Thread: Are we in the "Golden Age" of the straight razor?

I'll admit that when I started shaving with the straight, I thought that for most people it would be a passing fad. I took to it like a duck to water .. I love all things retro, and despise most "progress," so I was hooked!

Straights were mostly in the realm of the professional from what I knew .. My barbers always used one on me, before political correctness and the "Nanny state," reared their ugly heads. Never saw my Dad use a straight, but he had covered lots of ground before I came along!
My point is, that before the current "Wet Shaving Revolution," straights were a tool ... merely a means to an end, and a part of a profession. Today, people spend hours seeking out vintage razors of their choice, and nearly consider their shave as a religion. I wonder what the old timers would have thought of us?
In any case, now most of the old grinders and makers are gone .. put out of business by modern times, and more modern methods. What is left in the marketplace has great value, and the tradesmen that held on, and some newer ones who moved in to fill the void, are reaping a golden harvest..

So, what do you think about the straight razors "Golden Age?"

I think we are in the bronze age. I run into a lot of guys wanting in with no direction .Weare doing our best to keep up. The evidence is in the prices.

Not hardly a "Golden Age" but merely a blip in popularity in a very niche market. Many of the "Old Timers" went in droves to the new fangled Gillette safety razors more than glad to be done with SRs and all that went with them. For them shaving was a means to an end and the simpler and quicker it was the better. I think they would be laughing up their sleeves at us because of that.

That said, I have the privilege of leisure time to spent on using an arcane tool and the disposable income to indulge in it which the "Old Timers" likely did not have. I intend to enjoy this mini renaissance and its benefits for as long as I have interest in it.

Bob

I don't know what "age" we are in but the way I see it is that men are finally starting to take charge of their lives again. Kind of like women in the late 1960's burning their bras, men are burning their cartridge and electric abominations.

For guys who are enthusiastic about straight razors I think it is a great time to be alive and into it. There is more information and more opportunity for enthusiasts than there ever was in the past. I remember when I collected straights in the 1980s and flea markets, antique shops, and old barbers were the only resource for vintage straights.

There was little or no information about straights back then. Robert Doyle had written Straight Razor Collecting, but you couldn't find it anywhere. There was very little info available. Now books are coming out, or older ones are on the bay, guys like Voidmonstor, Martin103, Science Guy, Manah are posting their research on SRP ....... a wealth of info on obscure makers.

Shopping centers that had a Hoffritz or a Cutlery World might have one or two models, barber suppliers. Now with ebay and the aforementioned venues there is a world of vintage and new stuff out there. The custom razors were unheard of back even ten years ago. So it is a great time for those who are into it beyond just having an alternative way to shave.

Definitely the golden age of honing to a great edge, we've got WAY better options than they did in the past.

Only judging by the small community I live in, I can say wet shaving is definitely on the rise. Most folks go for the safety razor, but every once in a while we see a new straight user. Our local second hand and auction sites stock 3-4 times more straights and vintage DEs now than this time last year. I love seeing that and hope many more will start burning their plastics and cartridges. It's a great time to be alive indeed, I'm not sure what Age it is, probably not golden, but we're definitely on the rise.

I think there have always been a fair number of folks who used the straight but they didn't have the internet a few years ago so they just soldiered on by themselves.

What's happening now I'd just label a fad. Keep in mind we see the demand but we do not see those who start and drop it. I liken it to folks who go on a diet and lose the weight but 3 years after they reached their goal how many haven't gained it all back and then some? Maybe 10%? I suspect most just drop it for a variety of reasons and you see that by all the resales on the usual sites.

Keep in mind why folks left straights in droves when DEs came out.

I don't think so based on this definition, 'the period when a specified art, skill, or activity is at its peak.'
We don't have the numbers compared with the past when the straight razor was the only option.
Are we in any 'Golden Age?' I think we might be in the Golden Age of landfill!

What makes for a "golden age"? If its pure numbers, then I suggest not. But has there ever been an age where it was more appreciated? As stated, back in the day the razor was nothing but a tool. Well, some of those seven day sets were obviously more ornate than a typical tool. But the point here is that I think it was typically taken for granted as a daily activity of little significance. So in that sense, I think its more appreciated today than it ever was simply because we HAVE choices that weren't available back then. And I don't know that there were as many soap choices either (maybe there were? ). In any case, those that use a SR today have an appreciation that I doubt existed back then. So maybe it is a golden age.