Thread: Vintage Vs modern straight razors

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

In our modern times folks accept poor products as the norm and few complain. Back in the day that was not the case. If you bought a razor and there was a problem you got a new one or your money back in an instant no questions asked. Back then people didn't accept shoddy goods like now. Sure some sold junk but those were fly by night salesmen and outfits and if they were caught, well...

There were inexpensive things made back in the day but still they were well made and didn't fall apart soon after purchase like now. Things these days are engineered to last only so long so you have to come back and keep buying them. Think major appliances. Even common items lasted indefinitely.

That's not even a little bit true. Take cars for instance. I work on cars and I hear people say all the time, "They just don't build cars like they used to." That's true and it's a good thing because they are a lot better now than they were. As recently as 40-50 years ago once a car hit 100k miles it was time for a major overhaul or the junk yard. These days they're not even broken in well at 100k. Appliances are the same way. Most will last forever if you maintain them. The difference is that the global economy has changed the landscape and made products more accessible to the masses. Our consumer culture is a product and the catalyst. Henry Ford was the founder of the idea that his employees should be able to afford the products they made. Before that most laborers lived in abject poverty. Poverty we can't even imagine today in developed countries. I read somewhere about an industry observer from this side of the pond who toured Wade & Butcher's facilities and was shocked at the squalored conditions. I did a job in the same complex as the food stamp office and there was a table out front signing people up to receive on the doal the "basic necessities," you know: cell phones, cable TV, internet. Things that no one should have to live without. Things that people all over the undeveloped and underdeveloped world consider luxuries. Now, we could argue all day about whether this sense of entitlement is right or wrong and that is not really my point. My point is that our expectations have changed. People years ago patched up things and limped by with them because replacement was not an economical possibly. Those same people today throw out reparable appliances for the same reason. The accessibility of products has made it cheaper to replace than repair. We could repair many things today we discard but the repair businesses can't stay afloat because people won't pay the cost. Couple that with the fact with that the same worker who in Henry Ford's day lived without air conditioning and phone and some without running water, indoor plumbing and electricity now feel as though they should share the same creature comforts that Mr. Ford himself enjoyed. I don't contend that anyone who is willing to tow his own load should live in squalor but that is a separate point. The point I am making is that the throw away mentality is not because products are poorer now. It is because of our global economy...yada, yada, yada. Surely you don't think that the "coal miner's daughter," ilk of poor people had higher quality products than today's so called poor living in air conditioned, electric equipped, indoor plumbed, internet accessible homes.

Sentimentality blinds us sometimes to the realities of life and also we tend to have selective memory. The fact is that, if we are honest, for the most part the "good ol' days" sucked or at least were much harder on a basic level. Our perception just changes. Proof of point is this: what happens if you leave the house without your cell phone? We panic. Well, what did we do before there were cell phones?