A follow-up to last weeks post - "If I ever shave my beard"

I posted last week about these 3 items that belonged to my father, and to his father before him.

And I heard from my cousin Ann, daughter of my father's sister, Marie, who provided some fascinating first-hand knowledge about these items, and the man who used them.

She recalled that "He had two other items - a mug and a leather strop to sharpen the razor. He made a soapy lather in the mug and gave the razor several swipes on the strop and shaved - usually ending up with a few nicks & bloody spots - which he covered with bits of paper until the bleeding stopped."

 "His attire when shaving was his overalls, no shirt & his BVD undershirt showing.  I can still see him since he always shaved in the living room where a coal fired heating stove kept a pan of water warm for rinsing the razor.  Grannie was a bit fussy so that is probably why he was clean shaven. I can see why she was attracted to him for he was quite handsome."

What a wonderful memory. And it reminded me of the importance of preserving memories such as this. I have often stated that the genealogical record concerns itself primarily with events; birth, marriage, death, burial, etc., but every good genealogy software program has provision for notes concerning each event, and they can be woven into a narrative, and the narrative is as important as the facts. Perhaps more so.

Thanks, Ann for sharing. Oh, and thank you for pointing out that Bedford County is in Tennessee, not in Kentucky, where I had misplaced it.