Thread: Why did we as a society leave SR's in the first place?

Just looked flossing up, there are a few articles but no specific forum. We are a disposable society, my grandma taught me how to darn socks and mend buttons. Now days it is easier to buy a new pair of socks or replace the whole shirt because they are getting a bit old any way. As new generations forget about the previous ones habits, society picks up new norms. It is a pity though because like all rewarding tasks, a str8 is a simple yet elegant tool that takes a little practiced skill to use but the rest of your life to master.

Originally Posted by Crackers

We are a disposable society...

What is so interesting is that many believe that one of the hallmarks of the start of the "disposable society" was the transition to the DE and its variants.
Trading time and skill for connivence, you no longer had to maintain the edge and the learning curve for use was much shorter...

I enjoy woodworking, but because of all of my time in Commercial construction the noise was not very relaxing.
So I ended up learning how to make post and rung ladder-back chairs using only hand tools, a shaving horse and time.

Like learning how to shave with a straight it takes new skills and practice and at the most basic level the material is very inexpensive.
You would be amazed at how cheap a 1500# perfect Red Oak Log costs at a sawmill if you have one nearby..

It takes time, but in the end it will outlast you...



Saving the world from canned aerosol goo and landfills full of plastic...
One satisfied shaver at a time...
We can help save the world Brothers...
(That's our story and we are sticking to it...)

Smooth Shaving..

Well I would definitely use a de if I could get the shave I get from my straights. The first BBS shave and smooth skin and I was and am still hooked. There is no way IMHO that a machine honed blade can do what I can do on the stones. Ive tried about 30 different blades. I used a shavette for 7 years so I definitely tried. And variety is great. I dont shave the same edge daily. One day coti, one apache, one jnat hard finished, one, jnat softer, escher, thuri etc. I dont think I could shave the same edge every day. But I gues Im like my own personal chef. So making it to order myself is very satisfying.

Originally Posted by feltspanky

The allure of marketing, pretty women, catchy jingles, less time spent in front of the bathroom mirror. We are a nation of sheep.

I prefer the term "sheople". Blindly following, one behind the other as they fall off the cliff because they can't think as individuals anymore. I've been to more than one outdoor concert where you literally feel like a herd in the dust.... but we all started moowing like cows. The older I get, the odder the human critter is!

Reading the honing and stropping threads, it is noticed how many people have difficulty learning how to maintain straight razors. Now consider that the people who are trying to learn these skills today are all interested in learning them. If everyone HAD to learn these skills I would expect the level frustration to be much higher, and I imagine that many just suffered through shaving with what we would consider dull or sub standard edges. So I can see why a factory sharpened replaceable blade would be a welcome product.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

Reading the honing and stropping threads, it is noticed how many people have difficulty learning how to maintain straight razors. Now consider that the people who are trying to learn these skills today are all interested in learning them. If everyone HAD to learn these skills I would expect the level frustration to be much higher, and I imagine that many just suffered through shaving with what we would consider dull or sub standard edges. So I can see why a factory sharpened replaceable blade would be a welcome product.

One break you would have had in the "olden days" is in most cases you would have had a Mentor.
You would have grown up watching your Dad/Older brothers Lather, Strop, Shave and Hone.
I have a friend who grew up in rural Northern CA and when he was 16 was given two razors, a barbers hone and a strop, and basic instructions.
He related that a failed HHT that cost him the end of a digit was all it took for his Mother to decide he could have one of those fancy DE razors.

My Dad is 84, his Father was an Italian Barber. When he was a teenager one of his chores was to hone his Fathers razors when Grandpa brought them home each week.
(This would have been in the 40's)

But for most of us the changes in shaving methods (for what ever reason) meant our connection to the skill was broken before WWII.
Canned Goo was the logical next step, no brush, mug or lather skills, just shake and push...

Look on the bright side.
We have new custom and small batch razor makers starting up weekly.
The soap making hobby now has a market that is not as price sensitive as that of the bathing soap/bar market. (Think of what you will pay and go through to get 100-150g of soap that you want)
Small shops are making strops and brushes and many can not keep up with the demand.

So we have helped stop the decline, preserved and codified the skill and allowed others to learn if they are sufficiently motivated.
And tomorrow we will do more...

Smooth Shaving...

The way I see it, one can be like the sheeple and buy things to throw them away, OR we can amass skills and tools to make our lives easier. I have a small kitchen knife that my grandmother wanted to throw away when the handle broke, but my grandfather wouldn't hear of it, so he made another handle. I still have the knife, and both of my grandparents are long gone. In their day things were typically made of quality to last. If something was cheaply made, my grandfather would cuss China! Imagine that. People also knew how to do things because they had to. Now I know people who think meat comes from the grocery store, and everything else comes from some other kind of store; shoestore, clothing store, etc.

Today, when the power goes out at the grocery store, the store has to close because the ignoramuses can't calculate 7% tax on non-food purchases without a machine. While I will never be completely self-reliant since I'm in renal failure on dialysis, I take control of the things I can. I cook my own food because restaurant food will put me in the hospital with all of the sodium. I sharpen my own knives and tools, I repair my own lawnmower, I make and repair my clothes, I trained my own service dogs (and I trained my own hunting retrievers before that) - I used to repair my own car, but I can't any more. If I have a flat, I either plug the leak in the tire on the car and drive home, or change to the spare and drive to buy another tire that's not destroyed. And now, I shave my own face with my own razor that I have honed and stropped. It's that simple. I can also shave when the power goes out!

I find it ever so much more satisfying to know how to do something for myself rather than having to pay someone to do it for me - IMHO. My wife on the other hand......

Originally Posted by Robeth

Today, when the power goes out at the grocery store, the store has to close because the ignoramuses can't calculate 7% tax on non-food purchases without a machine.

If you had to account for, calculate, report and pay the sales tax for the store each month, be responsible for inventory management and be sure that the produce is weighed on a certified scale (since those are electronic and wired to the cash register), you might have a different take on this statement.

Roger That..

Swedish article, maybe you can use Google translate
Enkla blad gjorde Gillette till kung - NyTeknik