Once upon a time, in a simpler age when electricity was expensive or balky, windup razors were popular in Europe and Russia.
In the Space Age, you could even buy the NASA-approved version!
But except for vintage models (a mere $100.00), purely mechanical razors seem to have vanished from the marketplace. Although in this era of environmentalism, it seems they should fulfill a certain demand.
The closest such product I can find cheats by using electricity--though it is hand-cranked!
[From Playboy for November 1968. Click to enlarge.]
I can imagine a man being follicle-challenged and able only to grow a patchy beard or mustache. But most of us can grow a perfectly fine crop of facial hair for free. Why would anyone spend money for a fake? And the price! The Inflation Calculator I always use says: "What cost $30 in 1968 would cost $185.89 in 2010."
But the weirdest thing is the appeal to scam your girlfriend or one-night-stand with fake hair. Huh?
About disposable razors. Way back in the day, a razor was a single blade with a wooden handle. And it worked. But that wasn't good enough. Makers of disposable razors have been adding blades since the 1970s, until today, when ShaveMate introduced a razor with six (yes, six) blades. And not just more blades, but their Titan 6 has shaving cream in the handle and a moisture strip. This is great news for the man that wants to remove several layers of skin from his face without that terrible razor burn effect. Read the amusing article for more.
Okay, if you want to claim that your shaving cream will make the Average Joe resemble a movie star, wouldn't you pick Errol Flynn, say, or even Humphrey Bogart, rather than Frankenstein's monster?
It’s an election year in the UK, and politicians there are suddenly more image conscious than ever. None more so than incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who - at his wife’s suggestion - has swapped his regular Kit-Kat munching habit for a diet of bananas in an effort to slim down a bit. While it’s nice to know that the British PM’s wife is perhaps a reader this blog, she’s obviously not a regular one, or she’d have known that portly politicos are more trusted. Now if only he’d show the common touch by going on a bacon binge (Orange News).
Mind you, Mr. Brown is not the only statesman trying to avert a bleak future this week, an unnamed Arab ambassador got the shock of his life when he finally lifted his new bride’s niqab, only to find she had cross-eyes and a beard. The groom immediately went to court to have the marriage annulled, claiming he had been tricked into the marriage and that the bride’s parents had used pictures of her attractive older sister to deceive him. The court found for the groom and dissolved the marriage, but turned down his demand for $150000 compensation (Daily Mail).
But perhaps he’s been a bit quick to judge by appearances. Two Chinese men certainly were when the found a hoard of 20 clay artefacts in an old tomb they discovered in a field near their home, only to later sell the whole lot to a collector for less than $2000. Unfortunately for the pair, theirs were rare finds from the Sui-Tang Dynasty, making the collection over 1000 years old. One item alone, a pottery figurine, recently reached $150,000 at auction (Daily Times).
More fortunate was Wendy Jones of Aberglasney in Wales, who took the old plate she’d had perched on her sideboard for years – except on those odd occasions it had fallen off it - to a TV antiques show, in a plastic carrier bag, only to be told it was part of a rare, Prussian royal service worth over £100000 (Telegraph).
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Dave Snarr, the Mayor of Murray, Utah may be losing his trademark handlebar mustache. Mr. Snarr has put the fate of his mustache up for a public vote and so far, it is not looking good for this favorite facial feature.
According to the letter, written by American Mustache Institute CEO Dr. Abraham Jonas Froman:
"...you represent a community of downtrodden Americans - Mustached Americans - for whom you stand as a sign that we are not only fit to hold positions in waste collection, motorcycle repair, and hospital equipment maintenance. You are proof that a Mustached American can be a mayor, a leader, a respected beacon of excellence."
The Mayor's response? "...whatever you do, you're damned".
Voting for the fate of the mustache is open until May 16th.
Once you have experienced the 1968 film PSYCH-OUT, you will be unable to return to your square, plastic, uptight lifestyle. Just the sight of Jack Nicholson's fake ponytail alone will trip you out!
Following up on Alex's "Couvade" post: here's a musical exegesis of the eternal tradeoff between daily facial shaving for men, and monthly menstruation for women.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.