Thread: conversation with a barber

So I paid a visit to an old barber across the street from my house just to see what he had because when I used to get my haircut there years ago I was still using DEs. One thing lead to another and he show me all of his shaving stuff. I got to see a really nice Wade and Butcher, several Cotis he called soap stones. When I asked him why he called them that he said because they lathered them up before honing with them he had no idea what a belgium Coticle was.
He showed me how he honed them and how they butter knived them when they had chips in them to take the chips out with another type of hone I forget what he called them and then to the soap stone. Once thing he said was that every razor he got he immediately put a barber's notch in it for better overall handling.

So we begin the topic on why straight shaving isn't part of the barber show anymore and how he got a letter from Trenton stating in NJ there will be no more use of actual straight razor. That's when he pulled out a shavette and proceeded to rage on it saying it was an embarrassment to the art of straight shaving.
One thing he was strongly expressing is how when AIDs became a pandemic he was glad he wasn't shaving customers with straights anymore due when someone had bloody weepers barbers would rub the blood off with their thumbs while shaving. If that barber happen to have an open cut on this said thumb then he would het AIDs.
He said that's the reason barbers don't shave with straight razors anymore.

At this point I realized he was off his rocker because if that were the case shavettes would't be used in barber shops today.

either way I was intrigued by his thoughts on straight shaving having experienced and shaved many patrons in the past.

What got me thinking is "our thing" here where members here have developed ways to hone razors and the knowledge being passed though here is something not necessarily something we inherited from guys like this but stuff people kind of figured out on their own. Would you agree? Taping razors for example wasn't even heard of for these guys but some of us do it and you know what it works.
It's been a journey because it is in fact a lost art and somewhere, maybe here there's a sort of Renaissance happening.

Either way it was a fun talk and I thought I would share it here while giving kudos for the members here for keeping the art alive.

Overall I can't help to thing our best practices today are better than what these barbers years ago when they wear shaving people. Based on the fact that he said people got weepers I thought to myself I haven't gotten a weeper in quite some time so maybe I'm doing something right? or maybe I'm not shaving close enough, i don't know!

***Not sure if I posted this in the right thread so please move if necessary

Old barbers I knew in the 1980s, up in north Jersey, also called coticules 'soap stones', and also used lather from their "Lather King" electric dispensers to coat the stone as a vehicle for honing. They didn't use the blue side, said it was just for reinforcement, not for honing. Never heard one of them mention anything about flattening/lapping the stones, and I used to pick their brains about hones, razors and honing.

Generally carried a Swaty or another barber hone in the pocket of the barber's smock they wore back in those days. Pockets were at the waist. A red imp or maybe a dubl duck strop hanging from the built in gizmo on the arm of the barber chair.

Those days are gone. Another reason barber shop straight razor shaves died off is because of the price going so much higher. From a quarter to five bucks and most barbers didn't want to hassle with them even at that price.

Some of the older barbers in my area use a shavette to cleanup on the back of the neck but don't do regular shaves anymore. Usually, the better barbers in town have a steady wait so they probably don't have the time to do shaves.
I'm curious, before longer hair came into style how often did the average man get a haircut? It seems like there are less barbers around and longer wait times.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Some of the older barbers in my area use a shavette to cleanup on the back of the neck but don't do regular shaves anymore. Usually, the better barbers in town have a steady wait so they probably don't have the time to do shaves.
I'm curious, before longer hair came into style how often did the average man get a haircut? It seems like there are less barbers around and longer wait times.

When I was a kid, 1950s, the usual recommendation was every two weeks. Haircut was a quarter. A comic book was a nickel, so was a candy bar or a bottle of Coca Cola out of the machine. A rack was next to it for you to bring the bottle back. Later they wanted a $0.02 cent deposit on the bottle. Too many people didn't bring 'em back. When the big Pepsi bottles came out they were $0.09 cents.

I think part of the issue is also people are not as particular about grooming anymore. I think about my grandfather and the things that were important to him, and others in his generation. I have never been that concerned about the crease in my slacks. There are many aspect to what has come and gone in the lives of people. Appearances just are not as important as they used to be so I guess that decline in barber shops just falls in with that.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Some of the older barbers in my area use a shavette to cleanup on the back of the neck but don't do regular shaves anymore. Usually, the better barbers in town have a steady wait so they probably don't have the time to do shaves.
I'm curious, before longer hair came into style how often did the average man get a haircut? It seems like there are less barbers around and longer wait times.

Back in the 50s and early 60s, 3 weeks between trips to the barber was the norm. When the long hair thing came into style, it created a big drop in business for my dad. The switch to "hair stylists" over "barbers" was another blow to the traditional barber business. My dad did the straight razor shave, every chair had a strop hanging from it and he spent countless hours making paddle strops and the like with paste, trying to get the keenest edge on his razors for the most comfortable shave for his customers.

Dad also used a straight for cutting hair, feeling it let him *thin* the hair and shape it better than thinning shears, but he had both and I assume he used what was appropriate for the situation.
He did have a Latherking machine, common in barbershops here and I suppose, expected by the customers... they wanted warm lather and a quick, professional shave before going to work in the morning, without the water stains on the collar of their shirt!

Dad never shaved himself with a straight, he was a DE man.

Dad always ran his own shop, his biggest shop, which was in the down town area had 7 chairs in it... The other 6 barbers joined a union and so he sold them the shop, it closed a couple of years later. In the meantime he opened another shop in the more affluent area of town and had 3 or 4 chairs in it and did quite well, except for the long hair thing of course.

Regards

Christian

Good point Shaun.

I personally only go to the barber every 4-5 weeks. I stretch it out because I hate having to wait in line and because I'd rather save cash for some shaving gear.

One of the barbers I frequent used a carborundum hone to freshen up his razors but I got the impression from him and another older barber that they had someone else sharpen their razors. The older barbers learned to use straight razors in barber school but I think the younger ones learned with shavettes.

I was surprised to see a young barber/hair stylist giving a customer a shave with a shavette in a shop at a local mall. I suppose there are others in town that do so too.

Yea, grooming habits have changed over the years. About 45 years ago I used to go every 2 weeks for a hair cut but now about every 3 months for a hair cut and dome polish. Seems more than habits have changed for me. Does anyone iron anything any more?

Bob

was growing a beard,one mos growth.barber took it off with ahsvete,great shave

Originally Posted by BobH

Does anyone iron anything any more?

Bob

I Iron my shirts everyday