Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - May 5, 1985
By Richard L. Tuttle
Vigo County Historical Society

On the cutting edge
Straight razor was grooming aid when grandpa was a little shaver

"Shave and a haircut, two bits" goes the children's refrain.

You could probably get a shave and a haircut for two bits when today's historical treasure was new, sometime in the late 1800s.

The straight razor on display in the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., was imported from Germany, which probably explains its cost of $2.50,

A straight razor had to be carefully hardened to insure it would hold an edge for the duration of the shave. This stern admonition was inside the box: "This Razor must be handled with great care, on account of its extreme thinness and high temper, as it is easily broken and no broken Razor will be made good by us."

The importer of the razor was A. G. Austin & Co. of Terre Haute. The name is cast in the blade. A. G. Austin Co. was a dealer in hardware, mill and mining supplies. It was first located at 172 Main Street and later moved to 608-610 Wabash Ave.

The act of removing whiskers from men's faces was quite a ritual before the invention of the safety razor by King Camp Gillette in 1895.

The straight razor could be treacherous to those who didn't know how to properly prepare it for use or how to use it.

First, it had to be sharpened. This was accomplished by using a strop, a belt-like device of leather or canvas, or both, that was used to smooth and shape the razor's edge. The strop hung on the wall and the shaver drew the blade along the length of the strop several times, first on the canvas then on the leather until the blade was ready.

Then one had to prepare the face, first by moistening the whiskers, preferably with as hot a water as one could stand, then by brushing on the shaving soap. Many barbershop regulars had their own mug and brush, which they kept at the shop for their use only.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.