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Monday SOTD Thread - November 25th, 2024 (#533)
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this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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GEM Days 9a/14: Ever-Ready Streamline – Pretty Regression – Mon 25 Nov 2024
This is shave 17 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the Ever-Ready Streamline, or when things started going south IMO.
The Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador
A little bit of context. We're in 1949, the height of shaving technology is the Micromatic Flying Wing, and the 1912 is a about 4 decades old at this point. It is still being produced. Engineers of the American Safety Razor Company have since improved upon it by decoupling the blade alignment and clamping with the 1914 and 1924, both of which went out of production since. The engineers further improved upon it by developing the Micromatic twist-to-open mechanism that keeps your fingers nicely distanced from any spring-loaded top caps and sharp edges, but still the 1912 is being produced. It seems like ASR wants to produce fancy high-tech razors like the beautiful Flying Wing, they want to shake he legacy and limitations of the 1912 design, but something (likely economic pressure from the Gillette competition) keeps them in the low cost-low tech business of the 1912.
In this context, the Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador enters the scene. It's shiny, its hefty, it looks solid, and... It's a fancy 1912. A full regression to their first design. See for yourself †: closed and open
This is just a cast version of the 1912 and could have been produced as is in 1912. ASR just fully gave up on being a technology brand for this one and went for 100% nostalgia. This is the second generation of the Streamline, but this time it sticks and it marks the end of the Micromatic era. Starting with this second gen Streamline, all future razors by ASR will be less technologically advanced than the Micromatics (or mimic it with cheap plastic parts).
† There is also a rare early first generation 1936 Streamline, but the historical context is the same (substitute high tech MMOC for high tech Flying Wing).
The shave
Luckily, the 1912 is a great shaver, and the Streamline has inherited that. It's disappointing that this thing was made after the Micromatics, but as an as earlier GEM ad says, "So What? It's the shave that counts!"
I always enjoy the rose cream, and the combo with Two Kings and Gravity works well.
The timeline
I love the Streamline, technology be darned!
The late 120inna55 had a really good writeup comparing the two versions of it, which I painstakingly copied to the wiki (and added his wonderful pictures so you don't have to click over to imgur).
Shameless plug for anyone interested:
https://wiki.wetshaving.social/Curated_Articles/Streamline
I love the looks, and I like the shave, and the engineer in me is unnecessarily and irrationally aggrieved and personally offended by the regression. IMO, MOIMO, YKMV.
One of if the best parts of pursuing a hobby is that we get to be unreasonable while doing it 🙃
This one really piques my curiosity. There’s something compelling about its design that appeals to me.
I might try to pick one up if I come across one.
Just to clarify: these don’t have a TTO mechanism, but the head levers open with that tab along the spine?
Great write up as always!
They can be hard to find, but sometimes things fall in your lap. The one I see on eBay right now is over priced.
Yeah I didn’t find anything that looked promising with a cursory glance this morning. I’ll keep my eyes open, I’m sure one will pop up eventually.
Let's see whether the attachments fix in lemmy is already live on this instance. If not, you'll have to look at this reply on mastodon
Edit: alas, doesn't seem to work. Check the video out here: https://wetshaving.social/@djundjila/113544935341588382
#Wetshaving #GEM
Very cool, thanks for the video!
Is there something that pushes along the spine of the blade in these razors, or do they just sit on the plate once you close the head?
Not sure I understand. That leaf spring in the centre of the top cap (the one that pokes through the hole in the top cap) pushes on the spine. Is that what you're asking?
Yes I think so. I was wondering what mechanism keeps the blade pressed up against the blade stops up front.
Similar to how my clog-pruf mechanism slides forward after hinging closed, pressing the blade forward against the stops.
That's right. It work just like the 1912 and the top cap is held down by a buckling spring in the closed state. When you press down the little lever on the spine side of the top cap, the sitting resists until it buckling somewhere near mid opening and snaps open. Then you can change the blade, press down on the cap, and when the spring buckles back, it snaps shut. I'll upload a video later today, because it's easier to see than to read.