Thread: Straight Shaving, Part of a Larger Movement?

Most are already familiar how and why the gratifying method of shaving almost went extinct. Correct me if wrong, but as I understand it, it was a marketing scheme between Madison Avenue and the Gillette Bros. The power of the media unleashed on the lemmings of their day(if you read this Rob, I can't stop using that word, am I a lemming?) More and more lemmings jumped ship until there were just a handful of old men, who because they were old were ignored by the cool and better informed. Their collective wisdom of generations snuffed out by the mind control vehicled by newsprint and advertisments of hairless arm pits and legs and bald faced men and just a mild suggestion to "Buy it Now".
Question is, is the Straight Razor a rebelion of sorts? They say if you took 3/4 of the people who identify themselves Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist etc. and really went through most issues all but a minority would generally agree enough to get any job done that was important enough. Here in the states, it is obvious as we swing from left to right and back that the majority of us are not satisfied, and few, except some real zealots are so broken hearted we can't live without our party as the rest of us cheer "get rid of the bums"!. Younger readers, trust me, make it to 50+ and you may feel the same.
Just some silly thoughts that I try not to think about while shaving lest I get nicked. The shave requires a clean mind, not programmed with silly thoughts planted in our head by the powers of media and advertisement.
Mike

I believe it's more a rebellion against high cartridge cost and low quality shaves. I think, there is a bit of nostalgia added in to the mix as well. Also there are quite a few Hams who are straight shavers also.

Originally Posted by freebird

I believe it's more a rebellion against high cartridge cost and low quality shaves. I think, there is a bit of nostalgia added in to the mix as well. Also there are quite a few Hams who are straight shavers also.

CQ CQ CQ _. _ _ _ _ _ . _ You brought that one down to earth quick.

Nah - I just look hot with a straight in my hand, that's why I do it....

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Nah - I just look hot with a straight in my hand, that's why I do it....

James.

LOL
James,
That totally supports my idea. If you look hot, than I am a Sizzling Sicilian Stallion. I must have got that from my Nonno Carmelo who used a straight till he got brainwashed and went Gillette!
Mike

This is part of a much larger topic for me, but I see evidence everywhere of people my age seeking for and finding the genuine. There's only so much poisonous advertising-mind-tar the capitalist public can take before it starts to doubt and look elsewhere. Right now is an exciting time to be alive!

Change comes in waves, and to my mind the tipping point for my generation was the movie Fight Club. In a very cool and hip way it legitimized all the anti-establishment posturing that kids were good at, but focused also on finding the tangible, the real, the genuine, instead of hating society just because. Is straight razor shaving anti-establishment? Yes, if that object-fetishism establishment wants to sell you things that break, that are made in 3rd world countries, that are made with/from poisonous materials, that you don't need in the first place, u.s.w.

Being a musician I've learned that almost no musical equipment made after 1975 is any good. There are exceptions, but those tend to be expensive exceptions. Vintage gear rules because the materials were better, the craftsmanship was better because the PAY was better, but the same amplifier in the sixties still cost less then the crap-tastic amplifiers in guitar stores today. Vintage is better because things were made to last. Amps, basses, tubes, hell even records sound better than cds in some sense.

Straight razor shaving is just one facet of modern man learning to empower himself, a way of returning to the brotherhood of hunters after it was stripped away from him by television, strip malls, suburbs. I could go on and on but then I'd feel like I was ranting, and no one likes reading a rant so here's the headline folks:

We're not counter culture, they are! We're pro culture!

Come on, you have to admit that cartridge and safety razors are WAAAAY more convenient than straight shaving. No stropping, no honing. The trade-off is that you get a lesser quality shave with those methods.

Frankly, if my face was not so pesky, I'd use another method. But straights seem to be the only method of shaving that gives me a close shave without destroying my face!

As for the original question... it might be part of a larger movement, but I am not part of it, clearly : )

Hard to tell if there are any movements going on but...

Stuff!!!
We do seem to be more and more inunandated with stuff - things to buy / have / do, advertising everywhere, expectations to pack more into our busy lives, mobile / cell phones... online forums (how about talking to the family??)

Antidote to our crowded, fast lives?
In different ways, people may be looking for antidotes to their crowded lives...

• 'slow' food, home cooking, organic, local produce cooking
• do it yourself
• unplugging from the computer / tv (even if only for one night!)

Traditional skills?
Maybe there is some nostalgia.

Sometimes things are cheaper and better done yourself - have you changed a washer in your tap? changed the oil in your car?

Sometimes it's cheaper and easier to pay - puncture repair for the car?


I guess there are different motivations for starting the straight razor shaving, but I suspect that we have similar reasons for sticking with it. This would include slowing down and enjoying your time, the mindfulness of the shave...

All the best,
Michael.

I'm just getting into straight razor shaving, but it's no coincidence. It just seems to jive with my own character. My razor and brushes look so nice next to my typewriter. But I'm also am aware that on a deeper level, I am so attracted to straight razor shaving because it has a certain sense of quality to it. I'm sick of disposable, single-use, double-packed, made by someone you don't know by ingredients you couldn't pick out of a line up STUFF that is pasted all over our lives like an ugly collage.

Call me preachy, but I'm proud that my method of shaving doesn't fill up landfills as quickly as most people's. I've seen Idiocracy, and that prospect scares the hell out of me, even if I don't live long enough to see it.

What we call rebellion now is later on simply noted as a societal or cultural change. Music is one of the best examples of this since it changes so rapidly. Look at music like big band and swing. It was the big thing for a few decades, then comes along the "rebellious" rock and roll of people like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry...hardly what we would today think of as being rebellious.

Following rock and roll, every decade has been termed rebellious in some way or another. I'm sure a few of you remember Back in Black. Yet now, it's accepted as simply changing times.

To tie this all in, look at the recent rise in popularity of Michael Buble. He's a phenomenal singer and has brought back swing/big band in a huge way. Hats and other "older" styles are on their way back. If e-bay and our user base is any indication, straight shaving is on its way back. Rebellious? Perhaps at the moment, but I'm betting that all of this "old style" rebellion will soon turn into something of a cultural change.