Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-28
THIS AND THAT


! effortless. balmy. velvety shave of
dreams. The consultations are right,
the. water Is right, the blade Is right,
the mentality is right. The mind has
a great deal to do with 1t. One man
swears by hot water, the next says cold
water Is the right remedy. These mat
ters are trivial. We are convinced that
shaving is q mental process, in the last
variably happy In essence he would
perpetually shave himself with perfect
grace.
No one can be happy always, how
ever, and no blade made by man can
cut like CREASED lightning upon cold,
dismal mornings, or when the furnace
has gone out, or when there Is prevail
ing any one of the thousand and one
mental discords which afflict mankind.
The subtle relationship between moods
and blades is too well known to men to
need further discussion. All that Is
necessary is to say that every man, at
some time or other, has known the
Shave Perfect.
So he does not search altogether In
the dark. Ever before his eyes shines
the great Once On A Time, when he
issued from the bath room singing the
praises of cold steel and its curiously
happy affinity for lather. He buys him
self new razor. For time he is per.
fectly happy with it. 1t handles we'll
with him. He is able to get into the
corners" as men POLITICALLY call the
spaces at the corner Of the mouth, nose,
and so on. He can make that razor
roll over and hold up its paws, leap
through q hoop, and do all sorts Of
cute tricks.
Even as he Is doing all this, he knows
! that there will come day when he
will become disgruntled. He will get q
poor shave. It will be new blade, but
It won't be sharp. He will curse the
manufacturer, who in turn will assure
him that the beautiful precision instru-
ment which he furnished to him has
been dropped, and is now 'out of align
ment." Even the trickiest blade cannot
saw through beard when it Is outside
the mysterious state known as "align-
ment." Alignment is something blade
must have, Just as men must have food.
+ = 4 +
The shaver, succumbing at last. In
vests In new razor. Usually he hnds
1t necessary to apologize to his wife,
| She doesn't understand. Hasn't he got
10 razors already? what does he want
another one for? She doesn't under
stand at all. If He had hundred
and maybe he will some day--she would
not comprehend. Some one ought to
tell her that the man is engaged in
the Great Search for the Perfect Shave
Let him alone, o Lady! If he Is happy,
that Is all that counts.
Most men will tell you that there
is no amount Of money too great for .
perfect shave" After they exhaust the
rounds Of the made in America
razors, they turn to those of British
and German manufacture, countries
which have great regulations for the
quality Of their cold steel. AS the i'm
port duty is added to the price of the
razor, the user pays pretty figure
Most OF these raZors specialize In thick
blades, something like sections Of the
old-faShioned raZors. Hope springs
high in the masculine breast when
man goes home bearing one OF These
beauties in his coat pocket He sees
his whiskers falling before the on.
slaugi1t Of that blade. Alas, when the
time comes the whiskers may or may
not so fall He begins to have \ new
respect for the homegrown variety
He turns back to his old safety to mar
vel anew at the marvel Of such a thin
blade holding such cutting quality.
One might think him now fixed fol-
life. but II one so thought, he would not
know the Eternal Shaver. He is never
fully satisfied. He may get such q
shave as an angel might envy, but hi
can dream of better one. SO bigger
and better raZors are put on the market
and everybody is happy, from the manu-
faeturer down to the ultimate consum-
er, for every one has share In It, This
ID called the Business Cycle, or some
thing like that Knowing business mel,
call It Production, and pride themselves
on 1t, but all the time it is due simply
to the eternal discomfort of the male
mind. OF this the razoy- blade might
be held up as the symbol, almost.