Thread: No razor grinders or tinkers taken in!!!

Comes from a time when personal hygiene and occupation were connected and branded you. Organ grinders were often times gypsies and unsavory types and lived with monkeys.

Were razor grinders considered vagabonds and of very low social class?

Yup. That's why they were grouped with tinkers. I would assume that folk who traveled from town to town looking for work were not considered to be very trustworthy. I find that odd though, because they certainly would not be paid until the job was done, so whether the grinder or tinker did the work properly or not, it should have been evident before payment.

In that same regard, I would assume that the innkeeper collected payment before the patron spent the night.

I wonder if it was because they had a tendency to steal?

And now a days if a hotel doesn't have free Wi-Fi.....

Originally Posted by Utopian

Yup. That's why they were grouped with tinkers. I would assume that folk who traveled from town to town looking for work were not considered to be very trustworthy. I find that odd though, because they certainly would not be paid until the job was done, so whether the grinder or tinker did the work properly or not, it should have been evident before payment.

In that same regard, I would assume that the innkeeper collected payment before the patron spent the night.

I wonder if it was because they had a tendency to steal?

Tinkers and grinders might also be noisy and leave a mess if they do any work in their room.

Anyone who did not have a fixed abode and wandered around the countryside was looked at with suspicion with very few exceptions. No different than the saddle tramps in our American West in the 1800s or even vagrants and hobos in more recent times.

Are the grinders razor sharpeners and not someone who grinds razor blanks? It would seem Razor makers would reside near the factory year round and not be traveling.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Are the grinders razor sharpeners and not someone who grinds razor blanks? It would seem Razor makers would reside near the factory year round and not be traveling.

Probably referring to people who "sharpened" things. Back in the day there used to be a truck that came around like teh Good Humor man, only he rang his bells and the women would bring out their scissors for sharpening, and the men would bring out thier garden tools and wood chisels. Long time before that, I'm sure there was a a guy with a wheel that he walked from town to town with, probably rolled it along like a wheel barrow.
And before any of you scoff, My Grandfather the tailor would carry his foot treadle sewing machine on his back and head to Midtown every morning. People did what they had to to survive

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Are the grinders razor sharpeners and not someone who grinds razor blanks? It would seem Razor makers would reside near the factory year round and not be traveling.

I suspect it's the honers.
Razor makers were actually pretty high in the pecking order of craftsmen.

I knew I should have never reground that razor a couple weeks ago. I'll never be able to travel again.