The safety razor sat on top of a shabby cardboard box in a local collectables shop in the Tasmanian town in which I live. Just a few days ago, I knew little about vintage razors, having just returned to DE shaving. A few years ago I bought a razor, but for some reason I hadn't persisted, and now I decided to end the disposable madness for good. Although I didn't know it at the time I re-discovered it, the razor was a Mercur Futur, a fine implement, but a beast of a machine. It shaved really well on the number one setting, but I had the feeling I was stroking a muzzled Pit-Bull.
In the shop, I put the vintage razor to one side and picked up the dilapidated box that was marked ‘Airlit' and promised ‘guaranteed rustproof silky safe shaves'. It also contained two small sheets of paper with shaving instructions and extolling the advantages of the ‘screw-in type handle over studded type Safety Razor'. There was other information such as hygiene tips and the fact that the razor was manufactured in Australia from the ‘finest materials of their kind prucurable'. Also in the box was a curious metal part that looked like it might be some sort of razor rest. Try as I might, I could find no reference on-line to Airlit or its products.
Turning my attention to the razor, it soon became clear, even to my untrained eye, that this was not an Airlit razor. It was a slim handle three piece, with the Gillette brand on the underside of the baseplate and the words ‘Made in England'. The Internet has since taught me that it is a slim-handled Gillette flat-bottomed Tech, made probably in the 1940s. It's in very good condition, I'm thrilled to have it. It's a joy to use, smooth and forgiving, but I do wonder what the original contents of the box looked like. It also occurred to me that I might own the only surviving Airlit box with its little information sheets. Do I have a responsibility to archive the contents somewhere before they are lost forever? Or doesn't it really matter?
In the meantime, I look forward to my shave every day - it's now a ritual that I no longer rush, but savour. I can't wait for two other shavers I've ordered to arrive - a Maggard, and a Viking's Blade Chieftain. Sad isn't it?
In the shop, I put the vintage razor to one side and picked up the dilapidated box that was marked ‘Airlit' and promised ‘guaranteed rustproof silky safe shaves'. It also contained two small sheets of paper with shaving instructions and extolling the advantages of the ‘screw-in type handle over studded type Safety Razor'. There was other information such as hygiene tips and the fact that the razor was manufactured in Australia from the ‘finest materials of their kind prucurable'. Also in the box was a curious metal part that looked like it might be some sort of razor rest. Try as I might, I could find no reference on-line to Airlit or its products.
Turning my attention to the razor, it soon became clear, even to my untrained eye, that this was not an Airlit razor. It was a slim handle three piece, with the Gillette brand on the underside of the baseplate and the words ‘Made in England'. The Internet has since taught me that it is a slim-handled Gillette flat-bottomed Tech, made probably in the 1940s. It's in very good condition, I'm thrilled to have it. It's a joy to use, smooth and forgiving, but I do wonder what the original contents of the box looked like. It also occurred to me that I might own the only surviving Airlit box with its little information sheets. Do I have a responsibility to archive the contents somewhere before they are lost forever? Or doesn't it really matter?
In the meantime, I look forward to my shave every day - it's now a ritual that I no longer rush, but savour. I can't wait for two other shavers I've ordered to arrive - a Maggard, and a Viking's Blade Chieftain. Sad isn't it?
