Quote Originally Posted by DPflaumer View Post
I believe it was Old School who told me that they were only made entirely by hand by skilled smiths, and the reason they cost so much these days is that they are all, in effect customs. Basically it would be like if the only western straights on the market were Livis and Zowandas. The prices would be much higher.
How did this work out in the past? What did the average commoner shave with in the 1700's, 1800's and predisposable 1900's? Or was it all done by barbers who used these tosuke and iwasaki? Or did they import western blades there?