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WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
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Seventh Day of TabOKtoberfest
So, apparently commemorative razors for important events were a thing back in the day. This pretty Böker was seemingly made to celebrate the S.S. Paris and its record breaking 1889 westbound Atlantic crossing in under 6 days which won it the Blue Riband. I'm assuming this means that the razor was made sometime between 1889 and 1892, when the S.S. Paris won it again (or it would read "S.S. Paris Wins Again?), but I don't have any tangible evidence of it.
The razor is in excellent condition, indicating that it was indeed bought as a memorabilium and then barely used. It's either that, or it's one of Böker's remakes like this S.S. Saint Louis. See for old vs new versions:
Vintage S.S. St Louis
Retro (new) S.S. St Louis
The reasons why I think I have an old one despite the good condition are:
But again, none of these constitute conclusive evidence, and I'm adding a dose of wishful thinking.
To the shave:
The razor has a loud hollow grind, and shaving with it is all toast buttering. When I honed it yesterday (I had received it dull like a butter knife) I think I didn't test the edge everywhere, and the heel half of the edge is a bit tuggy (I'll need to find styrofoam packing peanuts for this, as suggested by @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social). But that's minor and I'm liking this razor!
Stank++;
Böker #2? Did we create a monster?!
😂
You can rest assured, this Böker is a preexisting condition, just hadn't taken the time to hone it yet
A very cool razor! I like the idea of having a commemorative piece. IIRC, products that would possibly be exported to the US needed "Made in" labels after about 1930.
Oh ... Stank++;
That fuels my wishful thinking :)