WetShaving

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This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.

New subscribers welcome!

Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.

🪒 Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:

https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface

https://old.wetshaving.social/ - designed to look like old.reddit.com

Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.

🪒 Track the uptime of our various services here:

https://uptime.splettnet.com/status/wetshaving

🪒 Community Rules

Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette

Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.

Rule 2 - Content Guidelines

Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.

Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure

Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.

Rule 4 - Advertising

Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.

Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content

All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.

Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion

The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

wetshavingadmin@sub.wetshaving.social

merikus@sub.wetshaving.social

walden@sub.wetshaving.social

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History time: No shadow of doubt… (sub.wetshaving.social)

submitted 4 months ago by WegianWarrior@sub.wetshaving.social to c/wetshaving@sub.wetshaving.social

3 comments fedilink hide all child comments

No shadow of doubt ever exists in the mind of a man who uses a –

Gillette Safety Razor.

Well, at least that was the claim in this 1905 advertisement for the new Gillette safety razor; the one we today would call the Old Type. Which was then the very newest type, and also the only type.

1905 advertisement from the Literary Digest.

In 1905 you would be an early adopter, and like most early adopters you would pay for the privilege. While the ad don’t mention how much you would have to fork over for an ideal holiday gift (either the standard silver-plate or the gold plated special set), they do mention how much you would have to pay for a dozen new blades.

One dollar.

Which may not sound like much for a claimed 240 to 480 shaves, but… inflation can be harsh. One dollar in 1905 is roughly the same as 36 dollars today (33€, 28£, or 395 Norwegian kroner). So not cheap.

But at least there would be no shadow of doubt in the mind of the shaver. But today I would very much doubt the mind of a man who opts to use the latest Gillette cartridge razor, at least if he has had the option of trying a proper safety razor.

As a side note, I like that they point out out their patent (#775,134) and what they claim it covers.

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[–] Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Today you can pay 60€ for 12 Gillette Mach 3 cartridges, each good for barely two shaves.

[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I've heard that DE blades used to be similarly expensive. Gillette is often given credit for the strategy of "sell something inexpensive that requires constant refills", although I've seen that claim debunked (I don't have any references, though). The blades were also made of carbon steel so you had to keep them from rusting, unlike today's stainless steel blades. DE blade sharpeners exist because there used to be a market for keeping the blades sharp as long as possible.

[–] WegianWarrior@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 4 months ago

There is a 20010 paper debunking it, as I wrote about a few years ago.

Arguable Gillette are closer to a razor and blade model now than they ever was making proper safety razors.