What a happy coincidence. The younger members of the Boomer generation began shaving at roughly the same time that a formerly familiar device began appearing in our bathrooms: the hot lather machine.
Shaving is a rite which few of us guys enjoy. I'm sure you ladies enjoy it even less. But if you could replace that ice-cold lather with deliciously warm stuff, that would certainly make things more bearable, right?
Well, for a stretch in the 70's, much of the world thought so. Thus, millions of hot lather machines, the most famous a model by Shick, were sold in drug stores and the like to those of us looking to make the daily shaving rite a bit less dreary.
My own first experience with hot lather started at the barber shop. The barber I used would finish up my haircut by getting hot lather from a big chrome machine and spreading it just over my ears, then taking a straight razor to remove all traces of hair about a quarter inch above them. That hot lather felt wonderful, but only for a moment. It quickly reached room temperature, but not before filling me with a feeling of temporary delight.
There were a variety of hot lather machines available during the Decade of Polyester, but Shick was by far the most popular and familiar to us. It used a lather manufactured especially to be heated up. It reached a higher temperature than the generic models which would accept almost any can of shaving cream. And it certainly received more advertising time than its competitors. I remember many a TV commercial extolling the benefits of using the Shick Hot Lather Machine.
But there certainly were others. One was a little ball that snapped on top of a standard can. I believe it was called the Shick Hot Top. There really isn't a whole lot of info out there about hot lather machines sold in the 70's.
GE made a machine that let you put almost any brand you preferred into it to be heated up for your pleasure. I believe that it was the machine that I once owned.
I enjoyed my hot lather machine, to be sure. But one day, I stopped using it. I'm really not sure why. Perhaps I had grown impatient with waiting for it to warm up. Eventually, it was relegated to the garage shelf, where it sat until sold at a yard sale, as were most of the other machines that were eagerly snatched up by us in the 70's.
A hot shave is still a delightful experience, well, it's better than a cold shave, let's put it that way. But the days of fierce competition among manufacturers of hot lather machines are definitely over.
One thing I DID discover in researching this piece is that some men are quite passionate about the shaving experience. One blog went into a lot of detail as to the proper technique to get a perfect shave, including using a genuine Badger brush to apply the hot lather and letting it set for a while before actually shaving.
Yes, you can still obtain a Conair hot lather machine. They make models that range from a spiffy chrome model that eats up the better part of a c-note to a more basic black version that goes for less than twenty bucks.
Hmm, I'm tempted. But then again, that would mean that this wired type A would have to wait around for that lather to get hot, all over again.
Maybe I need to cut back a bit on the coffee? ;-)
Comments (5)
And then there was the Ronco glass froster.
I got one for my Dad circa Xmas 1973...he never used it.
Posted by Lee | September 5, 2010 8:37 PM
Posted on September 5, 2010 20:37
In 1968, Gillette introduced “The Hot One” a self-heating shaving cream right out of the can (it disappeared soon after). My father used it when it first came out and I tried it – it wouldn’t burn your face but it got pretty hot as I remember. For a while I used a shaving mug, soap, and a badger brush (which are still in the bathroom) and together they generated a fine warm to luke warm lather. If you heated the mug and soap with the hottest water and then the brush, you can get 1 or 2 fairly hot latherings before it cools down. I’m much too lazy to go through all the trouble for a hot lather so I just take a hot shower and shave as soon as I get out (my shaving cream is a $.99 can of Barbasol).
When I was a hotel employee in my younger days, I would occasionally spring for the 75 cent shave at the hotel barbershop with a 25 cent tip for the barber (my generosity would sometimes get me a free shave) but I was always nervous with a straight razor so close to my facial appendages (not to mention my neck.)
Posted by Burt | September 7, 2010 2:41 PM
Posted on September 7, 2010 14:41
The scary thing about the warm SC, is that if you somehow got accidentally cut, you would feel that same warmth...I'm sure many mafiosos who got bumped off by a intentionally "errant" swipe though that the foam was really kicking in beautifully!
Per that product, amazing how those Ronco-ish products were just utilitarian enough to get one interested in buying it, per the breadmakers, foreman grills, thighmasters, etc...concievably useful, but one never seems oneself tossing it in the closet for 10 years till that garage sale.
That was the genius of ronco-ish items....the fondue craze of the 70's was similar..warm stuff oozing out(cheese) that you could eat...now, if they could only come out with a combo fondue maker/hot shaving dispenser!
Posted by scott kuz | September 12, 2010 10:30 PM
Posted on September 12, 2010 22:30
The scary thing about the warm SC, is that if you somehow got accidentally cut, you would feel that same warmth...I'm sure many mafiosos who got bumped off by a intentionally "errant" swipe though that the foam was really kicking in beautifully!
Per that product, amazing how those Ronco-ish products were just utilitarian enough to get one interested in buying it, per the breadmakers, foreman grills, thighmasters, etc...concievably useful, but one never seems oneself tossing it in the closet for 10 years till that garage sale.
That was the genius of ronco-ish items....the fondue craze of the 70's was similar..warm stuff oozing out(cheese) that you could eat...now, if they could only come out with a combo fondue maker/hot shaving dispenser!
Posted by scott kuz | September 12, 2010 10:31 PM
Posted on September 12, 2010 22:31
One of the good things, the few good things about shaving for the ladies is the fact that somehow, we dont have hair on most parts of our legs after 55! It's GREAT! But, now we lost that way to keep men outta our drawers on first dates cause the rule used to be (1970's) NOT to shave, so you'd be too embarrassed! Now though, who gets asked on dates anyway? Sigh. I suddenly am bummed.
Posted by Terry Reed | May 30, 2011 6:16 PM
Posted on May 30, 2011 18:16