You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk powered by Sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Borrelli and today is April 22nd,2024.
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Today on the Show:
Barn Find Gillette An Awesome 2024 Story!
Email: Are Simpson Brushes Worth it?
How Does Your Morning Routine Affect Your Kids?
May Is Dedication to Single Edge Safety Razors
A Month With Tabac Coming to an End!
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Barn Find Gillette!
Hard to believe that just after a week of the last cast I was contacted by someone who literally found a Bottom Dial. This razor was found while cleaning an old estate.
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Email: Are Simpson Brushes Worth It?
I received an email from a listener asking if Simpson Brushes were worth purchasing.
I think they make some excellent brushes. All badger brushes are hand tied in the handle and they make some of the best synthetic shave knots out there. Prices vary but you can get one for under $100.
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How Does Your Morning Routine Affect Your Kids?
Father’s Day is approaching (well in a couple of months). There’s a good chance if you’re listening to this, you probably have memories of your father/grandfather’s morning routine that bring a smile to your face.
Understanding this, as times change do we realize that we may have the same effect on our kids? Yes, the world seems faster now and with tons of information available at our fingertips. Many people these days go days without shaving, no longer wear a tie and even work from home.
How do we slow down to give our children the same experience we had? I’ll tell you my thoughts. Check out this article from last year: https://sharpologist.com/nostalgia-shaving/
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May is Dedication to Single Edge Safety Razor Month
There are many wet shavers who love Single edge razors! It’s probably the most altered design in all of wet shaving.
For May, I will be using nothing but Single Edge Safety razors and will feature several types each cast. If you are a fan of Single Edge Razors and have some questions or would like your collection featured please email me.
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Our show is powered by Sharpologist.com, “What Your Father Didn’t Teach You about Shaving”
Special Thanks to:
Mark aka Mantic 59
Most of All……….YOU!!!!
Don’t forget to check out my blog site www.shavestraightandsafe.com for the tips and interesting wet shaving stories!
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Subscribe to my You Tube Chanel for videos regarding some interesting wet shaving content.
Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact Me!!!
If you’re a vendor and would like to be featured on the show please contact me!!
Next Show: 5/6/24
Until then… Shave Straight and Shave Safe!!
Please check out my book: “The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving”
Transcript (Machine-Generated)
You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk, powered by Sharpologist dot com, where we’re dedicated, preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host, Joe Borrelli. And today is April 22nd, 2024. Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Wet Shaving Talk podcast on this final episode of the month of April. That’s right, April showers do bring May flowers. Or that’s what they do say.
And it looks like summertime is on its way in the horizon over here, guys. So can’t believe it’s already here. Time to get those spring scents going. Summer is going to be here any time to any time soon to get those summer scents coming out too. So vendors get your stuff ready because we are we are ready for it. Been a long winter for some of us, and I think we’re, uh, we’re ready to move on, maybe even skip spring, go right into summer today on the show.
Well, we got two emails that I received that I thought were really interesting. The first one was a barn find. Gillette. With an awesome story. That’s right, a barn find. Now you talk about barn finds. We just discussed this on the previous cast. That was really good timing. And the person, uh, it just was coincidence. So I will tell you that story, and I have some pictures to show as well. I thought it was great. It’s the first time I’ve ever been contacted regarding something like this, so I thought it was really cool. Can’t wait to tell you about it. Uh, another email from a from a listener.
Are Simpson brushes worth it. Are they worth purchasing? Are they worth the investment? Are they good brushes? I’ll tell you all about that as well.
And how does your morning routine affect your kids? I know there’s a taste or I don’t know if you would like to call it a taste or the roll, or just a little hint of nostalgia with with wet shaving with some of us other older wet shavers or previous, uh, well, let’s say our parents and our grandparents used to shave, and we used to see that and that touching nostalgia might have kept us in, in wet shaving. What is it doing for our kids today with modern forms of shaving or lack thereof? I’ll tell you my thoughts on that as well.
Moving along to May. Well guys, May is going to be dedication to single edge razors. The single edge safety razors actually I think they sometimes they there is a lot of people that actually are big fans or some several groups about it as well, and they tend to often get overlooked. So we’re going to talk a little bit about those single edge safety razors and how cool they really are, and how many different types there are.
All that good stuff all coming up in the month of May and the month with Tabac coming to an end. That’s right, a whole month I’ve been using it. I’ve only got another week left or about eight days left. And I’ll tell you how I’ve how I’ve gone through, how much I’ve used of that puck and how my face is doing with a month with to back. And, uh, that’s it. Nothing else. Only using that. So. So without further ado, guys, let’s get on with the show.
So it’s almost hard to believe that right after the last podcast, we were talking a little bit. I mentioned barn finds or barn yard finds. Whatever you like to call a barn find is when you find something. It’s it’s a term used when people find classic cars in a barn and they’d say, oh, yeah, this this Corvette was never touched. Has been sitting in a barn for 30 years and and I found it and got a great deal on it. And it’s been, you know, it’s got 30,000 miles on it or something like that. And it’s we’re going to restore it and bring it back to life. Well, I like to call that too, with I like that to use that terminology with rare razors. Like it could be straight razor, it could be, uh, mostly, but most of the time it’s it’s reserved for Gillette. Right? I use it for rare Gillette. Valuable Gillette.
Well, on the day after the podcast last week, somebody emailed me and said, hey, I found this razor in my. My mother found this razor in an estate sale. What is it? And I think it’s a bottom dial. Gillette. So a couple emails back and forth, and I said to to the lady, I said, well, I need to see a picture. What does it say on the back of it? She’s like, well, it says, and I’ll just read off a little bit of, of the email itself. It says, uh, reg reg us pat off F4. So I said, okay, I definitely, um, sounds like a it could be right. F4 is, is uh, Q4 for 1960. So that would be a Gillette bottom dial for the production model. I live in Jacksonville, Florida. So that’s another really cool fact. Uh, Jacksonville, Florida is one of the test markets that they use.
The razor is actually sold in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s one of the cities that they actually sold them. So that’s also a very interesting. So I said, you know, can you send me a picture of it? And I will definitely be able to tell you if it is or not right away with a couple of pictures. Well, she sent a picture of it and I put it in the show notes. And as you guys can see, it is definitely a Gillette bottom dial or Gillette 195 fat boy from 1960. No case, just a razor. Razors. Got a little brass ring on the razor guard, and it’s a little dirty and stuff.
She said, oh, I’m going to clean it. I said, well, don’t do that. Don’t touch it. Just leave it alone. And she’s like, well, would I be interested in purchasing it? I said, well, for myself, I’m not really looking for it. For one, right now I have one. So I would say somebody else probably would deserve it. So it was very interesting that I got the email. It was totally. I think it was coincidence. It was definitely not. She didn’t. I don’t think she listened to the podcast. She said she she googled it and found an article and decided to email me about it from August.
When we did the Aquos article a couple of years ago, a few years ago now, and she saw that and she’s like, okay, well, I’m going to contact, uh, I guess, this guy and he must know about it. So we talked about the value of and stuff like that and the best way of selling it and I and I told her the truth, you know, I said, hey, go on to eBay. And that’s the best way to do is on an auction if you’re really looking to unload it. Uh, definitely. Um, she she actually knew the value of it from reading the article and from from seeing a lot of them online. So she knew she knew a little bit more than, uh, she led on to know.
But it was very interesting to get an email from that. I thought it was really cool. I was I’m really hoping it’s, uh, it works out for this, for this lady because, uh, it sounded like the great story they found in estate sale. Again, one of these things were found in somebody’s stuff. And just like I was mentioning in it last podcast that these some of these items are bought, used or whatever, they’re put in a drawer and then just there’s not people that are just like, oh, I don’t want to get rid of it because it was a nice piece or was rare or is this cool? But it kind of just stays in that medicine cabinet or in that, that bathroom drawer for or cat or sock drawer or whatever for 50 years.
And it just goes to show you that there’s still a couple. There’s still some of those stories happening right now. You know, I thought even when I was recording the podcast last week, I thought it was going to be the end of it. Like, I thought that was a you know what? We’re not going to see too many of these pop up anymore. I mean, it’s been 60 something years, but I was wrong right off the the next day I, I received it and I’m pretty sure that story is legitimate. So, uh, good luck to you. Uh, the the to, uh, Karen, the person who sent me out, the who sent me the email regarding the Gillette bottom dial. Good luck. Uh, letting it go or selling it or keeping it or giving it away. It’s a great piece. It’s in great shape for being 60 something years old.
And if, as you guys already know, these razors can be fixed and restored if needed. Uh, I kind of like leaving them a little original as much as possible and keeping them together. And I don’t think these razors were really designed to be taken apart so many times. And clean, be clean and stuff. And this particular model is better because it’s got the it’s got the locking screw on the bottom of it instead of the, instead of like the rivet that’s on there. So it is actually meant to be opened up and cleaned out. But I think, uh, I think it’s a really great piece and, and really great story. I’m glad I was able to be part of it. So barn, find Gillette. Good luck to you. We salute you from the Wet Shaving Talk podcast. And what a great story.
Uh, it was really great story for a Monday morning. Uh, Friday, actually, I think it was it was on Monday, right when the podcast came out, I got this email, so it was really cool. So I received an email from a listener asking me, hey, our Simpson brush is worth it. I’m looking for a brand new brush. I’m looking for a higher end brush, and I really want a good brand. And I’m looking at he’s been he’s been looking at his Simpsons for a while and wanted to know, are they worth it? Are they good quality brushes and is it worth the investment or owning one? Uh, so the listener that was, I didn’t ask if I could, uh, actually use their, their name in the podcast or identify them.
So I’m just going to just talk about it. Uh, ask me if, you know, really looking to make an investment on a brush. They have a bunch of lower end brushes and they want to make a good get a really good solid shaving brush and a really interesting Simpson doing a lot of research. So my thought on Simpson seeing that I’ve owned about 3 or 4 of them in the last ten, 12 years, uh, I think that they make some excellent brushes. All right. I think these brushes are very, very well made. Uh, they’re all hand tied. And the handle, there’s some videos out there of people actually tying the knots. When I say hand tied, that means that that it comes out as as, uh, like bulk hair, bulk badger hair when they do it, uh, they don’t set the knots like a bunch of knots set up.
And you buy or purchase knots. They actually do them myself. They tie them up and they set them in the handle. This is an old method primarily used in England and Italy when you actually hand tie a brush, I believe, um, a couple other companies do it as well. I know déclaration brushes does it that way. I know Black Eagle does it that way. And I’ve seen a couple of other companies from Italy, a lot of guys, uh, some videos from Italy doing it. It’s where they take a piece of twine, they tie it up, they make first, they make sure the hair is all even for the type of knot that they’re making. Uh, and then they’ll set the hair in there, undo the knot with the glue, and then that’s kind of what you get to clean it out. They’ll clean it, they’ll brush it, get the loose ones out, and then that’s your shaving brush.
Personally, I think that’s the best way of doing a brush of tying a knot. I think it’s best for longevity. I think it keeps the knot really solid. I think you lose. I mean, honestly, with the Simpson brush, I haven’t had one shed ever. I’ve had three of them and I’ve, I, I’ve actually been using one of mine for the last week just for this, just for this reason. I’ve beat it, I’ve beaten it up and I it never had a problem with the knot shedding or falling apart. So and I do have a super badger. So I mean it is very good. I think they make some of the best synthetic knots out there. I don’t, I’m not sure what they do with the synthetic knots, but for the price, for $6,070 under 100 bucks you can get a synthetic.
If you’re looking for a synthetic knot on a Simpson brush, it’s amazing. They’re great. They are really good quality. I forgot the name of the of the knot that they’re using now. Or one of the or what they call it, but it’s actually very good synthetic shaving knots back in the you know, in the day we’re known as being like plasticky and and kind of junky. Simpson has a good one. They have a really, really good one. And that’s the one that I would buy if I was going to buy a high end synthetic brush.
As you know, you know, prices do vary. Synthetic brushes can start under 100. They can go all the way up to five $600 for, for, you know, for special edition, uh, for in different rates of rating of badger hair. So it really depends on your budget. Uh, but the only thing I’d say is, well, first I want to say the the packaging is great. I think it comes in a beautiful, uh, red box. The Simpson box. Been doing that for years. I know that that’s pretty much the same thing they’ve been using since I since I’ve known.
And some vintage ones online to comes with that red box. It’s just cool. Uh, the only quirk that I would have with it is your basic Simpson brush to handle is a little cheap. It’s plastic and it’s got that sticker on it. So I mean, it’s not going to be it’s not engraved or anything like that for that price. I think some of the higher end ones are a little bit better, a little better handle material. But for the most part it’s it’s going to be that like our ivory beiges, like beige plastic. So that’s the only, only con I’d say with the brush.
But the handle is well built, it’s still solid and it still fits well in your hand. It’s a classic design, so really, are they worth it? Yes they are, I do think they are. I think they’re a great producer of brushes and I think it’s awesome stuff to use. I’ve had nothing but good things to say about Simpson brushes. Uh, they even have the little Westcott they call it, which is a very tiny shaving brush that there’s some guys online they’ve been using and they’ll do say, hey, look, watch me lather my whole face with this thing and just use it for months and weeks on end and like, fits barely in like a bowl.
You’ll see like a couple pictures of it. It looks like a tiny, like a mini mini brush. And that’s for I think you can have that for about 40 bucks. And a lot of people like it and use it for travel, and you can use it for every day. So I mean, Simpsons definitely recommend them, uh, to the listener. If you get one, you won’t be disappointed. Just make sure you get the one that you want. And just remember, if you do want to offload it eventually, if you don’t like it, or if you want to try something else, you can sell it. You’ll probably can sell it for about anywhere from 60 to 75% of the original selling price. When you want to, when you want to unload it. So really you can’t.
There’s not much risk on buying one, but I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. So Simpson brushes definitely get a two thumbs up from me, and from a lot of wet shavers out there. And, uh, highly recommended. So a question that I kind of asked myself, uh, the other day with my, my little guy watching me shave is how does my how does your morning routine affect your, your kids? So how does my routine affect my kids? You know, I was thinking about it the other day and Father’s Day is approaching. Well. Well, it’s in a couple of months, but it’s really it’s it’s probably the either the number one or the number two wet shaving holiday of the year. Right. That’s a day for for us dads to just, you know, unwind and and sit back and enjoy ourselves.
And I’d say for the gift giving aspect in the wet shaving world, uh, Father’s Day is probably a strong number two, if not number one. Right? It’s, uh, you got Christmas and then you got Father’s Day. So Father’s Day is really a holiday of of giving away. You know what? Shaving stuff. So if you’re listening to this podcast, there’s a good chance that you have memories of your father, your grandfather, your uncle, or some significant person in your life. Uh, using, uh, basically wet shaving. And it’s bringing you it brings a smile, right? A smile to your face, and you’re thinking about it, and it’s making you happy thinking about it. Or maybe that’s what brought you here.
Maybe that remembering that that routine that your dad or your or your grandfather had and watching them shave in the morning or seeing their stuff has said, hey, you know what? I want to step back a little bit with this fast world, and I want to I want to do that too, because it made it was it was a joyous a part of my life. Right. Uh, it’s what brought me here. You know, finding just, uh, going through my. My grandfather passed away, I went we were going through his stuff, and I found an old Gillette razor, and I googled it and really was interested in that and kind of kind of made me feel a little bit better, you know? It made me feel better. Um, going through a difficult time made me, gave me something to think about and really read about and learn and try new skill.
And here we are. It’s about 12 years, right? 12, 13 years now I think later. Yeah, 13 years. This June is when I started watching. So 13 years later, I’m still into it. So I understand that, you know, I understand that this could be a big impact. It was a big impact on my life. You know, I used to watch my father shave. My dad used a, uh, uh, electric razor who’s all about the electric razor. You know, he was very big into that. But I do remember him using it every day. And I actually, when I started to have the shave, when I was about 12, 13 years old, I used his electric razor to start. So, I mean, there’s something there. He taught me how to do it. And basically I used his.
And then I got my own for Christmas one year and kind of went from there. So understanding all of this and then knowing that times have changed. Do we realize if we, that we do actually have the same effect on our kids? You know, seeing that times have changed. We’re faster. We’re running around faster. Beards have been much more acceptable, accepted in the business world. Right? Everybody’s got a beard. I have a beard. I don’t have a very long beard, but I have a short beard I’ve been using. I’ve had one for about a year and a half now. Right. Um, it’s just more accepted and it’s like, okay, so people shave less or just not or having a 5:00 shadow has been more accepted, right?
Uh, the way we dress when we go to work is different. Like a lot of people. There’s a lot of guys listening right now. You guys work from home, right? Since since the pandemic, that’s been more accepted. A lot of people working from home. So you might just get up, go straight to your computer and start to work. You don’t have to shave or get ready or, you know, get get ready into a certain extent, right. So many guys go days without shaving, uh, and not wearing a tie and, uh, and a suit anymore. Right. That was very accepted. Probably about 50 years, 40 or 50 years ago.
Now. It’s just like, hey, a lot of people just go to work as is. You can go to work dressed up in a polo shirt and jeans if you really want it to. So it’s just looking at that. There’s a lot of memories that we had watching our. Are our parents or grandparents getting ready? So how do we slow down and give our children the same experience we had? Are we giving them the same experience? So I was reading an article by on from Sharpologist the role of nostalgia. I left the link in the show notes for you guys to listen to read. Excuse me, listen to read it. Uh, about the nostalgia of shaving and and how it’s, um, and the dad effect. Really interesting article, guys. I definitely take a look at it. When you get a chance and then just really, uh.
Sit back and think, hey, you know. Is this why we’re all here? And think about it? It’s just it’s just really interesting stuff. And I really enjoyed reading it and just made me think about all that, all those good memories. And, and then I thought, hey, am I giving my son the same memory because I’m a daily shaver? Even though I have a little bit of a beard, I still trim, I still shave my neck and my sides every single day. I usually use a straight razor or some form of nostalgic shaving. If you would like to say that. Safety razor I don’t use cartridge razors on my face, and I do that every day and my kid loves to watch me. So am I wondering if I am I giving him the same, the same experience that I had or that maybe my dad had when his father was shaving or something like that?
So I hope so. Uh, my thoughts are, I think maybe, um, with times changing and stuff, I think we’re doing similar things, but I think we got to remember how these little guys have such, such, uh, brains. Like a sponge. They remember everything. So when you think back and look, look, when you look back and think about it, it’s really, uh, it’s important to just say, hey, you know what? Let’s slow down a little bit. Let’s give these guys the same experience and let’s, you know, bust out the vintage Gillette every now and then, right? So I think all you guys on this podcast are, uh, listening to this podcast, understand what we’re talking about, but how can we get more guys into it or, or understand about it, or look at our children and say, hey, you know what, he’s going to have some great memories when he grows up about my morning routine, hopefully follows suit. So I know it’s kind of a little bit of a hodgepodge, a little, um, area of, um, the podcast this week. But you know what? It was just something I had to mention and still bringing a smile to my face.
So great guys, if you have any great stories in nostalgia, I love reading them. I love sharing them on the podcast, so send them to me. I will definitely feature you on the show. Uh, looking to do a little bit more of a segment like this for Father’s Day. Hence why I’m going so far out. Uh, I will definitely be putting like a little segment in the show in the next few weeks, uh, for, hey, Father’s Day stories so I can share it for the Father’s Day episode in June.
All right. Moving along. It is April showers. Bring me flowers. Well, that’s the saying. That’s what we’ve heard for. That’s what I’ve heard from my whole life, going through school and all that. But, uh, we’re going to say April showers are going to bring, uh, May single edge razors. How about that? So May is going to be dedication to single edge razor month. There are a lot of groups out there that do love the single edge razor, and I don’t think they get the blood, the love, excuse me, that they deserve. Right?
I think they deserve a lot more than what we give them. I think that there are a lot of designs. There’s the most designs out of any form of wet shaving in this area. Right. You got double edged razors there. Pretty much there’s designs for them, but you got about 3 or 4 single edge razors. You got like 7 or 8 different types of single edge razors and new ones coming out. You know, every year because of the popularity, there’s a lot of little Facebook groups out there dedicated to it and, uh, even parts of forums as well. So we’re going to give them a whole month.
So for the month of May, I’m going to use nothing but single edge razors, and I’m going to feature several types and several different stories on the podcast and tell you my experiences with it, because I do have quite a I have several single edge razors and several different types of single edge razors, which is really exciting and I’m going to do the whole month of that. So looking forward to doing May and going moving with that. And you guys can. And if you guys have any single edge stories or pictures or something you want to show share, I will definitely show it on the on the podcast. So that will be for the month of May.
And guys, the last. Last but certainly not least, the month of of tobacco is almost over. I am pretty impressed on on how this puck has lathered up every single day. I’ve shaved. I’ve shaved. Right now I’m up to date number 22. I have not skipped a day of wet shaving for the whole month with tobacco, and I shave every day, and this puck has not even looked like I made a dent in it. My face is good. I have no issues at all. So I gotta give a salute to the to to back. It is definitely a classic wet shaving scent. Kind of sick of the scent though. That could be honest. Uh, it’s, uh, it’s good stuff, but that scent is just that. It’s to back. That’s all I got to say. It’s not bad. It’s not good. It’s just. It’s to back. I am done with it for the month in a few days. But I thought it was great to dedicate it to one month, so, uh. Yeah, try it guys. And when you do use one soap for a month and you’ve. Even if you’ve been wet shaving for a long time, you really get to learn that soap and get a great shave on your face. So to back I salute you.
Your great soap. You’ve been around forever. Uh, had a great month with you, and now I’m going to put you away for a little while and start with something else so I can enjoy some of my other soaps. So guys that concludes the podcast for this week. Remember our show is powered by Sharpologist dot com which your father didn’t teach you about shaving. Special thanks to Mark aka Mantic59. And most of all, you guys are listeners. So don’t forget to check out my blog site, my YouTube channel. I do have some stuff coming up in the works, and if you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out, look at my book, The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving, available on Amazon and Kindle. Our next show will be on the 6th of May. Until then, shave straight and shave safe. Bye bye now.
