Monday, October 3, 2011

PENN'S EASYTRIM

How did Dick Proenneke cut his hair out in the wild?  With a Penn's patent "Easytrim" of course.

July 7th. An odds-and-ends day.
I put out a good-sized laundry to flutter and snap in a warm wind. Did some mending. Wrote letters and tossed them into the pile ready to go out on Babe’s express. Then a visit to the Twin Lakes’ barbershop. That little Penn’s Easy Trim is the best investment I have made for a long time.


-Excerpt from "One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey"


8 comments:

  1. Thanks for your post, Angelo. I just read the passage about Penn's Easy Trim in the Kindle edition of Proenneke's book and decided to google it. Now I know what this little device looks like.
    --James in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
    jlkgenmail@gmail.com

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  2. when i was in vietnam, on artillery firebases, we still had to have our hair cut a "reasonable" length. i figured i would cut my own hair, what the hell did i care what i looked like in the situation. so i picked up a handy item called the "goody". it is basically a plastic comb with two sides bolted together. inside 3 double edge razor blades are inserted. the end with one blade is shown for trimming (narrower teeth). the other edge where there are two razor blades inserted is the cutting side. i can't recall what i paid for the contraption at a 1970 price "px" but i have given myself a haircut ever since with this same goody! i should be a millionaire by now with all the money i haven't spent on a haircut!

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  3. Thanks my daughter and I just read about thIs in Dick's book and we wondered what it looked like.

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  4. Same here. Currently reading that same passage in One Man's Wilderness.

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  5. Add me to the list of the curious readers who stopped to google. Thanks for the pic.

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  6. And another curious reader of Proenneke's book! I am also a licensed cosmetologist so was especially curious. This probably wouldn't do a terrible job unless the hair was long, thick, and/or curly. The directions to use it upward in the back are key.

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  7. Hello I have one of these for sale. It is just like the one above but has a patent number of 802652 which means it is a later model. It is made in England. The blades are from Wm. Penn Co. Andover Massachusetts 01810. It is called Penn's Easy Trim. It has a blade in it and it works.Perfect condition . $25 plus S/H 815-942-2032 for more information.

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  8. I also have one for sale - with identical patent number as previous commenter, still in original waxed paper sleeve/bag. Photos available if you email to : mizzpvl@yahoo.com
    Would be happy to part with it for $20 total (that includes shipping within USA), payable thru PayPal.

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