Soap sniffing lunatics.....love it!
What would our fathers and grandfathers really make of us?
- Thread starter TechClone
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Don’t be too confident about it.
This guy died..lol
My late father was a no nonsense guy who was growing up during the Great Depression of the 1930s. That influenced him to be very frugal with money. Too frugal for my mom. Yes they divorced! He used one razor, a Schick injector, one soap (Williams) a cheap store bought AS like Old Spice and a brush until it would wear out. He didn’t like to discard things if he felt they still had some use. He would show utter disbelief at what we do here to put it mildly. And be completely flabbergasted.....to say the least.
We're into the wet shaving hobby in search of an experience -- something out of the ordinary. I suspect our ancestors would have had plenty of other experiences (war, Depression, job hunting, fatherhood, fixing the car under the shade tree, et al.) to deal with; no need, they'd have thought, to hunt for a shaving experience.
Your post shows just one thing. That you don't understand what a word "hobby" means. For most people here shaving is more than a personal hygiene. It's a hobby.
My friend has a hobby. He is biking for fun. He has 3 different bikes worth about 2.500$ each. His grandfather had 1 bike worth maybe 25$. If he was alive, he would be disgusted by his grandsons' excess of bikes.
My friend has a hobby. He is biking for fun. He has 3 different bikes worth about 2.500$ each. His grandfather had 1 bike worth maybe 25$. If he was alive, he would be disgusted by his grandsons' excess of bikes.
ERS4
My exploding razor knows secrets
I must also oppose your "soap sniffing lunatics".
In fact, I have never bought any shaving soap.
My wife likes to make soap by herself. When I use up a bar of soap, I ask my wife "please give me a bar of soap" and decide which soap she takes from the cabinet for me according to her preferences.
Please don't ignore the diversity of people. People in B&B must also gather here for various reasons.
Not everyone goes to high-end restaurants just because they are greedy. Some people want to propose marriage/ some people want to reward their hard work last week/ some people have saved money for a long time and finally be generous to themselves...
I get the feeling a lot of old timers were stodgy. I was lucky, I guess.
My paternal grandfather died 11 years before I was born and he was a tool and die maker, so I guess he liked “things”.
My dad was a design engineer who designed the flip needle for 33/78 records at the Astatic Corporation. He grew up when a lot of boys like him were captivated with aviation. He liked things and tinkering too. He built model airplanes which rubbed off on me. He didn’t have an attitude that you live to exist and then die.
My maternal grandfather was 4 when the Wright brothers flew and almost 70 when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. He was in awe with technology and looked beyond a survivalist life style.
They would all be dismayed more with our present condition, politically and morally, but they wouldn’t scoff at taking pleasure in shaving.
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My paternal grandfather died 11 years before I was born and he was a tool and die maker, so I guess he liked “things”.
My dad was a design engineer who designed the flip needle for 33/78 records at the Astatic Corporation. He grew up when a lot of boys like him were captivated with aviation. He liked things and tinkering too. He built model airplanes which rubbed off on me. He didn’t have an attitude that you live to exist and then die.
My maternal grandfather was 4 when the Wright brothers flew and almost 70 when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. He was in awe with technology and looked beyond a survivalist life style.
They would all be dismayed more with our present condition, politically and morally, but they wouldn’t scoff at taking pleasure in shaving.
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@ScottChapin - Great story. 
Both of my grandfathers were born in the 1800s.
Never knew my paternal grandfather.
My maternal grandfather, after retiring from the railroad, made guitars and mandolins. He had forms (to shape the wood), tools and projects in process everywhere you turned. His passion brought my grandfather, and those to whom he gifted his guitars and mandolins, years of fulfillment and happiness.
We all have our hobbies and passions. I may not understand another person's hobbies and passions, but that doesn't give me license to denigrate or criticize them.
Find joy in what you choose to do and allow others the dignity to find joy in what they choose to do.
Just my opinion and YMMV.
Both of my grandfathers were born in the 1800s.
Never knew my paternal grandfather.
My maternal grandfather, after retiring from the railroad, made guitars and mandolins. He had forms (to shape the wood), tools and projects in process everywhere you turned. His passion brought my grandfather, and those to whom he gifted his guitars and mandolins, years of fulfillment and happiness.
We all have our hobbies and passions. I may not understand another person's hobbies and passions, but that doesn't give me license to denigrate or criticize them.
Find joy in what you choose to do and allow others the dignity to find joy in what they choose to do.
Just my opinion and YMMV.
@never-stop-learning
Parallels. My dad and I played the accordion and I picked up the fiddle and played at the mandolin. I guess there are just Walter Mitty types.
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Parallels. My dad and I played the accordion and I picked up the fiddle and played at the mandolin. I guess there are just Walter Mitty types.
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did not know my maternal grandfather, but both of mine probably born in the same era as yours. My paternal grandparent grew up in a sod house and became very successful and never seemed to care about material things other than what joy they could bring to himself and those around him.@ScottChapin - Great story.
Both of my grandfathers were born in the 1800s.
Never knew my paternal grandfather.
My maternal grandfather, after retiring from the railroad, made guitars and mandolins. He had forms (to shape the wood), tools and projects in process everywhere you turned. His passion brought my grandfather, and those to whom he gifted his guitars and mandolins, years of fulfillment and happiness.
We all have our hobbies and passions. I may not understand another person's hobbies and passions, but that doesn't give me license to denigrate or criticize them.
Find joy in what you choose to do and allow others the dignity to find joy in what they choose to do.
Just my opinion and YMMV.
IMightBeWrong
Loves a smelly brush
My dad thinks it’s lame. He shaves with a Schick disposable plastic 2 blade razor and just water and his leathery skin can take it. He gets BBS with no nicks or irritation with that method. It’s actually how he initially taught me to shave and it didn’t go well for my skin. He still doesn’t understand why I can’t just do that.
I never got to know my grandfathers.
I never got to know my grandfathers.
My grandfather, who raised me, was a Shick Injector shaver until he retired in 1974 then switched to an Electric. He thought my Uncle was strange for trying to use a straight razor in the late 70's. He would think I'm a little off for having all this junk. He liked the electric because he could sit in the TV chair and touch up without having to to go to the bathroom. That drove my grandmother nuts. He did have an ancient box of Williams in the medicine chest because it had never been used and seemed a waste to toss. No bowl or brush by then. Although he did have 2 injector razors so maybe he had a little OCD too.
Cool! You found a setup that works great and that wouldn't make your ancestors disgusted. I'm happy for you!
I agree with @Atlantic59 above, that curiosity beats most of us in the beginning of the journey and we tend to overspend. I would also add that some of us want fast results and think that a new soap/brush/razor etc. will magically enhance our shaves, instead of learning how to shave properly. Once past the beginner's phase, everyone approaches shaving differently. Some are collectors, some like to restore razors, craft brushes or soaps and others are enthusiasts that want to test the latest products. A chacun son gout!
Personally, I enjoy the camaraderie and participate in this forum, even though I rarely buy new stuff (I'm on restraint for the foreseeable future) and my setup is more or less complete. I like sharing experiences that might help someone enjoy their shaves as much as I do. I don't see shaving as a hobby, but it is a "me time" that I look forward to every day.
My shaves are way better than what I was getting using the very same setup that makes you happy. Actually, I started with the Sensor Excel back in the 90's. Now, it is face lathering with a boar brush, loading either from a puck of soap or lately rubbing the puck or a stick directly on the face. 3 passes WTG, XTG and ATG using the same DE razor 90% of the time and changing blades when they no longer cut or give me a decent shave.
I don't feel the need to justify my shaving routine to anyone. I won't also elaborate on my father's view of my shaving habits. I will just say that his cost per shave as a Fusion-something user and the resulting litter is way more than mine.
Happy shaves!
My grandpa thought it was funny that I would go back to old technology, but he liked that it gave us something to talk about and something that he could teach me about. My dad passed away before I got into the hobby, but I think he would've ridiculed me mercilessly. He used an electric razor on a dry face and always had stubble.
Dad understood "hobby." Mum, on the other hand, took one look at the whole "back-to-the-land" idea and dismissed it. "I LIVED with outhouses, wood heat, kerosene lamps, catalog sales, horse wagons and crank-start cars. You kids today don't know how good you have it. Why bake bread? Go to the store. Why make soup? Go to the store. Why make clothes? Go to the store." She was a Modern Woman who had a job AND a family and that was great because the March of Progress brought easy living right to her front door.
Sometimes I'm glad I didn't listen to Mum much. [grin]
O.H.
You’re using a computer to buy mass-produced high tech marvels. Don’t succumb to a vaccine-preventable disease, starvation, or exposure ON PURPOSE and all should be fine.
Honestly, my father would have and his father does put both how often I shave and what I used to shave with firmly in the "none of my business" camp. And I know for a fact that either one's hair on the back of their neck would bristle at the thought of a stranger telling them how to feel about, well, anything. My father would have walked away. Granddad "did NOT emigrate so some random [words he used for door to door salesman, Mormons, and Witnesses] can tell [him] what to think." Probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's an honest one.
I'm sorry, I meant to ask this earlier. What were you doing wrong before? Leaving stubble? Nicking yourself? Using a dull blade? I mean, I'm happy for you that you found a way that works though.
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