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What would our fathers and grandfathers really make of us?

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Id imagine they would think that we'e quite silly and being frivolous. Why spends hundreds of dollars on wet shave gear when you could just use a Mach 3, Barbasol and some cheap grocery store aftershave and get an equally good shave while spending less money and saving time?
Id say though that our fathers and grandfathers were from a different generation that didn't believe that a real man was into things live grooming and self-care. In some ways, men have evolved a lot over the last 50 years, even if in other ways we still have a long way to go.
I think that they wouldn't have a problem with wet shaving in practice so much as they would the hobbyist aspect of it and the practice of having 20 years worth of soap, 1000 blades, a razor for every day of the week and 10 brushes.
Especially for those who grew up as depression era babies, it would have been seen as a huge waste.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
If you're feeling guilty about spending money on shaving gear...very simple...just stop. Badger and Blade is a shaving hardware and software forum.

I give $40 a month to an elderly woman in El Salvador and $25 a month to the local homeless shelter. My Father and Grandfather would be proud. What I do with my disposable income is up to me really. I think my parents and grandparents took more vacations than I ever have. People spend their money differently.

+1 to this.

Gentlemen used to wear jackets and ties and ladies wore nice dresses when going to a nice restaurant. All took care of their appearance and were nicely groomed.

Same with church.

And you didn't come to the dinner table looking like a slob - if you expected to eat, that is.

So....my Dad (and Mom) were proud that they raised their son to always put his best foot forward.

Kudos to @JCarr for your philanthropy. 👍
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Excessive grooming was for dandies.

< looking down at jack o lantern t-shirt and dungarees >

That‘s me. Fancy Fancington, Earl of Fancypantshire.

An author from my grandparents’ generation said “those that matter don’t mind” and I’m okay with that.

Had much more to write, but I must prepare for the afternoon’s promenade.
 
He probably would say...you're spoiled since he had one razor (super speed butterfly) one brush an one bar of soap 😄
 
Today I shaved in a way that actually fulfilled the purpose of shaving: the removal of unwanted facial hair in an efficient and practical manner.

The tools of choice were a Gillette Sensor Excel razor and canned Nivea shaving gel, both circa mid 90s. Single pass with touch ups. Job done in a few minutes.

It got me thinking: what would our fathers and grandfathers really think of us? What with our multiple passes, facial hair mapping, hundred dollar razors, manchurian badger brushes, cologned fragranced artisans, shave dens, excessive consumption and gentlemanly restraint, and endless debates about cream vs soap, tallow vs vegan, and face vs bowl?

They'd be disgusted.

They were made of stern stuff back then. Get in, get out, get on with the day. Excessive grooming was for dandies.

Our fathers and grandfathers didn't teach us this stuff about shaving, because they didn't do it. We invented it ourselves.

One wonders why you bother with this site. Go off with your plastic Gillette and be done with it. There are many aspects to what we do here. There is a timeless quality to buying a damaged razor from England or Germany, nearly 100 years old and restoring it to its original beauty and function. We are able to do that because they were made to last--no built-in obsolescence. Some have the ability to restore an artifact from another era; that is an end in itself. More than that, how many outside such groups can restore a razor, hone that razor to a soft edge, rescale it with ivory or horn or other natural material, and then place it in a rotation for actual use? Some of us have gone on to honing our own knives which is an entirely different skill.

These are skills of another time that take patience, process, and mentors to learn. Like many art forms there are a lot of pretenders. These skills were nearly lost (how many of us have actually seen an old barber strop a blade with unnerving speed and skill?). But in these pages one sees works of art, functional blades, from time to time, heirlooms of a family that some of us have had the privilege of restoring with original materials. There is more to a straight razor than you pretend. It all must come together with that blade sliding easily between the two scales with both style, ease, beauty and functionality.

Not everyone obsesses about aftershave, pre-shave, etc. But when we do discuss such things we are simply enjoying the functional use of a work of art we have created, restored or know how to maintain. It is like using a painting on a day to day basis instead of just looking at it.

Of course, if you don’t get the beauty and the joy of the process (if it has to be explained to you) I doubt you ever will. But perhaps you can try and understand the very real and artistic beauty of a fully restored, vintage straight razor.
 
not everyone on this forum (or other forums) are soap sniffing lunatics.
While I do enjoy certain aspects of wetsaving, I think some people take it too far.
If that makes them happy that's fine, but it's not for me.
 
not everyone on this forum (or other forums) are soap sniffing lunatics.
While I do enjoy certain aspects of wetsaving, I think some people take it too far.
If that makes them happy that's fine, but it's not for me.

I disagree. No one takes it too far. They take it exactly as far as they choose. They simply enjoy that aspect of this hobby. Shaving surpassed being a utility for me long ago (as I suspect it did for a number for folks on here). This is about doing what makes you happy. If the simply utilitarian act of removing hair is what makes you happy, then no one has the right to judge that. Shaving is different things to different folks. A forum like this allows us all to come here and find what we want in likeminded individuals.
 
I went to college with a guy whose last name was Amidon, which is pronounced the same way as one says amadán. My family thought that was the funniest thing they ever heard.

somewhat randomly my actual name is Avijit ... pronounced av eejit but I‘ve gone by Avi, since I was young. So when we were younger when my wife was cross with me she would use the full name, and now post kids that has actually generalized so our dog is the dogijit and mom is mommajit etc . A veritable family of eejits :)
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
not everyone on this forum (or other forums) are soap sniffing lunatics.

social-working-titles-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-jack-nicholson-hand-up.jpg

I am lol.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
I disagree. No one takes it too far. They take it exactly as far as they choose. They simply enjoy that aspect of this hobby. Shaving surpassed being a utility for me long ago (as I suspect it did for a number for folks on here). This is about doing what makes you happy. If the simply utilitarian act of removing hair is what makes you happy, then no one has the right to judge that. Shaving is different things to different folks. A forum like this allows us all to come here and find what we want in likeminded individuals.

hallelujah-can-i-get-an-amen-memegenerator-net-5-7-17-can-i-49619566.png
 
I have no doubt my Grandfather would approve. I pretty much shave exactly as he did. My daily driver is the same razor he used, found in a box of his things. My usual aftershave is skin bracer exactly as he used. I most often use Williams soap just as he did. Its funny, I never thought of it until now. I think the only thing at which he would raise his eyebrows is the number of blades and variety that I keep on hand. That and that I have more than one aftershave.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
My dad was pretty straightforward when it came to shaving. He was always clean shaven and had minimal products, Edge Gel and a cartridge where his preferred method. He was however a clothes horse. Being the 12th of 13 children, he claimed he rarely had anything new, always handed down. I recall the tailor coming to our modest house with big books of cloth samples for my dad to choose for new suits. He wore suits to the office every day and he taught me how to tie a double Windsor knot. He referred to denim as “dungarees“ and it never touched his skin. He wore slacks and a shirt on weekends, always put together, that was his idea of casual. If my dad were around today I think he’d be really happy that I shave every day......now, just tuck in that shirt!
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
My father would have been all over every aspect of this and I suspect I'd need to find another MMOC because he would have taken possession of the one I have lol.

He stopped shaving 10 years before he died because he couldnt get a good shave with cartridge razors. Think about that a minute...
 
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