A Short History of the Cut-Throat Razor in British Barbering
The cut-throat razor as we know it, a single steel blade that folds into a handle, took shape in Sheffield in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and for roughly two hundred years it was how British men were shaved, usually by a barber. The safety razor, arriving in the early twentieth century, moved shaving into the bathroom, and the electric razor finished the job. The traditional open blade survived in barbershops, but most barbers today use a version with a disposable blade, changed for every customer. That is the short answer. The longer one is more interesting.
Before steel: shaving as a trade
Men in Britain were shaved with blades of one kind or another long before the folding razor appeared, and for most of that time being shaved was something done to you, not something you did. Blades were expensive, hard to keep sharp, and dangerous in unpractised hands. That made shaving a service, and the people who provided it were barbers.
Medieval and Tudor barbers did a great deal more than shave. They pulled teeth, let blood and performed minor surgery, because they were the people in town who owned sharp instruments and knew how to use them. In London that arrangement was formalised in 1540, when the barbers’ guild and the surgeons were united as the Company of Barber-Surgeons. The surgeons left in 1745 to form their own company, and the barbers carried on as the Worshipful Company of Barbers, which still exists in the City of London today. Our post on the meaning of the barber’s pole picks up the surgical side of that story.
Sheffield and the folding razor
Sheffield had been a cutlery town since the Middle Ages, and by the late seventeenth century its makers were producing narrow folding razors with steel edges and exporting them. The design was simple and has barely changed: a blade, a pivot pin, and two side pieces called the scales that protect the edge when it is closed.
The real turning point came in the eighteenth century, when Benjamin Huntsman developed a way of producing cast steel that was far more consistent than anything before it. Better steel meant an edge that was harder, took a finer sharpening and held it longer. Razors made from it became a mark of quality, and Sheffield razors were sold across Britain and far beyond for the next two centuries. The phrase “Sheffield steel” stamped on a blade still carries weight with collectors.
How the blade itself evolved
Early razors were heavy and wedge-shaped. Over the nineteenth century, makers increasingly ground the sides of the blade concave, a technique called hollow grinding. A hollow-ground blade is thinner behind the edge, flexes slightly, and gives the person shaving more feedback through the handle. It also makes a faint singing sound as it cuts, which shavers still talk about with affection. Heavier, flatter grinds never disappeared, and some barbers preferred them for thick, coarse beards.
The barber’s shave in its prime
By the Victorian period a shave at the barber’s was routine for many men, sometimes several times a week. The sequence would be recognisable today:
- Hot towels to soften the beard and open up the skin.
- Lather worked in with a brush, often from a mug of soap.
- The razor stropped on leather in front of the customer.
- A first pass with the grain, a fresh lather, and a second pass.
- Something astringent and cooling to finish.
The barber’s skill was in the angle, the stretch of the skin and knowing where the grain changed. A good barber could shave a face closely without a mark. A bad one earned the razor its nickname. “Cut-throat” is a largely British term (Americans more often say straight razor), and it reflects a plain truth about an open blade held to the neck.
The safety razor changes everything
In the early twentieth century, King Camp Gillette’s safety razor with thin, disposable double-edged blades changed who did the shaving. It needed almost no skill and no stropping or honing, and it was hard to cut yourself badly with it. Men no longer had to visit a barber or learn a difficult technique to be clean-shaven. The First World War helped spread the habit, as huge numbers of servicemen shaved themselves in the field.
Electric razors arrived between the wars and became common after the Second World War. Between them, the safety razor and the electric shaver turned the daily barber’s shave from an ordinary habit into something occasional. The straight razor did not vanish, but by the mid twentieth century it had become a professional’s tool and an enthusiast’s hobby. If you are weighing up the modern options, our comparison of safety razors and cartridge razors covers where things stand now.
From the traditional blade to the shavette
In barbershops, the traditional razor gave way over the late twentieth century to razors that take disposable blades, often called shavettes. The reason is hygiene. A traditional razor is used on customer after customer and can only be cleaned between them; a disposable blade can be thrown away after each shave. Today, a fresh blade for every customer is the standard any good barber works to.
The trade-off is in the feel. A traditional razor is heavier and stiffer. A shavette blade is thinner and, in unskilled hands, less forgiving. In practised hands the result is the same close shave, which is why the technique matters far more than the tool.
What remains of the old craft
Quite a lot, as it happens. The modern barber’s shave keeps nearly every step of the Victorian sequence:
- Hot towels, still the single biggest factor in a comfortable shave.
- Lather built properly and given time to soften the beard.
- Shaving with the grain first, with a second pass only where the skin can take it.
- A finish that calms the skin rather than stinging it.
Straight razors are also still used for crisp lines: the edge of a beard, the neckline and the outline around the ears, where a razor gives a sharper finish than clippers alone.
At Highgate Cuts a hot towel shave takes 20 to 30 minutes and, like every visit, starts with an assessment: the barber looks at your skin and beard, asks how you usually shave and how your skin reacts, and decides how to approach it. You can read what happens step by step in our guide to the hot towel shave in London, and see the services on the Highgate Cuts barber page.
Collecting and using an old razor
Old Sheffield razors turn up in markets and attics all the time. A few things to know if you find one:
- The maker’s name and “Sheffield” are usually stamped on the tang or blade. It is worth looking them up before you do anything to it.
- Light surface rust can often be cleaned. Deep pitting at the edge usually means the blade is past saving for shaving.
- An old razor almost certainly needs professional honing before it will shave. A factory or antique edge is not a shave-ready edge.
- Do not test it on your face until it has been honed and you know how to use it.
Questions we get asked
Why is it called a cut-throat razor?
It is a blunt description of an open blade with no guard, held close to the neck. The name is mostly British; in the US the same tool is usually called a straight razor.
Do barbers still use traditional cut-throat razors?
Most use razors with disposable blades for hygiene, changing the blade for each customer. The technique is the same. Ask about it at the start of your shave or cut if you are curious.
When did men stop going to the barber for shaves?
Gradually, through the first half of the twentieth century, as safety razors and then electric razors made shaving at home easy.
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The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
