Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-15
CONCERNING RAZORS,
Certain Facts About Them Frankly
COnfided by the Barber.

COniided by the Barber.
From the New York Sum-
1t was rainy day and the barber was in
laxative mood. He opened the converse
ton by apologizing for his razor, which
seemed to pull. The customer replied, phil
osophically, that, as he usually shaved him
self, he was used to a dull razor. That was
enough for the barber, and he went on to
unfold the art and mystery of managing a
razor.
Some of his customers had occasional fits
of economy and undertook to shave them
selves. They usually came to him for a
razor. AS for himself. he never paid more
than 81 for a razor, and he as often as not
got the kind of a razor he wanted for half
dollar. He found 1t impossible to be sure
of good razor from it's price or from the
name of the maker. What he did was to
test the razor before buying, usually with
his thumb nail. If the blade gave the prop
er sort of ring, an indefinable thing, indeed.
he usually expected it to turn out good
article. He was sometimes disappointed in
this, for the ring was not always to be de-
pended upon. 1t sometimes happened that
razor turned out by a manufacturer of no
great fame proved to be Of excellent quality.
When his patrons came to him for razors
and announced their intention to economic
in the matter Of shaving, he always well
coined them and cheerfully picked out
razor. He made no concealment of the fact
that he charged them 81 for a razor that
cost him 81. He believed 1t fair enough
and so did they. His knowledge and ex-
perience were worth something, and dol
lar razor that he guaranteed was certainly
worth 81 to the ordinary uniformed per-
son. The great advantae that mis- custom.
ers found in paying him 81 for a one-dollar
razor was that, whereas the razor they
bought from a manufacturer or dealer
would not be taken back he himself would
always take back a razor not satisfactory
"a hat
cost him 81 would cost the customer at least
$l.50. Then, too the dollar razor must al
ways be put in order, and his charge for
putting razor in good condition WIS TWEEN
ty-live cents SC that all things considered
the guaranteed 81 razor a 81 was a good
enough bargain for the customer.
The barber lost little or nothing by his
customers little fits of economy, for, be-
tween selling new razors and putting old
ones In order. he got good deal out of
such customers in the course of a year
Nine men out of ten are quite incapable OF
Keeping Their own razors in order. Indeed
nine men out of ten should never attempt
to strop a razor, for they usually make it
worse rather than better. The simplest
thing was to shave with racer SO long as
1t shaved well, and then, without trying to
improve 1t, let the barber strop it little
when the customer needs to have his hair
cut. The charge for this is trif1e or moth
ing, and the razor is not spoiled by awk.
ward stropping. Every amateur should have
piece of channels skin to keep his razor
dry.
The layman. so to speak, should never at
tempt to hone his razor. That is thing
for the professional. AS to homes, the bar
Der kept several kinds What he liked best
was petrfied wood. He showed such hone
1t cost him SO. 1t was smooth and hard
and beautifully close-grained, SO that no
razor was injured when honed upon it by a
skillful barber. Then the next was the oil
stone. That was well enough, but it was
likely to contain bits of sand that would
ruin a razSr, and was, perhaps, the most
dangerous hone for an amateur. After all,
the best thing was a strip of plate glass
slightly ground upon the upper surface
That the barber habitually used, and found
the choice of the glass. however. and he
was not ready to recommend the plate-glass
hone to every amateur.
As to strcps, the barber preferred Russia
leather to anything else. 1t is rather diff
cult to get the right thing in Russia leath-
er. and the amateur would not find it just
what he wanted unless he knew how to
treat it. The barber himself smoothed his
Russia leather to hard. glossy surface
with pumice stone and whetting. The re-
suit was a perfectly smooth, adhesive stroo
Some folks like the canvas strop. The bar
Der, for his part, did not. It. too is the
better for the treatment that will give it a
smooth CLASSY surface
The customer absorbed all this wisdom
with interest and hope Of profit Then he
asked the barber what became of all The
old razors. The answer was in effect that
there are no old raZors. The razor that he
used on the customer cost thirty cents and
was twenty years old. The barber never
threw away a razor. and was always ready
to buy one If the price was low enough.
Any razor of good quality, no matter how
old. he could usually sell for half dollar
after putting it in order. Sometimes old
razors went for corn knives The proved
razor is valuable thing, because of the
ignorance that prevails on the subject of
razors. Many a buyer cannot be trusted
to pick out a new razor, and it might be
laid down as a general rule that the old
razor is more valuable thing in reality
than the new.