Thread: Vintage Coticule?

I think there's one other reason for this vintage-coticules-are-better theme. There was a particular mine that was highly revered that closed somewhere around the end of the nineteenth century. The mine had a French name I can't remember, but coticules from this vein were called "old rock" or "deep rock." Some of the old geological textbooks from the 1920s or thereabouts say in essence 'they don't make 'em like they used to.' I think some of the old barber's textbooks from that period also say something of the sort, and maybe even Arthur Boon's (?) I seem to recall...

This meme seems to have filtered into modern discussion of coticules, but the comparison is dated, having to do with hones from the early part of the 20th century vs. hones from the 19th. There are new veins since. In fact, it seems likely that many of what we call "vintage coticules" are from the period that wasn't supposed to be so good.