Thread: London, 1830: cost of razors

The last page of a treatise on straight razors printed in London in 1830 reports an ad published by the author to sell his razors and related items. A good converter that can "translate" 1830 prices using an index of "average earnings" (for UK) suggests how "affordable" the item would be to the average person. What the monetary value in the past is "worth" today, in 2009?

Here what I found:

Item	Cost (£=GBP)
razor "in black handle" (horn)	£312
razor with ivory handle	£374
razor with tortoiseshell handle	£436
strop	from £104 to £1165
roll of strop paste	£62, £104
olive-soap for shaving in pots	£83, £166, £416

Some thoughts:
1. maybe at that time barbers were a way to "share" razor costs (one razor for many persons), instead of something for rich people;
2. maybe that's why we find razors with lots of hone wear and handles with 3-4 different signatures (in the same family for generations);
3. maybe that's why there are treatises and manuals describing for pages how to choose a good razor;
4. maybe that's why razor sets are quite rare and almost always with extra-refined details; and even in this case during 1830's the "standard" was 7 blades but only one handle;
5. razor costs are not so terribly different from today (compared to Thiers-Issard, mastro Livi, etc..); maybe at that time vintage blades, as today, were a good alternative to new razors, and this could also explain why we find vintage blades with wooden scales;

Also, I use those numbers to try to accept the reality: I don't own razors with tortoiseshell scales ..and, very important, considering modern prices I should buy even more soaps from 0livia or strops from TM