Did your father actually try and teach you to shave?

No advice given by my dad, which is no sad loss as he always used electric shavers. I learned by trial and error as there was no internet in ye olden dayes. I have offered advice and guidance about shaving to my own sons so they have no excuse to say they were never taught by their dad. My eldest uses an electric (mostly) or a multi-blade. Son no.2 is a convert and uses a DE. No.3 is a twin blade disposable user. Hopefully they will all see the light eventually :)
 
Jeltz said:
But on the flip side I said to my 9 year old a week or 2 ago, "Want to watch me shave? You'll be having to do it some day." "Boring, no way, I'm watching Pokemon" (or some such drivel) was the reply
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That's kids for you! No sense of priorities :lol:
 
Used to stay at grandparents due to mum and dad divorcing when i was about 12-13yrs old.Remember my grandad had the gillette slim i think and the old spice mug.I used the typical hyped razor of the day and canned goo for years until i stumbled across this site after refusing to pay 10-11 quid for blades.. :lol: should of stayed with the old cartridge was cheaper..
 
andyjreid said:
Funny topic this,

Maybe it's rose tinted glasses but I really fancy trying Gillette blue II again.
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That was my weapon of choice for many years until I switched to DE shaving :D
Would take one with me if I was to be stranded on a desert island with no DE kit allowed
 
PaulH said:
andyjreid said:
Funny topic this,

Maybe it's rose tinted glasses but I really fancy trying Gillette blue II again.
Click to expand...
That was my weapon of choice for many years until I switched to DE shaving :D
Would take one with me if I was to be stranded on a desert island with no DE kit allowed
Click to expand...

Well the way I see it, it is a plain and simple twin blade razor. No moving pieces or anything.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR0OGHoYVh0[/youtube]

Good stuff! I wonder if Gillette had plans back then to keep increasing the number of blades. At some point it must have dawned on them to pursue this idea.
 
I used to watch my dad wet shave with a DE when I was a kid. It fascinated me. He always (and I mean always) used to sing the "Buddle Uddle Um Dum" song from Snow White as he was prepping and lathering up:

Step up to the tub
It ain't no disgrace
Just pull up your sleeves
And get up in place
Then scoop up the water
And rub it on your face
An' go blud-dle-ud-dle-ud-dle
Ud-dle-um-dum

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m20Mg04DmFo&feature=PlayList&p=0EC600DB65EF5736&index=3[/youtube]

Hell, memories. He uses a cartridge razor these days.

When it came to be my turn to start shaving, he gave me one of his old electric razors, telling me I didn't want to start wet shaving if I could help it.

As for the sex talk - he gave me all his old James Bond books, that was it.
 
No my father didn't show me how to shave, I learn't the hard way. My Dad has always wet shaved with a Gillette "NEW", he bought it new and its the only razor he has owned (he's 99 this year), one day in 1972 I loaded it up with a Wilkinson and proceded to try and scar my self for life, I actually got myself a Gillette TTO around this time may be when I was 16 (1974) and remembering this isn't for me (kept on cutting myself) so it was twin blades etc, if it wasn't for shaving forums I wouldn't know about technique etc etc, my Dad still shaves the same way, I asked him the other day how long a blade lasts for him he said 4 times, 2 each side and he only shaves ATG, lucky he didn't try and teach me.
 
andyjreid said:
PaulH said:
andyjreid said:
Funny topic this,

Maybe it's rose tinted glasses but I really fancy trying Gillette blue II again.
Click to expand...
That was my weapon of choice for many years until I switched to DE shaving :D
Would take one with me if I was to be stranded on a desert island with no DE kit allowed
Click to expand...

Well the way I see it, it is a plain and simple twin blade razor. No moving pieces or anything.
Click to expand...

This was my thinking with the Bic, but the Blue II is next on my 'to try' list. Seem to remember it clogged fairly quickly - but that was probably down to me only shaving a couple of times a week and using gel.
 
Vinny,

Go for it. I did today and the shave was absolutely fine. Not as close as a 2 pass with the HD and I could have done more passes with the Blue II, but, happy with the look and feel of a 2 pass.

A fine daily/travel/quick shaver.
 
My father and my older brother were both electric users by the time I started needing de-bumfluffed. I had mild excema on my elbow and leg joints around that age, one shave with the electric and my face looked sunburned. A couple of days later my father then gave me a Gillette Blue II and explained the principle to me but then left me to it. Later on life my eczema had cleared up and I tried an electric again, I bought the top of the line job and used it twice before giving it to my dad and buying some more Blue II's. I just want not cut out for electric, my father used to use a DE when he was a miner but later switched to electric.

So for me three was some level of teaching but in a miner town kind of way, the teaching was "watch myself with this and don't go sideways cause you will gash yourself." and that was about it. Mind you by that time (14) I was opening and closing the local social club bar (dad was the president), I cashing up the tills with my own set of keys to the safe and making up wages, this was all in the knowledge of the local police and community, things were just different then. At my fathers instruction I looked after the local community, for instance when anyone had a death in the family either my dad or me would take a 40oz bottle of Vodka and Whiskey and a condolence card from the Social Club singed by my dad on behalf of the club. This standing up and helping allowed my father to take a second evening job and make extra money to take us on holiday and put dinner on the table during hard times. I was not the average 14 year old by a long stretch.

We had a lot of private land available to us and I could drive better than some people with full licenses, I was taught by someone who owed my dad a favour (local amateur rally driver who taught me in a Vauxhall Magnum Firenza :D ), I learned how to control a slide before I learned to pass a test and do things like indicate. I could strip and lubricate and rebuild all the springs inside a 5 level lock or mechanical clock just as easily as I could strip an engine to component level and rebuild. My father taught me lots of things and for that I am eternally grateful, he gave me a base level in so any skills that still stand me in good stead to this day. They were all practical things but none of them were "man" skills like shaving, women and how to know when to stop drinking before you threw up.
 
Unfortunately, I've had to teach myself. My dad lost all his hair when he was 21, including facial hair. Even his eyebrows went. Since he has never had to shave, he had nothing to pass on to me when my bum-fluff decided to show its face. The added complication was that I was the first of my friendship group to need a shave, so I couldn't even ask my mates. So my first triumphant shave was with a Mach 3 and the Gillette Foam stuff. Of course, I cut myself to ribbons, and for the nest year or so I tried to avoid shaving as much as possible.

And to be honest, I've never really taken to shaving. That's why last week, at 22 years of age, I've decided to make a big effort to learn it properly, using the more traditional methods. I'm kicking myself now that I have missed out on years of smooth, comfortable (and cheaper) shaving. Let's just hope that my dad's hair loss isn't hereditary, as I'm beginning to enjoy shaving!
 
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