early 19th century barber shop reenactment

[JohnD91]

Hi everyone,

I'm a part of a portuguese reenactment group which does the napoleonic wars period (1803–1815) and I've been trying to recreate a small early 19th century campaign barber shop to improve the day to day camp life. The problem is that I can't find enough sources of information regarding the barber's instruments and products of the period. If any of you knows of any good websites/blogs/books or any other sources about this topic I would really appreciate if you sent me the references.

Best regards

 

[sarimento1]

from "A Closer Shave" by Mr Pinfold, p 26.

Send us photos of your re-enactment, that will be interesting!!

 

[JohnD91]

Thank you for the contribution I'll be posting some photos soon

 

[oldbluelight]

You may have a rough row to hoe. I do have a memoir of a British infantryman who fought in the Peninsular Campaign and I'll try to find any details of camp life in it that might give a vague hint at grooming practices of the time. As far as details of actual products in use you might be able to find archived records of the Commissary Division that might have details. It appears that grooming standards were in place in most militaries by that time but I'm wondering how much disposable income the average infantryman would have to spend on a barber shave. I suspect that the majority of enlisted men depended on themselves and/or one or two men in their units for tonsorial care. Officers would of course be a different matter altogether though I suspect most would have an enlisted man assigned to perform domestic chores. Anyway here's a link to a couple of books about the uniforms of Portuguese units and the illustrations may have hints about styles of grooming. It appears that ferocious sideburns were popular. I wonder how many of them were singed when the powder in the pan flashed. http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Portuguese_Army_of_the_Napoleonic_Wa.html?id=m36LWMMlx6MC You might also want to try the Straight Razor folks. One or two of them may have some details about the dimensions and scales in common use at that time. Good luck in your efforts.

 

[sarimento1]

Wait...why didn't I think of this before?
if I remember correctly, back then Portugal and England were strong allies.
They had a couple of the same enemies!
So, very possibly, the Portuguese were able to get British shave goods, probably financed in part by exports of Port wine for the London gentry?! And, one of London's leading barbers at that time was, of course, Truefitt&Hill. They even have a product range that commemorates that era!

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

Prior to dedicated fleet dentists, most ships' barbers served in that role. You could include something along those lines.

 

[JohnD91]

Wait...why didn't I think of this before?
if I remember correctly, back then Portugal and England were strong allies.
They had a couple of the same enemies!
So, very possibly, the Portuguese were able to get British shave goods, probably financed in part by exports of Port wine for the London gentry?! And, one of London's leading barbers at that time was, of course, Truefitt&Hill. They even have a product range that commemorates that era!

Thanks I didin't know about this product range of products.