Made to last

All of the straight razors we are using today, even those that are made recently, have been made with the intention of serving the user for the life of the user and not the life of the razor. While we all scoff at the idea that many things today don't last it is actually a clever marketing tool. If it breaks you have to buy another. When the first Gillettes came out the Gillette marketing scheme was a new idea. This is the idea that you will sell something at a loss, but the disposable things needed to make it work are sold at a huge profit. This idea was further refined in today's market where things are designed to break down so you will have to purchase another one.

I imagine the people who made the razors we are using today would find the idea of deliberately making something sub standard, so it will break down, to be absurd. Those that made things before this modern age of throw away items would have striven to make something of the highest quality. They would want the end user to be so happy with the product that they would recommend it to their friends.

But I have to wonder, was it their intention that the items they were making would be used by many generations past the original user? Sure they made the razor to last the life time of the first man to buy it. But was it their intention to produce something that would still be in service up to, and beyond, one hundred years later?

What are your thoughts?

These are just some of the pointless ramblings of some up way past his bed time.

I suspect it would rather difficult to make a razor well enough to last a few decades but not well enough to 10 to 20 decades.

From my experience a good craftsman makes a good product which will last - as opposed to being made to last. I am fortunate enough to have a few of these products, some being over two hundred years old and still going strong. I've also know some modern craftsman making the same products and they didn't seem to be too fussed about it or even the customer - they just did what they do.

My dad has a Clovis spear point made of flint that is about 13,500 years old. It would work just as well today as 13,500 years ago when it was made.

My point is I think what was made a couple of centuries ago, by it's very nature is going to last generations when used by responsible people that care for their tools. I am sure that there are thousands of razors that did not make it based on abuse or some other factor.

I have few planes, work knives and chisels that are probably 100 - 130 years old and they still work well. I've fixed them but never tried to make them look like they were new.
I do not know, and for some reason i do not even believe they were meant to last for generations, but i am sure they were meant to last long and serve their owners for many years with proper care.

The whole ideology of modern tools is something different. Electric tools and cheap Chinese hand tools aren't meant to last for long. Once they get broke, we throw them away and buy another. And another. Different tool for every job. I do not mean that Chinese couldn't make quality tools but as long we demand and accept cheap tools that aren't worth anything then why should they sell us anything else.
Old vintage tools weren't something to throw away once they got broken. They were expensive, and sometimes they were the only tools people could afford in their lifetime. I do not want to fancy those times of the old but i am fascinated by the inventiveness and creativity those people had with so few tools.

I wrote about tools only but i think this would suit to many other things as well.

To tell you the truth the disposable world we live in is matched by a disposable mindset in most folks. If you bought an item that would last all your life would you want to keep it all that time or would you tire of it and get rid of it. I think for many in this age they would tire of it and just want to replace it.

I agree, I dont think many people care that much about how long a thing lasts and they'd just as soon buy a new one when the original goes boing.

A straight razor does (and probably did back in the day) cost more than a Gilette DE handle or something, so I'd imagine that the manufacturers intended to make a product that was high quality enough that people thought they were getting value for money.

Straight razors are designed to last a long time. You have one blade that you resharpen many times over the life of the razor rather than a blade that you chuck as soon as it gets dull, so I guess makers would ensure that the razor would last.

Just think when there were probably tens of millions of straights in everyday use and they were really common objects how many do you think were abused one way or another and had to be repeatedly replaced?

I think perhaps they were made to work, and owing to their simple design quite a few have lasted; however I don't see very many that have lasted a lifetime in spite of continual daily use.

Back in the wedgy days a chap may have honed flat several beyond his patience to maintain and either traded them to the tinker for a fresh reground one, had it reground or bought another. It was no doubt the methods of work in those early days that made the wedge style, the style-lightly hollow ground. Later as the industrial machine was fine tuned it became easier to make hollows which could now be made with less material and lasted longer and were easier to use.

What you are seeing as craftsmanship- one man, small shop to make an object, is really technology of vast industrial complex.
Just prior to that there were clam shells and fire, which could be had free of charge, and were surprisingly disposable.

I really enjoyed reading this thread. It makes me appreciate and enjoy the simple act of shaving by reminding me that although I live in a disposable world, as it was previously stated, I can choose to appreciate things that were created to last. Every time I use a razor I am reminded that the person who created it genuinely cared about making an object that was not intended to be thrown out.