The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1904-11-26
BARBERS' RAZOR TRADING
More of Lottery Than Horse Trad
ing, Says Member of the
Profession.

II wish I'd had my old white hook
here when that trader came in, [ might
have got good one for it, remarked
the new Pittsburg barber, relates the
Buffalo Commercial
The customer who was waiting to
have his mustache curled looked up in
Quiringly.
Eyes, he had a nice Sheffield hook
there that you might have had for
about Is cents to boot" said a second
barber.
The customer couldn't contain his Gu
riosity any longer.
''Whatare you fellows talking about?"
he asked. Fish hooks?"
Both BARRIERS laughed. Then they re-
piled in the same breath:
mo; razors''
The puzzled look didn't disappear
from the customers face, and the bar
bers saw that further explanation was
in order
'tWe BARRIERS call all our razors
hooks said the Pittsburg man. ..And
a trader is a man who makes special
ty of trading razors with BARRIERS. One
of them was here to-day. and when 7
said that I wished I had my old white
hook here I meant an old white razor
which own.
There isn't a barber shop of any size
inthe country that isn't visited regular
ly by trader. These traders generally
are men who formerly were BARRIERS
They learned a lot about razors in prac-
ticing their trade, and of course all Of
them know how to sharpen razor and
put it in frst-class shape. They coll
lect razors from everywhere. They get
themfrom pawnshops; they buy themat
bargain sales, and they get them in trade
from BARRIERS. But, of course, before
they do any trading with BARRIERS they
must have a stock in trade, so they gen.
orally accumulate a lot of razors before
they begin business. They sharpen VI.
these razors and get them in fine
shape. Then they are ready for bust.
ness.
Il know a trader who works in Pitts
burg, McKeesport and other PennsyI
yania towns and he makes fine living
trading razors. That's all he does
Most traders don't keep at their business
all the time, but go back to the barber
trade. This fellow, however, makes
more than any barber can make and he
has a run of customers who keep him
busy all the year round He's an ex,
pert in fixing up razor, and the bar
bers all like to trade with him.
"Of course it's a sort OF lottery in
trading razor. Sometimes you get the
best of it and sometimes the trader
does. But you can be sure of one thing
when you get a razor from trader, and
that is that it will be nice and sharp
and in good condition for awhile, any
way.
AS a general thing a razor which has
seen several years of use is liable to BIZ
a good razor, If it's handled properly
You may not know it, but razor gets
tired. I've heard scientific expIana
ton Of what I mean about razor get
ting tired. It's something about the
molecules in the steel getting out OF
place from constant usage and strop-
ping, thereby destroying the temper OF
the steel. Well, If you have such a
razor and put it away for awhile the
molecules will get back in their proper
place and the temper of the razor will
come back. That's the scientific ex-
PLANTATION. I don't know if it's hot air
or not, but do know that had razor
once that had to put away to rest for
about four months every year, then it
would be good again for the remaining
eight months. | simply gave the razor
a rest.
when the trader came around again
the first fellow told him what a dandy
razor the last one was that he got IN
trade, and then the trader told him that
razor was his old corn scythe. The fell
low wouldn't believe it, but he recog-
nfzed the blade from some MARKS on It
and knew that the trader was telling the
truth The fact is that the old blade
simply needed little looking after.
They talk about horse trading be-
ing lottery. It isn't in It with razor
trading, and I guess that's what makes
the traders business so even year in and
year out"
Polite Conductors in Rar7in