Thread: did they hone their own?

Somewhat like Larry, I have my great grandfather's Pike barber hone. It was passed down to me from my grandfather. I had no idea what it was back in '72 and it remained in a box on a closet shelf for years.

Even i can remember a chap in a van coming round to sharpen knives, sheers etc perhaps in years gone by he also would have done razors

ian

makes sense...

There is an old guy who wanders around where I live in Bangkok who hones knives for anyone who is too lazy to maintain their own knives. The stone he uses is rather dished and his technique seems to be a bit heavy handed. I wouldn't trust him with any of my knives let alone a razor.

My guess is that some did but probably a minority. Otherwise the safety razor would never have made it.

My mother's uncle had them honed by a barber. I have an old Dutch barbers' textbook that complains of the poor state customers' razors offered for honing are in.
So my guess is that many shavers did not hone their own.

Like many home and car owners do not maintain the house and car themselves.

Originally Posted by ianp1966

Even i can remember a chap in a van coming round to sharpen knives, sheers etc perhaps in years gone by he also would have done razors

ian

That's exactly how I remember it.
I'm going back as far as the 60's when I was a kid, only the man did his rounds on a cart. I'm guessing he was a gypsy.
A knock on the door and some guy asking if we had any knives or razors that needed sharpening. It was a regular thing.
"Knives, razors, scissors" It was all part of the patter, perhaps going back to times past.
Anyone from England remember the old rag and bone men? I'm almost sure they offered a honing service too.

I chatting with my semi retired barber, he said that most barbers he knew didn't know how to hone a razor and that usually the head barber/shop owner did all of the honing. I would guess that before his time that most of the honing was done at barber shops and sharpening service guys and that most at home just maintained their blades. Go further back and I would guess that more people that shaved honed their own. Probably similar to how we buy and cook food today compared to different periods of time in our history.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

This topic comes up alot.

You have to remember in the old days when most used a straight getting service was not like it is now. Not only could you go to a barber but you had these itinerant peddler types who always came around and they could do it and there were typical hardware stores and cutlery stores and in those days those guys knew what they were doing. Also shaving supply shops could do it also. Actually there were all kinds of places to go to to get your razors well honed.

I know my Grandfather used a straight and he had an old hone. Hones were cheap and easy to come by in those days it was just a matter of how well the average guy could use one. Most in the old days weren't like us here. As long as they got a decent relatively comfortable shave they were satisfied.

As far as pasted strops go I think that's a relatively new concept but I could be wrong.

That was my understanding, that a lot of shops used "peddlers", who made their rounds of the barbershops, and honed like lightning. I thought most barbers only touched up between visits. It's worth noting, though, that Popeye's barber kept a big beautiful hone out on the counter.