Thread: What if it were 1860?

How would you hone your razor? Today we're using diamond pastes, Belgian, Chinese and Japanese stones, Norton water stones, CrO pastes, etc. We look at the blades under a microscope. Pretty high tech and exotic by 19th century standards. I gotta figure the average 19th century man had a strop and a barber stone. Either his standard of sharpness was lower or we are going about this the long way.

Goog

I reckon that people used natural stones (Coticule, BBW etc..), barber hones and rouges on strops that the jewellers would have had for polishing.

I do think that we really push our edges now. Glen commented on another thread about the future of straight razor shaving and said that we push our edges more now than we did even a few years ago, so there must be a difference between modern edges and 1800's edges.

Look back to when the Norton 4/8 was the standard hone and the finisher du jour was the coticule. Now we have 12k, 16k or even 30k as a finishing hone, 30k+ Asagi's, 0.25 micron diamond spray and a variety of strop materials to get the best possible finish. Some might call it obsessive, but I call it fun..! Hehe!

Back in the day, there was no alternative to a straight razor, so it probably wasnt a hobby for most people, it was a chore. So they probably didnt take such good care of the kit, and when the razor dulled they'd take it to the local barber and he'd hone it up for them or they'd use a barber hone or natural stone themselves.

have you read this: http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...nloadable.html

A tour of some of Europe and Britain's cathedrals and ancient buildings, paying close attention to the intricate wood and stone carving, is convincing evidence that even 800yrs ago men were able to put a very sharp and precise edge on cutting tools.

Coticules, Eschers, Charnley Forrest, Turkey stones, and on and on. Those folks had a menu of naturals to choose from.

I think the past generations had not such high demands what it comes to the sharpness of a razor. To us it is sort of a volunteer hobby, but to them it was just only way to keep your face shaved and clean.

Still they got their things done well. They were not helpless. They had their ways to keep their things sharp. Natural hones and leather belts were common.
Also there were number of tools, methods and equipment old Metusalems used. Nowadays we have just simply lost how to use these unidentified things or we don't even recognize that they are tools and equipments at all.

Originally Posted by Sailor

I think the past generations had not such high demands what it comes to the sharpness of a razor.

I think you are right. When I was a young man they had not started making the Platinum Plus or the Super Stainless DE blades yet. The 'Super' Blue blades that we had to shave with were terrible by today's standards but we accepted them because it was the only game in town at the time. I still remember how happy I was the first time I tried one of the then newly introduced super sharp and smooth blades.

There's always going to be fellas like us, we like the finer things in life, now wether we have the money to have them all at least we find the things we can afford to enjoy the best of.

I'm sure in 1830 or so there were plenty of rich guys who could have the best razors and the best honing service for them, and I'm sure there were back room guys like us getting the same high quality shave at home as well, and why?


BECAUSE WE LOVE A GOOD SHAVE!

hehe

David

The surviving photographs of the mid 19th century suggest that many American men did not spend much time with their razor (if indeed they owned one) or in the barber’s chair. Perhaps we can assume they all had week chins or poor razors…

If it were 1860 I could very well be living and working right where I do now. In which case I would stroll down to my hospital’s basement and ask the diener to hone up my razor once he was finished with the scalpels, demi lunes, and other cruel instruments of his trade. And since it is 1860, I’d be blessedly ignorant of germ theory.

I remain &c
LG Roy

Originally Posted by Library Guy

The surviving photographs of the mid 19th century suggest that many American men did not spend much time with their razor (if indeed they owned one) or in the barber’s chair. Perhaps we can assume they all had week chins or poor razors…

I once brought up a similar thought in a thread. I looked at all of the photos of the 1800s showing men with facial hair and postulated that they probably avoided shaving. Was it for style or because of the difficulty in keeping a sharp razor ? Other members pointed out that there are many photos of clean shaven men. Thinking of Abraham Lincoln, among many others, I realized they were right. Plenty of clean faces back in those days.