OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
A late starting Penwithian ex-pat opens the door and steps outside
- Thread starter tomj777
- Start Date
- Messages
- 487
Tom,
Look forward to seeing the results.
Same here, the Aristocrats are highly prized, especially the earlier open comb style models, which I think may be the one for your case - I stand to be corrected. On my bucket list as I keep browsing antique and bric-a-brac shops. The car boots will have to wait for better weather.
Regards,
Chris
Look forward to seeing the results.
Same here, the Aristocrats are highly prized, especially the earlier open comb style models, which I think may be the one for your case - I stand to be corrected. On my bucket list as I keep browsing antique and bric-a-brac shops. The car boots will have to wait for better weather.
Regards,
Chris
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #67
@chrisbd , Oh to have a bric-a-brac (or even an antique shop) near here.....
Local charity shops seem to have a ewww-razor-bin policy ("It's Health and Safety, don't ya know")
That Aristocrat.... There's one in France on eBay at the moment with absurd postage and that will go for silly money....
Anyway, this is what I have (in a half clean state)
Is this what you meant by pointed tips?
Local charity shops seem to have a ewww-razor-bin policy ("It's Health and Safety, don't ya know")
That Aristocrat.... There's one in France on eBay at the moment with absurd postage and that will go for silly money....
Anyway, this is what I have (in a half clean state)
Is this what you meant by pointed tips?
- Messages
- 487
Tom,
That's a fine looking start, it's looking better already.
Yes, they're the end plates I referred to. The tips on the Super Speeds are clipped square, at least up to and including that era, and are the most obvious difference.
Ironically there was a UK based Aristocrat open comb model in the wrong case, that I thought appropriate for yours, sold on ebay a couple of days ago for just over £92. A bit rich for my blood and I ruffle enough feathers at the prospect of buying shaving gear with our money, let alone urging someone else to spend theirs. Just saying....."don't you want it sir, don't you want to grasp it? Suits you...ooooh!"
I cruise the antique shops and occasionally the bric-a-brac shops in nearby towns (nothing here) but precious little joy so far, to be honest. I was beginning to get that same feeling about the charity shops, that they shunned razors of any description for health & safety reasons. However, I did see one in an Age Concern shop yesterday but it was a Wardonia bakelite job in a rather tatty case and they don't float my boat. Where do these fleabay traders find the desirable ones? Maybe one day.
Regards,
Chris
That's a fine looking start, it's looking better already.
Yes, they're the end plates I referred to. The tips on the Super Speeds are clipped square, at least up to and including that era, and are the most obvious difference.
Ironically there was a UK based Aristocrat open comb model in the wrong case, that I thought appropriate for yours, sold on ebay a couple of days ago for just over £92. A bit rich for my blood and I ruffle enough feathers at the prospect of buying shaving gear with our money, let alone urging someone else to spend theirs. Just saying....."don't you want it sir, don't you want to grasp it? Suits you...ooooh!"
I cruise the antique shops and occasionally the bric-a-brac shops in nearby towns (nothing here) but precious little joy so far, to be honest. I was beginning to get that same feeling about the charity shops, that they shunned razors of any description for health & safety reasons. However, I did see one in an Age Concern shop yesterday but it was a Wardonia bakelite job in a rather tatty case and they don't float my boat. Where do these fleabay traders find the desirable ones? Maybe one day.
Regards,
Chris
Last edited:
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #69
Thank you, Chris. I'm learning (both cleaning and lore) 
It's my reckoning that the ebay folks, judging by other listings, include a disproportionate number of `house clearing` businesses.
Regarding charity shops, there's a big H&S misconception which leads to the retail mgmt telling shop managers and thus the volunteers to discard... Of course there's a genuine risk with blades (both DE and straight razors) which obscures the potential revenue. One solution for the charity is to redirect any DE razors and straight razors to their eBay teams where initial handling can be supervised... I'm talking in part from personal experience - my employment status is best described as complicated (I'm employed but not able to work with sufficient consistency and consider myself to be in a very fortunate position (or hell)) so I spend a lot of my time volunteering, at including at least a day a week at a local hospice shop. Note that I've not been directly told by this charity but talking to others it's clear this is what happens. I'm advocating awareness and change.
Apart from family heirlooms during estate disposal, I think most of the rest has to be from minor auction houses, low end antique / curio shops and car boots.
Of course, all the above isn't counting the denizens of this passion / hobby / understanding....
Talking of car boots, my wife and I visited a couple this morning and I found a nice Wade scuttle, a little bigger than the last (more suitable for my main brush) with a shallower `cup?` for a mere £2 (which is probably on par with eBay prices sans p&p). I also saw some very old shaving sticks that I should probably have examined more closely but the traders looked like professional sellers and I don't know what I'm looking at....
It's my reckoning that the ebay folks, judging by other listings, include a disproportionate number of `house clearing` businesses.
Regarding charity shops, there's a big H&S misconception which leads to the retail mgmt telling shop managers and thus the volunteers to discard... Of course there's a genuine risk with blades (both DE and straight razors) which obscures the potential revenue. One solution for the charity is to redirect any DE razors and straight razors to their eBay teams where initial handling can be supervised... I'm talking in part from personal experience - my employment status is best described as complicated (I'm employed but not able to work with sufficient consistency and consider myself to be in a very fortunate position (or hell)) so I spend a lot of my time volunteering, at including at least a day a week at a local hospice shop. Note that I've not been directly told by this charity but talking to others it's clear this is what happens. I'm advocating awareness and change.
Apart from family heirlooms during estate disposal, I think most of the rest has to be from minor auction houses, low end antique / curio shops and car boots.
Of course, all the above isn't counting the denizens of this passion / hobby / understanding....
Talking of car boots, my wife and I visited a couple this morning and I found a nice Wade scuttle, a little bigger than the last (more suitable for my main brush) with a shallower `cup?` for a mere £2 (which is probably on par with eBay prices sans p&p). I also saw some very old shaving sticks that I should probably have examined more closely but the traders looked like professional sellers and I don't know what I'm looking at....
Last edited:
- Messages
- 487
Tom,
I'm still learning and have a long way to go. It's a thoroughly absorbing hobby and I welcome the distraction, although SWMBO has visions of our savings pouring down the rabbit hole.
A lot of the ebay sellers obviously don't know what they have, from the descriptions, so some must come from house clearance or car boots.
Interesting to read your experience of guidance, unofficial or otherwise, for charity shop management and volunteers. I can understand the concern over old blades but it hardly bears thinking about what treasures may have been consigned to the rubbish bins. I did wonder whether some had favoured businesses/sellers to whom they sent such items.
I'll just have to widen my search and attend more car boots. I'll be taking early retirement from the end of March, so I'll have more time to devote to it, although less money.
Good find with the Wade scuttle for a very reasonable sum. The shaving sticks would have been worth closer investigation, although I don't know how much they were asking. Might be worth taking a blind punt next time, you may be pleasantly surprised. If you see any Cussons Imperial Leather sticks, they're a classic and highly regarded, although not for big money yet.
Regards,
Chris
I'm still learning and have a long way to go. It's a thoroughly absorbing hobby and I welcome the distraction, although SWMBO has visions of our savings pouring down the rabbit hole.
A lot of the ebay sellers obviously don't know what they have, from the descriptions, so some must come from house clearance or car boots.
Interesting to read your experience of guidance, unofficial or otherwise, for charity shop management and volunteers. I can understand the concern over old blades but it hardly bears thinking about what treasures may have been consigned to the rubbish bins. I did wonder whether some had favoured businesses/sellers to whom they sent such items.
I'll just have to widen my search and attend more car boots. I'll be taking early retirement from the end of March, so I'll have more time to devote to it, although less money.
Good find with the Wade scuttle for a very reasonable sum. The shaving sticks would have been worth closer investigation, although I don't know how much they were asking. Might be worth taking a blind punt next time, you may be pleasantly surprised. If you see any Cussons Imperial Leather sticks, they're a classic and highly regarded, although not for big money yet.
Regards,
Chris
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #71
Re uninformed eBay sellers - I reckon that they are fortunate to have various members of this fraternity pawing over listings and examining photos oh-so-carefully to bolster their profits....
Car boot sales were things I used to avoid with a passion (alas, my wife loves them, which is odd because I'm the chaotic to whom chattels gravitate and she's the anathema of that). However, I see this changing
Thx re scuttle... It looks identical to this one
(pic cribbed from eBay, may vanish sometime soon)
& advice.
Good luck with the brave new world in March. The change of lifestyle is a bit of a culture shock - keep occupied, keep socialising and keep active.
Car boot sales were things I used to avoid with a passion (alas, my wife loves them, which is odd because I'm the chaotic to whom chattels gravitate and she's the anathema of that). However, I see this changing
Thx re scuttle... It looks identical to this one
(pic cribbed from eBay, may vanish sometime soon)
& advice.
Good luck with the brave new world in March. The change of lifestyle is a bit of a culture shock - keep occupied, keep socialising and keep active.
- Messages
- 487
It's occasionally possible to blag a bargain from uninformed ebay sellers but I long ago tired of seeing Gillette TTO razors listed as "adjustables", Slims as Fatboys, etc, in a bid to justify an overinflated asking price with minimal or no description ("See my photos, these form part of the description"). The best hope is seeing the occasional Slim or Fatboy listed simply as a vintage razor, doesn't happen very often.
I'm the same, normally actively avoid car boot sales. My wife's not too keen either, although she's previously sold our kids' (now adults) old clothes and toys that way. The faint hope of finding a vintage razor (maybe a holy grail model) is exerting a draw though. I still kick myself for passing up a Fatboy in a case at a bric-a-brac stall a couple of years ago, barely a few months before I got back into DE shaving. No price, just a donation to charity! Probably never to be repeated.
Nice looking scuttle. I know what you mean about the shaving sticks though, I'd probably have thought twice, depending on the price.
Thanks for the advice, I'm looking forward to it. Not so much closing the book, more the start of a new chapter. We've got some projects lined up, eg tracing various family members' service records, and I've made contact with a local Narrow Gauge Railway Trust, which shares a site with Bursledon Brickworks Museum, about volunteering. My wife has a job list as long as your arm, which I've been ducking for years, no excuses now,sadly. Plenty to do, plus I'll keep in touch with friends from work. I've received invitations to join two old farts clubs, so I'm sure I won't be bored.
Mainly looking forward to spending more time searching out old razors.
Regards,
Chris
I'm the same, normally actively avoid car boot sales. My wife's not too keen either, although she's previously sold our kids' (now adults) old clothes and toys that way. The faint hope of finding a vintage razor (maybe a holy grail model) is exerting a draw though. I still kick myself for passing up a Fatboy in a case at a bric-a-brac stall a couple of years ago, barely a few months before I got back into DE shaving. No price, just a donation to charity! Probably never to be repeated.
Nice looking scuttle. I know what you mean about the shaving sticks though, I'd probably have thought twice, depending on the price.
Thanks for the advice, I'm looking forward to it. Not so much closing the book, more the start of a new chapter. We've got some projects lined up, eg tracing various family members' service records, and I've made contact with a local Narrow Gauge Railway Trust, which shares a site with Bursledon Brickworks Museum, about volunteering. My wife has a job list as long as your arm, which I've been ducking for years, no excuses now,sadly. Plenty to do, plus I'll keep in touch with friends from work. I've received invitations to join two old farts clubs, so I'm sure I won't be bored.
Mainly looking forward to spending more time searching out old razors.
Regards,
Chris
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #73
Hey there - I had to look up the Brickworks Museum - looks like a great place to get dirty in - I've a long fascination with steam... I was fortunate enough to grow up in the far SW where a number of traction engines were still actively maintained by those passionate...
A little update on charity shops... I've had a quiet word with a few local shop managers (Crowthorne, Wokingham, Farnborough) - and it would seem that not everyone bins them... Oxfam surprised me to say "yes, we had one on the shelf for almost a month in a nice velvet lined case..." - she looked around the back for me but wasn't successful in locating it. So... not everyone has an ill considered policy.
I received a brand new late Tech today (head in brittle paper) in a leather grooming wallet (with sundry perpex and plastic bits - I wanted the wallet) - there's a lot of them out there and I wonder if there's some warehouse drip feeding them onto the market.
I agree about the curiously described items... I've quiet enjoyed trawling eBay and playing the identification / speculation game.
A little update on charity shops... I've had a quiet word with a few local shop managers (Crowthorne, Wokingham, Farnborough) - and it would seem that not everyone bins them... Oxfam surprised me to say "yes, we had one on the shelf for almost a month in a nice velvet lined case..." - she looked around the back for me but wasn't successful in locating it. So... not everyone has an ill considered policy.
I received a brand new late Tech today (head in brittle paper) in a leather grooming wallet (with sundry perpex and plastic bits - I wanted the wallet) - there's a lot of them out there and I wonder if there's some warehouse drip feeding them onto the market.
I agree about the curiously described items... I've quiet enjoyed trawling eBay and playing the identification / speculation game.
- Messages
- 487
Tom,
I was impressed when we visited the museum last year on an open day. The Railway trust operates 5 steam locos and a few carriages and are in the process of extending the track to the top car park to make a park and ride. They also get visiting traction engines for open days, etc. I've had a lifelong fascination with steam and this looks ideal. The Brickworks Museum still has the old horizontal engine that used to power the machinery as a working exhibit, although gas fired now. There's something hypnotic about watching them in action, I love it.
Well done with the charity shops, encouraqing they don't have seem to have a blanket ban on razors. Heart breaking to imagine what may have been lost through ill guided policy.
Good move with the late Tech. I'm not so keen on the ones with aluminium heads, they just don't seem to handle or shave as well as the earlier ones but I'd be interested to read your results. I do wonder where the traders find them, they surely must have access to charity shop or house clearance cast-offs .
I'm watching all sorts on fleabay at the moment, trying to get a feel for the market, but hoping to find an open comb Gillette bargain. You have to hold on to your dreams!
Regards,
Chris
I was impressed when we visited the museum last year on an open day. The Railway trust operates 5 steam locos and a few carriages and are in the process of extending the track to the top car park to make a park and ride. They also get visiting traction engines for open days, etc. I've had a lifelong fascination with steam and this looks ideal. The Brickworks Museum still has the old horizontal engine that used to power the machinery as a working exhibit, although gas fired now. There's something hypnotic about watching them in action, I love it.
Well done with the charity shops, encouraqing they don't have seem to have a blanket ban on razors. Heart breaking to imagine what may have been lost through ill guided policy.
Good move with the late Tech. I'm not so keen on the ones with aluminium heads, they just don't seem to handle or shave as well as the earlier ones but I'd be interested to read your results. I do wonder where the traders find them, they surely must have access to charity shop or house clearance cast-offs .
I'm watching all sorts on fleabay at the moment, trying to get a feel for the market, but hoping to find an open comb Gillette bargain. You have to hold on to your dreams!
Regards,
Chris
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #75
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #77
Isn't it just....
Likewise not needing another Tech but I confess I may have suffered a brief ethical dilemma if it was donated at the store I volunteer at or if it came into the warehouse when I was helping there... It would only be brief as the idea of staff of volunteers cherry-picking revolts me (the minimum principle being that I never buy anything unless it's been on the shelves a couple of days and if it's worthy of eBay then I send it straight to that team)... But I dread to think of the conflict I'd feel if an Aristocrat #16 that would match my case came in.... Bloody ethics.
Likewise not needing another Tech but I confess I may have suffered a brief ethical dilemma if it was donated at the store I volunteer at or if it came into the warehouse when I was helping there... It would only be brief as the idea of staff of volunteers cherry-picking revolts me (the minimum principle being that I never buy anything unless it's been on the shelves a couple of days and if it's worthy of eBay then I send it straight to that team)... But I dread to think of the conflict I'd feel if an Aristocrat #16 that would match my case came in.... Bloody ethics.
- Messages
- 487
It's a fat handled Tech too. A flat bottomed Tech, not too dissimilar, with pristine case and blade pack (so not really comparable then), sold on fleabay recently for £99.97. Good but I didnt think that good.
I understand your dilemma, I wondered how you'd deal with it. I'm not sure how I'd behave in that situation, frankly, although I recoil at the notion of cherry picking the temptation is overwhelming. I like to think I'd send it off to ebay and wait to bid in open auction but I can't help thinking razor lust would get the better of me. Luckily the chances of finding myself in such a situation are remote.
If you should find a #16 Aristocrat I'm sure I could save you from yourself! Similarly, if you should find a Fatboy, or a Slim, Black Beauty, Old, New........
Regards,
Chris
I understand your dilemma, I wondered how you'd deal with it. I'm not sure how I'd behave in that situation, frankly, although I recoil at the notion of cherry picking the temptation is overwhelming. I like to think I'd send it off to ebay and wait to bid in open auction but I can't help thinking razor lust would get the better of me. Luckily the chances of finding myself in such a situation are remote.
If you should find a #16 Aristocrat I'm sure I could save you from yourself! Similarly, if you should find a Fatboy, or a Slim, Black Beauty, Old, New........
Regards,
Chris
OP
- Messages
- 219
- Location
- Crowthorne, Berkshire
- Thread Starter
- #79
Well, there would be temptation yet it's important to me that I close each day with my soul intact (*) (a lovely phrase uttered a couple of times by the father of the protagonist in, ugh, in my mind I want to say "The Beidebeck Affair" but that's utterly incorrect) so I'd park the temptation and do exactly that - throw it onto the open market (this I've done before with other things, and, yup, failed to buy). The question is, though, "Would I identify it first so that it was listed correctly" .... that's the point where I may come unstuck.
(*) This isn't to say I'm a good man, more that I keep the various karma banks well stocked so that when I am discraceful I can be utterly so and even if caught, no one would believe (**).
(**) 18, maybe 20 years ago myself and SWMBO stumbled across a tub of owl shaped pencil toppers (ceramic) being sold off for a couple of pounds in a closing down sale...
We have a friend, a fellow biker, who's house was pretty much used as a Café for our club (he was laid up for a long while after an accident)...
His ex wife collected owl figurines and he had a bit of an aversion...
Every few weeks I would secrete one of these owls (oh, there where 78 of them) somewhere in his house (toilet cistern, behind a book, bottom of tub of coffee, in kettle, on doorframe.... Oh - you get the idea)... After a while he noticed these damned things kept appearing... Eventually, after just under three year later, having accused pretty much everyone who ever came in (the club, neighbours, other friends... all to denials of various strengths, depending on the force of his frustration), we wrapped the last one in a jewellery box and presented it to him after the pub one Friday night.... No one other than Lorraine and I knew
(*) This isn't to say I'm a good man, more that I keep the various karma banks well stocked so that when I am discraceful I can be utterly so and even if caught, no one would believe (**).
(**) 18, maybe 20 years ago myself and SWMBO stumbled across a tub of owl shaped pencil toppers (ceramic) being sold off for a couple of pounds in a closing down sale...
We have a friend, a fellow biker, who's house was pretty much used as a Café for our club (he was laid up for a long while after an accident)...
His ex wife collected owl figurines and he had a bit of an aversion...
Every few weeks I would secrete one of these owls (oh, there where 78 of them) somewhere in his house (toilet cistern, behind a book, bottom of tub of coffee, in kettle, on doorframe.... Oh - you get the idea)... After a while he noticed these damned things kept appearing... Eventually, after just under three year later, having accused pretty much everyone who ever came in (the club, neighbours, other friends... all to denials of various strengths, depending on the force of his frustration), we wrapped the last one in a jewellery box and presented it to him after the pub one Friday night.... No one other than Lorraine and I knew
- Messages
- 487
It's important to be able to look at yourself in the shaving mirror every day with a clear conscience but I fear the temptation would be too great. Wonderfully poetic turn of phrase though, whatever its origin.
The moral maze, misleading identification or accidentally incorrect...I'd probably fall down there too.
* A delicately devious strategem - wish I'd thought of it.
** I had to laugh at the antics but you know you're damned to eternal torment. Bring on the shenanigans!
Let's agree you're a good man for volunteering with a charity while I'm looking to volunteer with a group operating big boys' trains.
Regards,
Chris
The moral maze, misleading identification or accidentally incorrect...I'd probably fall down there too.
* A delicately devious strategem - wish I'd thought of it.
** I had to laugh at the antics but you know you're damned to eternal torment. Bring on the shenanigans!
Let's agree you're a good man for volunteering with a charity while I'm looking to volunteer with a group operating big boys' trains.
Regards,
Chris