The 3rd International Shaving Collectibles Meeting was held on October 21-22, 2006, in West Chester, Ohio, USA. Meeting participants met on Friday, October 20, at the popular Bravo Cucina Italiana restaurant. The formal meeting was held on the following day at the Indiana Wesleyan University Conference Center in West Chester. On Sunday morning, the meeting concluded with brunch at the Rosenthals.

Larry Kraayenbrink gave a presentation on Straight Razors. Drawing from his extensive experience and examples from his collection, he discussed the different materials and designs used in the manufacture of razor handles and their contribution to the value of the razors.

Arik Dvir discussed the development of vintage Gillette and Schick Safety Razors from the 50s and 60s. His beautiful photographic images of the razors accentuated their dynamic design and provided compelling reasons for their emergence as highly sought-after collectibles.

Tom Willard discussed the new patent searching capabilities of the ShaveWorld.org site. The site is the most comprehensive one on the Internet devoted to shaving collectibles. He also encouraged attendees to upload photos and basic information about their collectibles to the site. Other individuals who would like to contribute to the site's encyclopedia are encouraged to do so, but must first obtain permission from the site's webmaster.

A portion of the program was devoted to new publications: Robert Wait's Safety Razor Compendium on CD, Dale Justus' 2006 American Razor Blades on CD, and Tom Willard's printed publications of both Safety Razors and Stroppers from the ShaveWorld.org Web site.

Participants were treated to gift bags, compliments of the Gillette Company and Schick Wilkinson Sword, and door prizes were given away. Contributing door prizes were Jack Hayes, Dale Justus, Jerry Rosenthal, Robert Waits, Tom Whiting, and Andy Pennella on behalf of Schick Wilkinson Sword. A big thank you to all.

Throughout the day, many exhibits were available for viewing, and selling and swapping were in evidence. A record number of tables (17) had displays. Conversations occurred spontaneously among attendees. There was also a Show and Tell session in the afternoon. During the session, a recent DVD was shown that contained a segment, produced by the Discovery Channel, of Ahmet Sonmez and his shaving collectibles. Ahmet, a fellow collector from Turkey, has been a collector since childhood. The segment beautifully portrayed his passion for collecting.

At the end of the day, discussion was held about the possibility of having a combined meeting with the National Shaving Mug Collectors Association (NSMCA). The Shaving Collectibles group decided to continue with its present format but also to extend a warm invitation to any NSMCA members wishing to attend its meetings. Cross fertilization of the two groups with exposure to the full gamut of shaving collectibles was considered quite desirable.

The next meeting is planned for October of 2007. The consensus was that a more concerted effort should be made to reach out to all collectors to make them aware of our meetings.

Lastly, Jerry Rosenthal was commended for his superb organizational skills in the orchestration of the meeting. His knowledge of safety razors is second to none, and his collection is, perhaps, the most extensive in the world. He is also a very handsome individual, extremely modest, and entirely unassuming.

There are many advantages to transcribing the minutes yourself !

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Rosenthal

Make sure to click on the photos below to enlarge them. Photos provided by Jerry Rosenthal, Bob Hall, and Leo Rozov.

Friday Evening Pre-Meeting Dinner
Bravo Cucina Italiana

From left to Right, Al Zimmer, Tom Willard, Jack Hayes, Larry Kraayenbrink, and Tom Whiting	From left to right, Ed Knigge, Dale and Georgia Justus	Left table (L to R) Al Zimmer, Tom Willard, Jack Hayes, Larry Kraayenbrink, Tom Whiting, Dave Freund; Right table, Jim and Ruth Andrus

Meeting and Displays

Arik Dvir	Jack Hayes	Jack Hayes and Fred Smith	Mel and Bob Hall

Dave Schmalz	Leo Rozov	Don Perkins & Jim Andrus	Tamar Dvir & Jerry Rosenthal

Dale Justus	Don Perkins & Al Zimmer	Larry Kraayenbrink & Al Zimmer	Ed Knigge

Meeting Displays

Meeting Displays		Presentations