I'm having a hard time actually finding answers to this online. In particular I am interested in say 1850-1910.

WHat I want to know is how many men actually shaved themselves daily with a straight? Did it vary by "social class"?

Evidence against most men doing it:


-THe marketing for early safety razors sometimes implies that men used to regularly go to barber shops to get shaved, and marketed the safety as a convenience - implying that some men, at least, did not know how to use a straight and got someone else to do it for them.

-I know that a lot of officers in the American Civil War would probably have had servants/ batman who shaved them - presumably higher class men were used to having others shaving them?

-I have never seen a picture of a soldier from the American Civil War or World War I using a straight (rather than a safety) on themself - a friend is always doing it in these photos.

-Other documents (such as a guide to shaving I found online but I can't find it now - it's been linked to before) also seem to suggest that there was a bit of literature around teaching men to shave so they could save money at the barber.

Conclusions:

So by and large, were men shaved by someone else when using a straight, historically? Or is the lack of accounts of men shaving with straights because it was taken for granted and not worthy of mention and it was a skill every man had? Are the photos of friends shaving each other in wartime a novelty rather than the norm?

Any info appreciated.

PS I don't have any photos of American Civil War soldiers shaving - if anyone does, I'd be grateful.