First Traditional Item

Sabre

Sabre

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What was your first traditional shaving item?

I purchased my first DE in 1991 when Boots had a promotion on Wilkinson Sword DE razors. I continued to use shaving foam before switching to shaving gel. In 2003 I discovered Ingrams and an Erasmic Boar brush at regional chain in the North - Boyes. I finally discovered TOBS, Omega boars and French shaving soaps in 2008.
 
Sabre said:
What was your first traditional shaving item?

I purchased my first DE in 1991 when Boots had a promotion on Wilkinson Sword DE razors. I continued to use shaving foam before switching to shaving gel. In 2003 I discovered Ingrams and an Erasmic Boar brush at regional chain in the North - Boyes. I finally discovered TOBS, Omega boars and French shaving soaps in 2008.
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It was a three piece OC razor bought from Woolworths and some Willkies just before I joined the army back in 1981, I was still using canned goop but it did the job! I can't remember if it was a named razor or not but it was a little agressive but I stuck with it untill left the army and then switched to cartridge razors untill 2016 where I got fed up with the price of cartridge heads and thought I could save a fortune by buying a Muhle R89 and some Astra SP blades along with a boar brush and some shave soap, little did I know how much more it would cost me in the long run!
However it's been enjoyable and my use of plastic has just about ended! :) P.
 
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Mine was a hand-me down Tech, given to me by my Dad around about 1977, he showed me the ropes, i shared his brush and soap, i think it was a standard Natural bristle, nothing flash. He did use Palmolive and i think Wilky sticks, we used Wilkinson sword blades.
The Old Man used to have to shave twice a day, he had a beard as stiff as stair-rods, i had bum-fluff and he still beat me every-time.
Oh i wish i still had that Tech, He always used either a Gillette Tech or a similar Wilkinson sword until the day he passed.
I moved on to fancy cart razors, electric, cart - electric and so on, i do not know what happened to my Tech.
Years later, when we were researching my Grand-pops shenanigans in Flanders during the Great War, i picked up a Vintage (WW1) shave ready straight in an old shop, the proprietor showed me the hanging hair test. I ended up chopping myself up for about 3 weeks and one day in 2008 it just clicked, i bought a few other Str8 razors and again the old Str8 razor was either passed on or just forgotten about. I Str8 shaved for about 6 months then work took over, back to electric, i used to keep one in my desk drawer at work in-case i had a meeting.
Pops took really poorly and we all helped Mam to look after him, i could see when my sisters were shaving him with the crappy electric razor they had bought his face used to drop. I started with once a week i would take him into the bathroom and get his old Tech out, His Palmolive stick and an old boar brush and away we went, the 1st few times i was absolutely crapping myself, In his 80s he still had black hair with some grey and thinning but it was all still there, his Beard was just the same. i went from 60/100 to 90-95/100 in a few weeks and he really looked forward to his "special" shave days, A splash of aftershave and it really lifted him.
When we lost him a couple of years ago i missed that little special time we had together so i thought bugger it. Early in 2018 I bought a Merkur 23C long handle, and Omega Pure badger brush and dug out the old soaps i used for my Str8 shaving and away i went down the rabbit hole.
Sadly All of Dads shaving kit got misplaced when the girls were helping Mam clear the house.:cry:.
T
 
Tony'schin said:
Mine was a hand-me down Tech, given to me by my Dad around about 1977, he showed me the ropes, i shared his brush and soap, i think it was a standard Natural bristle, nothing flash. He did use Palmolive and i think Wilky sticks, we used Wilkinson sword blades.
The Old Man used to have to shave twice a day, he had a beard as stiff as stair-rods, i had bum-fluff and he still beat me every-time.
Oh i wish i still had that Tech, He always used either a Gillette Tech or a similar Wilkinson sword until the day he passed.
I moved on to fancy cart razors, electric, cart - electric and so on, i do not know what happened to my Tech.
Years later, when we were researching my Grand-pops shenanigans in Flanders during the Great War, i picked up a Vintage (WW1) shave ready straight in an old shop, the proprietor showed me the hanging hair test. I ended up chopping myself up for about 3 weeks and one day in 2008 it just clicked, i bought a few other Str8 razors and again the old Str8 razor was either passed on or just forgotten about. I Str8 shaved for about 6 months then work took over, back to electric, i used to keep one in my desk drawer at work in-case i had a meeting.
Pops took really poorly and we all helped Mam to look after him, i could see when my sisters were shaving him with the crappy electric razor they had bought his face used to drop. I started with once a week i would take him into the bathroom and get his old Tech out, His Palmolive stick and an old boar brush and away we went, the 1st few times i was absolutely crapping myself, In his 80s he still had black hair with some grey and thinning but it was all still there, his Beard was just the same. i went from 60/100 to 90-95/100 in a few weeks and he really looked forward to his "special" shave days, A splash of aftershave and it really lifted him.
When we lost him a couple of years ago i missed that little special time we had together so i thought bugger it. Early in 2018 I bought a Merkur 23C long handle, and Omega Pure badger brush and dug out the old soaps i used for my Str8 shaving and away i went down the rabbit hole.
Sadly All of Dads shaving kit got misplaced when the girls were helping Mam clear the house.:cry:.
T
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A great story, thanks for sharing it.

I started this hobby in in the summer of 2016 in small drips and drabs, as I despised how the canned foam felt on my face so I bought a Palmolive Stick and Wilkinson Sword brush, which I used with disposables for a bit before buying the Wilkinson Sword plastic razor from a chemist.

I started DE shaving daily from September/October 2016 as my morning's first cigarette with another ritual, a wet shave.

I might have spent a few quid on the wet shaving hobby since then, but it's really nothing to what I would have spent on cigarettes!
 
Between 2003 and 2008 I used Ingrams, Jordanian Erasmic, the Wilkinson Sword blue bowl, the Erasmic black bowl and sticks, Palmolive cream and sticks.

I had no idea of TOBS, GFT, T&H. I had heard of Penhaligons but only for soap and fragrances. Strangely I shopped in Jermyn Street for shirts. Then again the shoe and hat shops passed me by too.
 
i remember coming home from school & been told to go shave .in the bathroom i found a brush ,palmolive stick & a bic razor . around 14 y/o i think the brush fell apart in a month, so i had to buy my own brush wilkinson sword crap but it was the only one i could afford & still buy a gillette razor & carts on paper round money .. shaved like that for 15 years . just after the millenium i got fed up with the cart razor scam , bought a wilkinson sword classic & a gillette tech of the bay & then the addiction began ,lol
 
I didn't take up traditional shaving until my 40s!

I know, I know ... but as a teenager I simply could not afford, well couldn't afford soap either, so whatever was on the sink. I think I got a Gillette Sensor, which felt rather plush at the time. I shaved with cartridges thereafter, having been on the disposables before. Wilko Retractor, from memory.

I did get a Wilkinson Sword brush from the supermarket at some point in the earlier 2000s.

Aside from that, it was a puck of MWF (yes, I think this was my first purchase), a Merkur 23C with the long handle and then a badger brush from eBay. A pal from another forum who I met on here sent me a pack of mixed blades to get going with while my kit arrived.
 
Danielsan87 said:
Treet Starline (tto razor), proraso green soap and omega 49 all together
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This?
693.jpg


Was it any good, or not so much?

.
 
TobyC said:
This?
693.jpg


Was it any good, or not so much?

.
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Yes, that's the one.
TobyC said:
This?
693.jpg


Was it any good, or not so much?

.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's the one. It is more efficient than its Gillette counterpart. You feel the blade more. It's head heavy. The Tto Mechanism is not as good as the Gillette, but it's good enough to make it work. The finishing is.. .meh

I think I paid €8 (It was 10ish years ago). For that price it's not a bad razor. I still have it and I use it seldomly.
 
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