Shaving,

In the fifties, if you used a safety razor (that's the one with a replaceable blade, called safety as it was safer than a cutthroat razor) the replacement blades had two cutting edges, one each side; this seemed to be sufficient to get a good shave albeit that nowadays many blades have, what seem to me, a plethora of blades whose sole function seems to me to be to increase the price - yes, that is the comment of an old curmudgeon. Many still used cutthroat razors which were OK so long as handled with care and regularly stropped to sharpen. Shaving foam was generated by whisking the shaving brush in the shaving soap bowl. The only electric razor that I remember seeing in the early 50s was a clockwork one with a big folding turn key thing on the back. Quite a number of barbers used to offer a shaving service which was carried out using hot towels and cutthroat razors (I remember hearing that they practised shaving balloons); quite pleasant and there are doubtless a few places left which offer that service.