Simpson’s listed straight razors, safety razors and electric shavers on the same page in 1945. The Gillette Tech cost 49¢ with five blades; the Schick injector cost $1 with twenty. Remington electric shavers were listed at $19.95 and $29.75.
Eaton’s Bay Rum cost 32¢ for three ounces and was advertised as a head rub or after-shaving lotion. It shared the page with brilliantine and rum-and-quinine hair tonic.
The $1 Gem Junior came with seven blades, a stropping attachment and a case. Seven dull blades could be exchanged for 25¢, provided they were not nicked.
Williams’ Barber’s Bar cost 7¢ a cake. The same list offered Williams’ Travellers’ Stick at 20¢, Pears’ shaving sticks from 25¢ and Cuticura shaving soap at 15¢.
This full-page Colgate advertisement includes a shaving stick among an assortment of soaps, powders and toiletries. Readers could send for trial packages at the company’s Montreal address.
Canadian Pictorial, Vol. 3, No. 8, p. 28. Library and Archives Canada.
Military shaving
Newspaper clippings and one surviving kit show how razors reached Canadian soldiers during the two world wars.
Razors for Troops Fighting at the Front
A call for spare razors, with letters from Toronto and Sheffield and a list of collection points in Moncton. Donors could leave their razors at local shops or the Moncton Club.
Source details: Razors for Troops Fighting at the Front
Original publication not yet identified.
Razors for the Soldiers
Thirty-two more razors collected in Fredericton were reportedly sent to Lyman’s Limited in Montreal for forwarding to troops. An earlier shipment had contained twenty-six.
Residents of McKee’s Mills raised money for five safety razors, one for each of five local men who had enlisted. The men are named; the razor brand is not.
A razor, a field mirror and a case marked R-189737. The Canadian Grenadier Guards Museum associates this kit with the 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment during the Second World War.
