Thread: Why do 7 day sets exist?

Seven day sets exist purely and solely so that on ebay can charge exorbitant prices for them and never allow someone like me to own one.

Whew! I think I'll just pop on over to Mark's 'Anger' thread for a minute.

James.

Originally Posted by C utz

...Because an "8 day set" would be just plain silly!



C utz

Thats good! Yep, show off your money. I like the theory of resting the blade. And seven is the number of completion and they will last longer so it's more economical own a bunch of them right?

and a six day set just comes up short like some other things!

A good bit of marketing by the manufactures. Get a story going about how you need more than one razor to let the other one rest. Then go from there with the rich folk.One must have one.
Brian

It was, and is, a widely accepted theory, that the fine edge of the razor was deformed during shaving but would "spring back" if given time to recover. A similar theory is that the crystaline structure of the edge would regrow if given time. Either way, the blade needed to be left to rest after shaving, even before being stropped which would interupt the process and cause damage to both blade and strop. Many straight-razor users have several that they use in rotation, mainly because they can't decide which one they prefer or they simply like to make full use of what they have; but the idea of a set of several razors that are all the same is to give the blades the rest that they need. So there are pairs, sets of three and sometimes more; but seven is an obvious number as then they can be marked with the days of the week and there's no danger of using one out of sequence. It is, of course, a marketing ploy and a status symbol apart from anything else.

Originally Posted by Firebox

and a six day set just comes up short like some other things!

Oddly enough I have seen a six day set. I was in an antique store, (not looking for razors ), and I saw a case. Thinking it was a seven day set, I checked it out. Much to my surprise, it only had six razors, and only six slots to hold the razors. I thought that was kind of weird. Since I didn't have the $130 I left it alone, but I may go back and see if it is still there. If I can remember where I saw it.

OK, maybe it was not an astrological thing....

But picture this, you mosy on down to the barber, have him hone up your seven day set of razors (or two day, or four day, etc...). He was your modern day Lynn Abrams Then you go home and use one of the razors with an amazing edge. If you buy into the 'rest the razor' or not, you use a new razor from the set each day (getting that fresh honed edge shave each time), and each razor holds an edge for 2 - 3 months until needing to be honed again.... Look how long it would be until you needed to get those honed again! At least a year and a few months....depending on the set.

AND, back in the day when cars were not around, and you lived way the hell out in east Bumblefu** it might not be a LONG time until you get back into town to get those razors honed.

I'm thinking it was a lazy (rich) man's way of not having to know how to hone a razor, but reaping the rewards of a great shave!

I know I know, not as funny, but I like the six day falling short hypothesis also

C utz

As to why razors all the same... If you look a shaving as "the purpose" rather than collecting then it would likely make the most sense to get very good with 1 kind very good kind of blade rather than "experiencing" all the different ways of self mutilating your face.

I am currently fascinated with the latter rather than the former.

Well the three set, or more appropriately, 1 full set, 2 partials i have have pretty blades... extra shiny and ivory scales... even before i did anything to them... they have held up well over the years.

my guess is that they were simply marketed to the well heeled man so that he could have fresh sharp razors for a longer time between having them honed.

i like the idea of seven razors in a fitted case even though the blades may be the same the file work and engravings on the blade and scales can differ within a common theme ... like say shooting...

of course there is also the concept of "a fool and his money are soon parted."

You guys are thinking in modern day terms not horse and buggy terms. In those days people earned on average maybe $30 a week as a really good wage and people didn't have many luxury items. For many people a nice pocketwatch was the best thing they had. Once people made it in the world a 7 day set was "the" thing to have. Remember in those days a straight razor was really just a tool which was looked upon in the same way most modern people look at a cartridge razor-a tool to accomplish a very distasteful chore.

And yes there were 6 day sets for certain religious groups where you don't shave on the sabath so a 7 day set would be like an 8 day set for us.