"Made in USA" Razor Blades
a review of Dale Justus' Razor Blades Cyclopaedia
by Giovanni Abrate
a review of Dale Justus' Razor Blades Cyclopaedia
by Giovanni Abrate
Dale
Justus has produced a work of incredible breadth, an unparalleled
compendium of US-made razor blades. I already owned the "Collector's
Guide to American Razor Blades" by Phillip L. Krumholz, another
excellent book and also highly recommended, and I still found much to
be enjoyed in the Dale Justus CD-ROM Book.
First, the book is full of COLOR pictures of the wrappers. Color is really important both for the proper identification of blades and also to appreciate the design in all its glory (or otherwise!). The blade wrapper designs are fascinating, the variety of styles, te evolution of the graphics through the years and some of the slogans that were printed on blade wrappers make browsing through this huge compendium enjoyable and entertaining.
The book starts off with a few chapters dedicated to collecting blades and to their history:
This is followed by a comprehensive listing of razor blades by alphabetical order; the list is impressive, covering, with the addenda and indices, almost 500 pages, crammed with pictures and information.
The best part is the huge number of detailed images of wrappers: since a picture is worth a thousand words, we'll just show you a couple of pages, taken at random from this fantastic book:
I looked up some of my most unusual blades and they were all very well documented in this razor blade Encyclopaedia. When I checked out the wrapper design of the vintage US-made TREET blades I was pleased to see that the current production TREET blades, which are made in Pakistan, have remained faithful to the classic American design of the earlier blades.
In the following picture, the old US-made TREET blades are on the left, two of the current Pakistani blades are on the right.
I love this book and browse through its many pages all the time; it has never failed to identify an unusual blade, whenever I looket it up!
If you are interested in the history of shaving, you should have this book. It's that good!
The CD is very well made, easy to use, with an excellent search feature. It even comes with a complimentary "custom" blade wrapper!
The CD is sold for a ridiculous low price of only $6.00. Get it!
Dale Justus can be reached at 15301 Fox Run Drive, Claremore, OK 71407
His email address is: djustus@claremorewireless.com
Giovanni Abrate
First, the book is full of COLOR pictures of the wrappers. Color is really important both for the proper identification of blades and also to appreciate the design in all its glory (or otherwise!). The blade wrapper designs are fascinating, the variety of styles, te evolution of the graphics through the years and some of the slogans that were printed on blade wrappers make browsing through this huge compendium enjoyable and entertaining.
The book starts off with a few chapters dedicated to collecting blades and to their history:
This is followed by a comprehensive listing of razor blades by alphabetical order; the list is impressive, covering, with the addenda and indices, almost 500 pages, crammed with pictures and information.
The best part is the huge number of detailed images of wrappers: since a picture is worth a thousand words, we'll just show you a couple of pages, taken at random from this fantastic book:
I looked up some of my most unusual blades and they were all very well documented in this razor blade Encyclopaedia. When I checked out the wrapper design of the vintage US-made TREET blades I was pleased to see that the current production TREET blades, which are made in Pakistan, have remained faithful to the classic American design of the earlier blades.
In the following picture, the old US-made TREET blades are on the left, two of the current Pakistani blades are on the right.
I love this book and browse through its many pages all the time; it has never failed to identify an unusual blade, whenever I looket it up!
If you are interested in the history of shaving, you should have this book. It's that good!
The CD is very well made, easy to use, with an excellent search feature. It even comes with a complimentary "custom" blade wrapper!
The CD is sold for a ridiculous low price of only $6.00. Get it!
Dale Justus can be reached at 15301 Fox Run Drive, Claremore, OK 71407
His email address is: djustus@claremorewireless.com
Giovanni Abrate
© 2008 by Giovanni Abrate - All Rights Reserved