passed away.

The embellishments around the card look like the sort of items they produced, all plaited or woven hair set in pieces of jewellery.

I wondered why they specifically mentioned they attended to boarding schools. Maybe this was either a contract to cut a number of pupils hair at once or maybe parents could arrange for their children's hair to be cut through Mr Platt.

And the proprietor has a most fitting name for his trade too!

Does anyone have any of these pieces of jewellery in their families? Viv.
 
Lovely advert Vivienne. A lot of mourning jewellery contains plaited and woven hair. It's very intricate. I agree with you it would be more worthwhile visiting a boarding school as, all the clients are in one place more profitable.
 
What a pretty card Vivienne! Hair-woven jewellery is so beautiful, I saw some in a little museum a few years ago.
A few of my ancestors were hairdressers in Ladywood and one was a wig-maker too.
rosie.
 
It's one of the few services still on our High Streets. In our town we have at least 8 hairdressers and barbers. And of course they're unlikely to disappear like so many other services.

In the 1960s and 70s my friends and I were forever trying out all sorts of looks. This was all helped along by having our own home 'sit-under' hairdryer. But they took forever to dry your hair and were terrifyingly unbalanced machines. It was usually quicker to dry it with the hand-held hairdryer. I remember when all ladies hair salons only had the sit-under type of dryer, there was no 'blow drying' in those days.

My mum had friends in the business and got me a lovely hairpiece, perfectly matched to my hair colour. I think it was made of human hair and styled so well. Always wore it on a night out. But it had to be planned in advance so that it was rollered up the night before. It sat on the back of my head with tumbling curls. I loved it.

Viv.
 
Shave Sir! A photo from Astonbrook-through-Astonmanor.co.uk. 1 Clarendon Street in the 1930s. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalkHD1422993460.111400.jpg
 
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