Thread: 1880s-1890s shave?

Originally Posted by dinnermint

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. Not to mention, everyone would have had a horse or access to one that died recently from age/illness, so my theory is simple strops were cheap. Horse hair brushes are probably in the same boat. Buying one razor, for life or at least 10 years, is easily worth a day'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.

I know I have read and have been told by those in the family who are older than me that my grandfather used the same soap the rest of the household used.
As for honing a razor, I suspect they probably settled for a bit less smooth or comfortable edge. Get it shaving good and on with it. Too much else to do to worry much about it.

I have shaved with Dove soap before, it's not greatest but it worked. I would imagine they might have made an all purpose soap back then

Originally Posted by SRNewb

I know I have read and have been told by those in the family who are older than me that my grandfather used the same soap the rest of the household used.
As for honing a razor, I suspect they probably settled for a bit less smooth or comfortable edge. Get it shaving good and on with it. Too much else to do to worry much about it.

Yes, I shaved with Irish Spring on one of my videos. Lather was not as stable as a shave soap, but it worked well, and was slick as snot.

My grandfather shaved with lye soap my grandmother made. It was used for bathing, shaving, washing the dishes, laundry soap...... It seemed to lather pretty well with his boar brush in a coffee mug.

I might add that they may not have had a large well lit mirror like we are used to. i have a shaving mirror(probably 6-8" diameter)with a built in brush holder and a small cup built into the base. i can just picture some gentleman sitting at a dresser shaving by candle light. i've never used it to shave with but i have a hard enough time seeing myself in my well lit bathroom.

It's really good to see that passion for the past is still alive and well. Not that I would want to go back to those times, I do appreciate where my Grandfather's came from and how they lived back in the 20's. I also remember the straight razors that my one grandfather had. When he died, I don't know what happened to all of them. I have two of his brushes and only one Robeson straight razor. Great memories and that's why I shave with a straight not to mention the close and comfortable shaves I get.

You guys think the 1880s and 90 were ancient times or something. During that period any decent sized town had either freight service or train service. Items were routinely brought in from the big cities and imported from France, Italy and England and more. it just took longer to get here. Heck in the 1950s and 60s a package mailed from LA took about a month to get to N.Y.

Any barber shop had a pot bellied stove and had plenty of hot water and and had plenty of great shave soaps and after shaves. About the same as most of the folks on this forum.

If you want primitive you would have to go back to the 1700s back in the sticks and even then I'm not sure they didn't have home made local accoutrements.

Originally Posted by SRNewb

As for honing a razor, I suspect they probably settled for a bit less smooth or comfortable edge. Get it shaving good and on with it. Too much else to do to worry much about it.

Not so sure about that one. My grandfather used Arkansas stones on everything, and I'm fairly certain his father did too. They might've only had 2, a soft and a 'hard.' We'd call it Black or Translucent I suppose. But I think you might be surprised just how common the skill was back in the day. Everyone carried a pocket knife or blade of some sort. Kitchen knives and such needed an edge. And people didn't just toss things out and replace them like they do now, they fixed them and made them work.

On the other hand, I have a co-worker that literally told me he never sharpens his pocket knives. He just breaks them when they get too dull and goes out to the tool truck to get it warranteed out. For the life of me I don't know how the Snap-on dealer hasn't caught on yet.

Just asked my wife's mother, she is 97, about the water situation where she grew up in a small town just outside of Saskatoon Saskatchewan. A man came round and filled a water barrel in the kitchen. That went on until sometime in the 1930s from what I can gather when they got indoor running water. The small house was heated with the cook stove so if you wanted hot water you used the stove. Forward many years to the early 1960s and my wife remembers her grandfather shaving with a straight razor in the kitchen. No doubt there were barber shops around but not everyone could afford to use them for a daily shave.

Bob

I'm not saying they shaved with bad edges, But I no matter how skilled a person is, one or two arkies aren't going to get them the hyper keen edges we get today from 20k and 30k synthetic stones. And edges considered really sharp on things like a hand plane or hand tools aren't even close to what we expect today from a razor.
Not saying they had bad edges, but they probably did not fuss about it as much as we did. They made it work.