Seems to me that I remember reading that the wives and daughters shaved the men. Bet husbands and wives got along alot better in those households. ..lol
Printable View
Seems to me that I remember reading that the wives and daughters shaved the men. Bet husbands and wives got along alot better in those households. ..lol
Although folks back in the 1880's did shave albeit selectively in my opinion. Seems beards were more the norm in fact a quite popular display of manliness and virility. Oh if you think shaving gear is expensive now here's a little quote about Gilletes first razor machine to give some perspective on cost hehehe.
The first razor machines were patented by the Kampfer Brothers in 1880 in Germany. At that time people used razors blades made of steel, which were relatively expensive, needed to be sharpened periodically, and rusted with continuous use. In 1893, King Camp Gillette, (1855-1932), a salesman of the company Crown Cork and Seal Co., bottle caps makers, designed a razor machine much more affordable, thinner and lighter, with detachable blades. The first Gillette razor machines were offered at 5 dollars, which should be something like 140 dollars today. The average salary for a worker was around 40 or 50 dollars monthly. In 1902 was created the Gillette Safety Razor Company. The company was a supplier of the United States army in the First World War. Gillette was selling at that time 70 millions razor blades and nearly 500 thousand razor machines yearly.
No wonder his company is still around today :rofl2:
Don't forget you can get a quite acceptable shave off a 1k. (Worth mentioning, I did it myself the other day just to check something, and the thrill of it actually working quite well more than compensated for the lack of smoothness). Further, these were the guys using cotis, thurries, and arks, which if I'm not mistaken, is exactly what we're using.
I think they probably thought about it much as we would think of cleaning our teeth. Some of us are quite happy with an old fashioned toothbrush, some need an expensive machine, others don't much care.
I believe back in the 1880's & 1890's, times were getting better. Mercantile stores, dry good stores were in small towns & hardware stores in larger cities, for example Shapleigh Hardware who started doing business back in 1843, E.C. Simmons Hardware who began doing business in 1868 & many more. Many of us have razors that either came mostly from Germany & some from Sheffield that have hardware store names on them. Importing & exporting was happening back then so that is where all the razors from Germany came from plus the Sheffield makers that were coming over before the 1900's opening offices here on the east coast like NY city & others to sell their goods. Barber hones were around since no telling but I have some from the early 1900's. I have a couple of the "Carborundum Company" barber hones & in the lower left hand corner, it says "Gold Medal, Chicago 1890".
Attachment 242415 Attachment 242416
People were pretty smart back then & most had what they needed to get the job done. Many made their own lye soap which is what many more than likely used or used no soap at all. They made do with what they had. I like watching the old westerns & some will show a straight razor, others show a person stropping a straight razor & I don't think there was a shortage of leather back then. Here's a pic from my book, "The Knife Makers Who Went West":
Attachment 242419
I added this pic because people from overseas were coming here & by the time the 1880's & 1890's came, they were selling their products as well.
There may have been some who lived out in the rural areas or backwoods & they either grew a beard or made do with what they had. I'm sure if a man wanted to shave in those years, he could have figured out a way to hone his razor but when they would buy them, I'm sure the clerk in the store would also try to sell them a barbers hone & a strop. Just imagining if I lived back then, I took a few pics of what they might have had.
Here is one that may have been a premium shave back then with an E.C. Simmons Keen Kutter strop, a Swaty barber hone, Jonathan Crooks razor & maybe some Lilac water. I remember watching High Plains Drifter & the barber asks if Clint Eastwood wants some Lilac water for a dime extra. It was only a movie but they try to make 'em the way things were back then.
Attachment 242412
Or suppose one didn't have a brush so he used his hands to put soap on his face..........
Attachment 242413
A man may have had a shaving box like this one in that era. These not only had a mirror on them but there was room inside for a brush, soap, a few razors, a barber hone plus whatever else could fit in it.
Attachment 242414
There were those who did know how to hone a razor, but there were some who didn't.
I have also gotten a few razors that had not been honed in ages yet it was pretty sharp. Then we all see some that have been honed until there is no more left to hone.
Nice pics, Engine. I like that scene in High Plains Drifter. I love the old westerns too.
It wouldn't make very good mercantile sense to price a razor beyond the reach of the very men they were intended for. I'm still not convinced everyone wanted a good razor:
Blacksmith: "You haven't had a shave this morning!"
Lumberjack: "No; I've run out of lilac water!
Blacksmith: "Oh, I'll give you mine. I've just ordered some rose water, and a new silver steel razor from Rodgers."
Lumberjack: "Splendid! I look forward to it."
I agree. Mercantile owners had to price their items just enough to make a profit. Things were more affordable & if you made money, it wasn't a problem. And like someone mentioned, there was bartering back then. These days some people try to make 10 times more than an item is worth.
In the westerns I watch, I try to see if I can identify a straight razor but I never can because they won't show it that much. On High plains Drifter, you can see a pretty good pic of the razor & it looks like a good size blade but just don't know what the maker is. I saw one just the other day & I forgot which movie it was but I think someone was stropping a razor.
I live in a very recently colonized part of Brazil right now. Goiania (State of Goiás capital) is now about 80 years old. Not far from capital all we see is rural landscapes, and the people still make soap from pig and beef lard and wood ashes or lye. Also, as noted by RezDod, misery is an urban thing. I never saw a "hillbilly" (sorry, IDK if this is a pejorative term - corrections are welcome) with problems such as starvation or homeless. Country people always have a place to grow corn, cassava and fruits, and grow some chickens, rabbits or occasionally hunt an armadillo to eat, and know how to build a rustic but useful hovel to not die under the sun (believe me, rain is not a problem here) - besides very little or no cash in their pockets. This is so real here than city people still have the habit of exchanging goods and services. Homeless starving people are an urban phenomenom.
Oh, the lard/ash soap is good only to wash dishes and clothes, and smell like... lard. It eats skin very fast and leaves a stinging sensation.
And people used to strop razors on buriti palm leaf sheat, a very light and fibrous material, besides resistant.
Attachment 242420
This is my ball of lard/lye soap. I bet it also contains some used vegetable oil.
Matheus, great post. Why do you have a ball of lard?
It's a ball of soap, Frank, but I have pig lard in my freezer too.
Good to fry chopped onions and garlic on a pan before cooking beans on it, and a small dab also flavors a fried egg sometimes. My everyday carbon kitchen knives also are kept lubricated on it.
Yaayyy for pig fat!
I remember as a child Mom used to keep an empty coffee can on the stove. When she fried bacon in the morning, the drippings went in that pan, which was later used to fry with. Mmmm mmmm that's good eatin'!
The health nuts stress out so much about all kinds of things that they and everyone else should do to be healthy, they'll probably die of a heart attack when they're 40 because of all the stress trying to stay healthy, LOL.
Nothing like food fried in a cast iron skillet with bacon grease.
Yep, eggs fried in bacon grease is about as good as breakfast gets. It's funny how some things cycle. Butter got a bad rap but we are finding out that margarine is far worse. I just read over the weekend that McDonalds is cutting high-fructose corn syrup from its buns.
Does anyone watch the TV show Portlandia? Season two starts with a song about the dream of the 90s being alive in Portland...the 1890s when people were making their own sausage and shaving with straight razors. It's a funny little segment and when I read updates about this thread it reminds me of the song.
With an Escher or Translucent Arkansas and pasted paddle or strop (CrOx is roughly 30k+) they would be getting a very superior edge. It might take longer and not be as consistent as synthetic hones but it will get there. I've done a few total Arkansas stone progressions to test it out and I got VERY good results, it does take a long time.
Of course!
Pretty simple.
Put 1/2 kg of brown or black beans on water for about 2 hours, or until the grains start to swell up.
Chop a medium-sized onion, 4 or 5 good-sized garlic bulbs and a big red malagueta pepper without seeds. Keep all separated.
Cut a 1/2 pound portuguese smoked sausage (paio) in 1/4 inch thick slices.
In the pan, put a table spoon of lard and let it get hot.Things are tricky now. Keep a liter jar of water ready.
Put the onion on the lard and observe it get translucent. As soon it turns translucent, put the garlic. Keep stirring with a wood spoon. When onion start to get brownish (golden!), add the sausage and pepper - keep stirring for about a minute.
Fish the beans from the bath as dry as possible and start to add it to the mix. Don't add all the beans at same time. Keep things hot, and keep stirring! The idea is to avoid cool down the mix without letting anything burn. This will render a slightly fried moist beans on mixture.
Add water to cover the mix, plus about 1/3 volume.
Let the thing cook until beans are soft. I like mine as muddy as possible, but not solid. Slurry with floating sausage slices is the word.
Serve it with fried egg and pork ribs.
Prepare to hear Milady whining about the smoked and smelly house.
Keep Outback Mike and his recovering hearth away!
People back in the old days & even today use hog lard to cook with. It's a lot more healthy for ya than most things they try to make us eat these days. I have always loved frying or scrambling eggs in bacon grease. That is why I would cook my bacon first. I even liked to put some chopped red onion in the bacon grease & once i could smell the onions, I would put the eggs in with a little salt & pepper & sometimes some cheese. Heat some tortillas, flour or corn & ya got a tasty meal with bacon, egg, fried onions & oh...................mmmmmmmmmmmm, yummy good!
I also like to make a good pot of beans in a Crock Pot using pinto, black or red beans, sometimes all. I would put some sliced venison sausage in with it & season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic & a couple other spices. I would put it in a bowl over some rice & that's some good eating'.
Back in those days, people also didn't have that much as far as possessions go. They had their basic cooking utensils, beds, furniture along with a pot bellied stove for cooking & heating. Some might have had 2, one for cooking & one in another room for heating, if they had another room. Many were just a one room house. Others had more rooms with doors & if they didn't have doors, they used a blanket or whatever they could use like a fur from an animal.
They had more time on their hands so they sat around whittling or thinking of ideas to make life simpler. They had their basic chores to do like milk the cow, make butter or whatever & the ones who had larger pieces of land did ranching, raising livestock & farming. They didn't have TV's or computers back then so they used their minds in other ways like Henry Ford was busy trying to perfect the automobile & the Wright brothers were building a lighter than air machine that could fly. Straight razors had already been invented as we all know & one company that was already in business in the US was the American Knife Co. in Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut who started in 1849 if I remember right. I have a razor or two from them.
A little later than 1890's but Faulkner often used barbers and barbershops in his stories. If I remember, the stories gave one the impression that if you shaved daily, most had it done at barbershops. One of the big events of the week was your Saturday shave at the shop.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a N&R Dodge SR probably from 1850s, I don't know the date but I bought it due to it's age. Although it's condition is very far from it's pretty days back then, I shave with it regularly and it gives me very smooth and comfortable shave.Back in that time I think, they had similar quality razors, shaving soaps and hot water in barbershops, people who can afford it went to the barbershops regularly which indicates social statue. If person didn't have chance, they had to settle for less, I mean less comfortable and luxurious shave not less smooth or close. We can shave off of 8k natural stones(cotis, thuris etc.) with handmade soaps or even plain water, it is matter of comfort IMHO. This is my N&R Dodge SR
Attachment 242516
Just watched High Plains Drifter again. lol. The way he strops his razor is something else. It looks so badass I think the razor would be scared not to get sharp. haha. Note the flimsy shaving foam. If they went through with the shave he'd be in for some serious pain.
I never realised, the cast is basically the same as Every Which Way but Loose. Just missing Sondra Locke. Which was a good thing, imho. :)
How gentlemanly of you to ignore out backs slur about your age Bob...lol
I'm sitting on the curb with ya Bob. I use the KISS theory.
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
Yeah, they used to call it common sense, kids today don't usually know about it.
When I lived in India, in a city in the mountains (a hill fort), back in 2004-2005, every day someone came and filled the "water tank" for my compound. In theory we had running water, but in reality everyone in the compound had their taps open so as to make sure they got as much water as possible (tragedy of the commons I suppose), so we left buckets under our bathroom tap and left the tap open, and as soon as we heard the wate start flowing in the morning, we would get up and keep changing the buckets until the water stopped.
You'd be surprised how quickly you'll adapt to that sort of thing.
You are all familiar with Col Conk products. It's not a made up name it was a real person and in the mid to late 1800s he started his business.
The idea was to make available to the general public all the fine products used in barber Shops of the day from shampoos and bathing products to all manner of soaps and after shaves and colognes and associated shaving paraphernalia. He sold things you couldn't find in the the local general store. He hired peddlers and outfitted wagons and they roamed the S.W selling their wares. Conk was based out of Albuquerque and he became a very rich man through his business.
So, this is more evidence most of the stuff we see in modern barber shops was around back then in one form or another.
Here is an early H.W. Carter broadside that, according to the text, if you received it that meant H.W. Carter's wagon would be visiting your area within 10 days. Born in Concord, New Hampshire H.W. Carter was a traveling merchant in New England.
Attachment 242887
Here are a couple Wade & Butcher blades I found locally here in New Hampshire that have etching similar to the image on the broadside.
Attachment 242888
More information, a larger image of the broadside above, and links about H.W. Carter here Yankee Peddler - Yankee Peddler - |
That's really cool xiaotuzi. It just goes to show they were selling good stuff off those wagons then which were probably made by Studebaker. I know they made stagecoaches back then so they might have also built utility wagons & such.
Attachment 243069
Attachment 243070
Very sweet! Thanks for posting that.