Thread: 1880s-1890s shave?

That is for absolute certain. There was a certainly the wealthy, I don;t think there is a period in history without them. There was also a middle class, but not at the same % of society as it is today, and of course there were those without much in the way of cash. I think that was a little different then, their were a lot of people without cash but a lot of them were rural and still had enough to get by, but not much cash. Self sufficiency was way more common then than it is now. I did not mean to paint a picture of poor people, just people without much cash.

I would make a guess that some barber shops might of had a very small wood or coal heater for hot water year round especially on the east coast or a big city. This would all depend on a good source of water, I would guess that in the American old west water would be at a premium unless there was a river or stream near by.

Originally Posted by RezDog

@rodb
Likely it would depend on where in the world the barber was. If the climate had chilly winter and warm summer the hot water was likely a season item. It was time of not much wasted and most hot water was heated by the same appliance that heated the building. So in the summer no heat would mean no hot water. small appliances that only produce hot water are a modern item

Originally Posted by Cincinnatus

Keep in mind that $1.75 Wade & Butcher in the catalog was equivalent to $46.56 in today's dollars. Ironic because you can buy a decent W&B for about that price today...

And for many people today that's 30 mins work. Not everyone, but many.

This is an interesting thread.
I agree that upscale barber shops and city barbers shops would certainly have a lot more luxury than the rural or small town barber shops, especially along the Eastern seaboard.
Wow that is $93.12 an hour. Quite a bit ahead of my pay grade, and if that is US currency it is way beyond may wages. I do however have a pretty sweet life, just not that income.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

And for many people today that's 30 mins work. Not everyone, but many.

Hourly wages in 1880 (10 hour day - 60 hours a week):

Occupation
Blacksmith - $0.26
Carpenter - $0.28
Machinist - $0.23
Laborers - $0.14

So it would take a laborer around 12.5 hours to buy a razor. Even a blacksmith would have to work 7 hours to buy one. Quite an investment for someone at that time.

That's skilled labour, but what about for the educated? Who were probably more in need of razors than blacksmiths and labourers.

Just today in the paper there was mention of one of the elites in the US earning $16,000 per hour. haha.

Originally Posted by RezDog

This is an interesting thread.
I agree that upscale barber shops and city barbers shops would certainly have a lot more luxury than the rural or small town barber shops, especially along the Eastern seaboard.
Wow that is $93.12 an hour. Quite a bit ahead of my pay grade, and if that is US currency it is way beyond may wages. I do however have a pretty sweet life, just not that income.

The catalog is from a Chicago company that would see more 'upscale' barbers in that town and agreed - the east coast would have likely clientele.

If you moved out in the rural areas I would bet the shops would be a little more sparse.



I love the mug rack!

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Of interest the 'Italian Oil Hones'. Have they been discussed before? There's some pretty fancy things going on in that catalogue. While I don't disagree with Rezdog, I don't think everyone was poor and struggling.

In Canada that would certainly be true of certain areas of the country in larger early settled cities. Once you left southern Ontario things changed quickly as you moved west. The amenities got pretty sparse. It wasn't until after 1885 that Winnipeg and the west coat was connected by a railway line. Before that it was only Winnipeg east that had a line. You can bet that the different waves of immigrants that settled the west after 1885 were mostly homesteaders without a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of.

Bob

I would agree with most everything posted; different times indeed, with a lot less available to do with.
I would imagine, depending where and what social position you were, aftershave might be a splash of cold water.
I thought of the Old West because it would be a uniquely American perspective.
I really like the responses to this thread.
Thanks, all of you.

I think the whole razor price is a little skewed. We've maintained the mantra "a man can get by with just a brush and one razor". Guys back then, especially rural areas, could probably put an edge that could shave on their tables. As many farming tools would need to be sharp to do their job well. May have just been a coarser and harder stone. Although lapping was probably never really done and it was probably burnished to a high sheen. In the end, buying one razor, for life or at least 10 years, is easily worth a day's or week's work.

Soap was probably made at home or traded with a neighbor for good produced on the farm, etc. It was probably the same stuff used to bathe with and not designed with "glide" in mind.

The old west also wasn't just farmland in the middle of nowhere. Being really far out means a really far travel distance for the goods you grow. So, thinking that people back then were limited to travel and contact in longer than a month increment might be stretching it. Especially with people making cross country trips to make money selling goods from one coast to the other. Not to mention all the towns that popped up fairly quickly in that time due to the gold rush and people wanted to stay past the gold drying up.

Mountaineers and hunters would probably be the most remote. A stone would need to be part of their kit as well to maintain their skinning knives. Less likely would be soap. Although the stereotypical mountain man had a big ol' bushy beard. Maybe due to the fact that mirrors don't travel well?