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Straight razor slander from a 1922 novel

jbro44

Shave Newbie
I thought you all might get a kick out of this. I happened to be reading a novel called Huntingtower, written by John Buchan (most known for The 39 Steps) in 1922. The 55 year old protagonist has switched from straight razors to safety razors (at precisely the same age that I switched the opposite way):

“A week ago he had bought the thing in a sudden fit of enterprise, and now he shaved in five minutes, where before he had taken twenty, and no longer confronted his fellows, at least one day in three, with a countenance ludicrously mottled by sticking-plaster. Calculation revealed to him the fact that in his fifty-five years, having begun to shave at eighteen, he had wasted three thousand three hundred and seventy hours—or one hundred and forty days—or between four and five months—by his neglect of this admirable invention. Now he felt that he had stolen a march on Time. He had fallen heir, thus late, to a fortune in unpurchasable leisure.”

The bastard. This is hate speech. 😆
 
Interested how perspectives change and are so individualistic.
That's true. It's actually a fascinating look back at a time when industry and technology were advancing at an astonishing rate. We correctly think of the information age as a revolution in technology but I'd argue that it's nothing compared to the changes that occurred between the late 19th century and the early 20th century.
 
For me, going into sr shaving was so much about the nostalgic, vintage, historic practice of the past… and getting away from cartridge razors, the alleged pinnacle of modern shaving evolution. 🤦‍♂️
 
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