Before the Second World War, some 70 years ago, barbers used the Chinese traditional shaving knife to shave mustache and face hair. After shaving, instead of using a small towel to rub away the remaining shaved hair on his customer’s face, the barber used his mouth to blow direct into his face to rid of the remaining hair. Every now and then, the barber cleaned (or polished) his shaving knife by rubbing it up and down against a leather strip hung at a table drawer.
Memories of The Way We Were 