Ever Ready 1914

JUST ARRIVED - VINTAGE SINGLE-EDGE RAZOR

Well bless my soul and call me Susan. This arrived in the post today and when it did, heavenly choirs of angels swooped down and sang in perfect harmony, bathing me in an unearthly glow, as they plucked previously undiscovered notes from their celestial harps.*

Pictured here is, as you'll realise from the title, an Ever Ready 1914 SE razor. It is - as you can see from this photo and the others that follow - a thing of beauty.

But wait. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Here's what I found in the package that arrived on my doorstep.

Yes, I know. It's a tin. But a tin forged at the very centre of the Earth's molten core. Or probably, just like the razor itself, made in the USA.

Look at the treasures that lay inside.

The razor itself, of course, takes centre stage. But look, my liege, look! There, nestling in the upper-right quadrant of the tin, like a small, rectangular, metal baby in the arms of its Ever-Ready, razor-tin mother, is a metal blade holder. And with barely containable joy I realise that it will serve me well as a handy receptacle for my GEM SE blades**.

Now, put some clothes on and let's have a closer look at the razor itself.

Well, that's certainly a close-up look. Here you can see the back of the head of the razor. A fascinating angle, I'm sure you'll agree. Note the slightly jaunty angle at which I've positioned the razor, and the not-quite-in-focus blur so that you can't quite make out what it says on the bottom of the head.

But hang on - all is not lost. There's more to come.

Here's another close-up. It says:

Patented March 24/14

MADE IN USA

Finally, here's a photo of the head of the razor, fully opened. It's a different opening to the flip-top head of the Ever Ready 1912 or to the TTO head of the GEM Micromatic Clog Pruf or the Flying Wing, two of my other favourite SE razors.

The 1914 requires a little more effort to open by lifting at the sides of the head. Also - the design means that the blade sits in the head slightly more precariously (it feels) than in the 1912. Although apparently the 1914 model that was produced before it was patented had even smaller blade-holding hooks, making it even more precarious.

I'm looking forward to getting to grips with the 1914. As is the way of these razors, it looks like it would happily rip your face off but I'm hoping it'll deliver as smooth, comfortable and as pleasant a shave as my other vintage SE razors . I'll let you know.

Right. I'm going in.

* Really. This actually happened.

** I don't know what got into me here. Life gets a bit too much sometimes and I just have to get stuff out of my brain and onto the page. Or in this case, onto the screen, using my laptop as a vehicle.

#EverReady1914 #SErazor #daveshaves #shavelikeyourgrandpa