Old school forum in SRP?

[Spokeshave]

As "old school" as straight razor shaving is by nature, there is a decidedly modern aspect to it all. A lot of the most active topics in the SRP are about the latest and greatest of this old practice of straight razor shaving. Common modern themes amongst us range from Colleen's soaps to Maestro Livi’s masterpieces. There's micron-measured abrasives, microscopes, Dremmels, CA finishes, mastering eBay and every kind of soaps, creams, and fragrances one can imagine.

All of these areas are great and the breadth of topics and interests is a real strength of the SRP community. Threaded into this SRP tapestry are some "old school" or more traditional topics; barber hones, barber books, old strops to name a few. I'd like to float an idea out there for creating an "Old School" or "Traditional" forum in the SRP. Though traditional threads are sprinkled around, it’s hard to sort through things to find them. The point of the new forum would be to draw these old school topics to a more visible surface for those of us who find that to be a big part of why we do this. Call the forum what you will, call us Old Farts if you want (though I'm not that old and I suspect there are some gen-Xers in the SRP who might be Old Farts at heart). This would be a place within SRP to post questions, findings, and exchange what we collectively know, are learning and want to learn about straight razor shaving in its most traditional way.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am not criticizing the modern side of straight razor shaving. Those of us with more traditional leanings aren't automatically against all things modern nor are we always purely traditional. I'm just wondering if there are others out there like me that would like to dig deeper into the past details, traditions, knowledge and skills of this great old ordinary thing we are all so fascinated with. A lot of times, posts in the old school forum might just be referrals to other areas with relevant posts. However, I think presented with a place to plant these traditional posts, a lot of information and conversations would grow. Anyone else out there see a value in another section in SRP dedicated to the traditional old school point of view?

Here are just some of the kinds of things I'm thinking would find a home in this new forum:

• dating our implements (razors, hones, strops, mugs)
• traditional materials and methods for maintaining our implements
• barber tips, tricks, and lore
• barber's manuals
• learning the art of shaving from your father, grandfather
• passing on the art of shaving to your sons and grandsons
• honing exclusively with traditional barber hones
• understanding more about the methods, habits, materials of the self-shaved man at home...

(...hey, if we can read all about each other's bathroom habits of today, what's so strange about wondering what the details were then???...but not too many details )

What'd'ya think? Anyone else thinking like I'm thinking?


- Dale

[JMS]

Sounds like a great idea!

[jnich67]

This sounds like a cool idea Dale, but I think we might have to be more specific in defining what goes in there. From your description it sounds almost like a "historical" forum - which is great.

For example you mentioned Colleen's soaps as being something not old school. I realize you may have been simply picking examples off the top of your head, but I consider products made by artisans in their homes "the old fashioned way" to be very old school - especially compared to the mass market stuff we see in the local dept. stores. I'm only pointing out this example to show that what some might call old school others wouldn't. So we would need to refine the notion a bit. Good thoughts though!

Jordan

[Spokeshave]

This sounds like a cool idea Dale, but I think we might have to be more specific in defining what goes in there. From your description it sounds almost like a "historical" forum - which is great.

For example you mentioned Colleen's soaps as being something not old school. I realize you may have been simply picking examples off the top of your head, but I consider products made by artisans in their homes "the old fashioned way" to be very old school - especially compared to the mass market stuff we see in the local dept. stores. I'm only pointing out this example to show that what some might call old school others wouldn't. So we would need to refine the notion a bit. Good thoughts though!

Jordan

Good thoughts. Historical is part of it...learning and discussing the details of past ways. Repeating it is another part. For instance, in the area of soaps/creams/balms/conditioners, what was used for all that in the past and how much of it is still available to either buy or make? Some of Colleen's products may well fall into that. Some others as well - the brand escapes me right now, but there's the company that still sells reportedly the favorite scent of George Washington. And a more recent Old School side of this is what the 19th/20th century barbers used (Lucky Tiger?, Clubman's Bay Rum? dunno, I'm guessing. ...soaps and such not being part of my shaving obsession...yet). I've seen smatterings of this type of discussion, but the Old School/Traditional/Historical forum would be a place to bring it together and in focus.

Point well taken correlating the handmadeness of something to "old school". I agree with that and appreciate it. But for the Old School/Traditional/Historical forum I was thinking something more like what I just described.

Thanks!

[sstulken80]

Were it not for my "liberal" views on a lot of things , I'd probably fall under that category of "young fogey". I like simple devices that are built to last a lifetime (or more), and might take a little effort to use. Should I ever reproduce, and have kids that are interested, I'll gladly pass on this art.

We here are "wise" enough to strop gently, but my dad (who grew up in the 50's) swears that all the old-time barbers did that "whap! whap!" style of stropping. Maybe they knew something we don't?

I wish I could find more information on antique razors -- the companies, models produced throughout the years, and so on. We know a little about the more famous makers, but I know literally nothing about my "W.H. Sample & Sons" razor, and haven't found much on the Internet. Perhaps we could have a wiki?

- Scott

[Bruno]

We here are "wise" enough to strop gently, but my dad (who grew up in the 50's) swears that all the old-time barbers did that "whap! whap!" style of stropping. Maybe they knew something we don't?

I have seen a video of a barber stropping with a loom strop and that was indeed whack whack whack...
But then again, he was an older barber, and he probably gave good shaves.
According to several members here, several barbers did/do this with good results. It's all a matter of good technique.

I think it would be wrong to assume that we here are the guardians of knowledge, and that everyboday who does differently is one of the ignorant masses.

[Spokeshave]

Were it not for my "liberal" views on a lot of things , I'd probably fall under that category of "young fogey". I like simple devices that are built to last a lifetime (or more), and might take a little effort to use. Should I ever reproduce, and have kids that are interested, I'll gladly pass on this art.

"Young fogey"...me too I guess. Not so young, not exclusively "fogey", but a bit of both.

We here are "wise" enough to strop gently, but my dad (who grew up in the 50's) swears that all the old-time barbers did that "whap! whap!" style of stropping. Maybe they knew something we don't?
- Scott

...or maybe there are simply different ways to strop.

I wish I could find more information on antique razors -- the companies, models produced throughout the years, and so on.

Another great topical area for such a forum!

Thanks,

- Dale

[Noam]

We know a little about the more famous makers, but I know literally nothing about my "W.H. Sample & Sons" razor, and haven't found much on the Internet. Perhaps we could have a wiki?

I really like the idea of a shaving wiki. Wikipedia's info on straight razors is spotty at best, as is Wikibooks. It wouldn't be hard at all to set something up at a free wiki hosting site like Wikia. The only question is will enough members get involved so that we can build up a decent content base? I'd like to think, considering the wealth of info on this site, that this wouldn't be a problem. Wiki editing syntax is really easy to pick up, and it's the kind of thing you can chip away at bit by bit whenever you feel like it.

If the admins were up to it, there could even be a wiki right here at SRP. The MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia is free and open source.

There's a certain weakness in the forum paradigm, it can be very hard to sift through posts to find pertinent information. Even using the search function isn't very helpful, too many off-topic results and it's just too much to sort through. Forums are great for asking specific questions, ongoing discussions, organizing events, doing business etc. However, a wiki is a much more effective way to store communal wisdom: easier to search, doesn't involve seven different sticky threads at the top of your forum, you get the picture. This would be a great resource for newbies, and might save a lot of repetitive questions on the forum.

One problem I can foresee with this sort of thing is competition with Lynn and Bill's videos, and with several books out there on collecting. One important part of doing a proper wiki is always citing sources!

Any other thoughts on the subject, gentlemen?

[FiReSTaRT]

+1 for the idea even though I don't think I'll personally be spending much time there lol.

[thebigspendur]

I think, when you start looking at different products out there you will find many of the old school things are really not old school at all but modern interpretations of these things, like replicas. The only true old school things are razors and hones and the hardware sort of to speak (strops, mugs brushes etc). that you know were manufactured during a certain era. The soaps and creams and aftershaves and all that related stuff is the software of shaving. I don't care what someone claims about the authenticity of a scent used by King Louis the 4th the ingredients are modern and the manufacture is modern and not the same as the original.