(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Dad's Norelco Speedshaver, ca. 1969. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-02-18 This is my dad’s Norelco Speedshaver. I remember him using it in the late 1960s when I was maybe thirteen years old. Like every pre-adolescent boy who ever lived, I wanted to grow whiskers, and I’d “practice” shaving with it when no one was around. I eventually got what I wished for, and after actually having to shave for the past fifty years or so, I can confidently say that regular removal of facial hair isn’t all as fun as I thought it would be at thirteen.. Well, Dad passed in 2000, and I rediscovered this shaver back then while going through his belongings, a bittersweet process.. Anyway, I plugged it in and it ran just fine. I brushed out the last of Dad’s whiskers, cleaned it up, gave it a try, and I’ve been using it since. Norelco was formed to produce electric shavers in 1939 as a division of the Dutch firm Philips. Philips was founded in 1891 as an electronics manufacturer — Think radios, light bulbs, etc. Nowadays, Philips mostly focuses on medical products, but Norelco is still selling electric shavers. When my dad bought this, Norelco was considered to be a mid-premium brand. They still may be, but I have no experience with their current products. I haven’t been able to find any historical pricing info, but if it cost, say, $15 in 1969, it’d go for about $130 today, all things being equal. He made about $125 per week then, so he probably put up better than 10% of a week’s pay for this. In 2024, a typical sort-of-comparable new Norelco shaver goes for about $80. Huh. In constant dollars, pricing hasn’t changed all that much for these since then. Of course, outsourcing and cost-cutting are contributors to that.. Don’t get me wrong, as an engineer myself, efficient, cost effective design is important, but not at the expense of what makes customers want to buy your product. End rant. Onward. Let’s have a closer look at this shaver. It comes nicely packaged in a spring loaded flip top container made with high grade plastic, trimmed with a brushed metal band around the lid. The shaver, cord, and brush fit neatly into two specially shaped compartments. The molded interior is covered with a velvet-like material that doesn’t retain cut whiskers — They just brush right out. I’ve had furniture with upholstery that was like velcro with pet hair.. All in all, it’s a very well thought out and executed design, and that’s just the box it came in. Simple yet elegant. They paid attention to the details when they designed this packaging. On to the shaver itself. Like the container, the housing is made from a premium plastic with a nicely stippled matte finish. The halves are held together with three conventional screws, so you can actually take it apart if necessary. The shape fits comfortably in either hand; they put some real effort into getting it to feel good ergonomically. When you press the shaver head release button, it pops smartly open with a satisfying click. That release button is a study in design all by itself. The slightly concave surface conforms with the pad of the thumb, the corners are nicely rounded, the fit tolerance with the housing is superb, there’s good tactile feedback when you press it, and the smooth finish feels just right to the touch. Same deal when you close the shaver head. The feel and sound of it clicking home is definitely intentional. During my days at Ford, there were whole departments of engineers obsessed with sound and feel. Doors opening and closing, dashboard switchgear, you name it. Norelco must have had a similar engineering group. It’s hard to describe, but the mechanism gives the impression of designed-in quality. You know when something feels or sounds flimsy and cheap. This doesn’t. Even the humble on/off switch got some love. Very solid, and snaps on/off with a good feel. It’s made from the same high quality plastic as the shaver head release button. Here’s a closer examination of the blade and drive mechanism. The two cutters have six blades each, driven by the twin articulating “axles” below. Axles is a good analogy, like a front wheel drive car’s half-shafts that drive the wheels, no matter the angle, but in extreme miniature. Each little shaft has a tight fitting flexible neoprene boot to keep them sealed from any contamination getting by. The blades and mesh guard “float” on intricate spring mechanisms and guides that allow for several degrees of tilt in all directions, enabling them to follow the contours of your face, up to a certain point. Damn, it’s an impressively complex system. The engineer in me marvels at the sheer amount of talent and expertise (and grudgingly on my part, management’s commitment to developing a quality product) that went into creating this. How many people spent a year or more of their lives on this project? And for a “lowly” electric shaver, at that? This one says “Made in Holland”. I guess “Netherlands” probably wouldn’t fit. Let’s not forget the accessories. The power cord is, again, constructed with premium materials. I think the plastic is a neoprene compound. After 50-odd years, the plug ends are still flexible with no signs of drying out/cracking. The coiled cord is fabricated in a way (that costs more to do) that keeps it from tangling. The kinks you see in the photo below are where it has taken a set from being stored in the box in one position for so long. The clear plastic shaver head cap isn’t so clear anymore — Dad was a heavy smoker, noxious unfiltered Camels; he’d even have a cigarette dangling from his mouth while shaving, and toss the butt in the toilet when he was done. I had to clean the sticky nicotine film off of everything before using it, but it must have infused itself into the clear plastic. But, the cap still clips neatly on/off and holds tight. The brush is well-executed, too, with a set of shorter, stiffer bristles for aggressive cleaning, and a set of longer ones for getting into corners and such. Again, the plastic is a higher-grade material than it has to be. The accessories. They’re just as well-done as the rest of the shaver. Now that my face is stubble-free, it’s time for a beer and a few tokes! So, how’s it do as a daily shaver after some six decades of use? The cutting blades seem sharp enough — I think there’s a self-sharpening feature built in. Anyway, they remove my whiskers without trouble if I don’t let them get too long. I’m not a very hirsute individual so this seems to work well enough for me. If you’re a sasquatch, your mileage may vary.. I could go out and buy a brand new shaver, but there’s no need. In fact, after I started using this in 2001, I tossed my cheap 15 year-old 1980’s off-brand shaver that I’d bought as a young man, when price all too often won out over quality. This one is here, it works every time, and it’s very well-made. I guess I’ll keep it around for a few more years. Thanks, Dad, for this and for everything. BTW, one just like this is actually available as of this writing. It’s on ebay for about $30, including shipping. The plastic shaving head cover is nice and clear; the prior owner must not have smoked in the bathroom. Seller states it works. 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