Fur Trade/Indian Wars Hygiene: Shaving

An interesting aspect of the lives of those in the Fur Trade or Indian Wars is that of hygiene. Bathing and cleanliness has changed quite a bit from then to now.  In an attempt to experience life more like these people I decided it was time to take on one of these hygiene procedures: shaving.

Today we are most accustomed to electric razors (show up in the 1930s) and cartridge razors (1970s). Prior to that, “safety razors”  didn’t really start having a decent showing  until 1875 and the first patent with the term “safety razor” was applied for in 1880. We do see (and they are still around in many barber shops today) straight razors with disposable blades. These, like their predecessor, still needed to be honed and stropped. Disposable blades don’t show up until King G. Gillette introduces them in 1901. His safety razor success was probably largely due to the fact that he got a contract to supply the American troops with his razors during World War I.

So that leaves us with the straight razor. The idea of suddenly shaving your face and neck with a chunk of razor sharp steel can be a rather daunting one. Let’s be honest, you do have a cause for concern. If all you are used to is a flex head cartridge razor, or even more different yet, an electric, you are going to need to learn some techniques specific to this new (old) device.

It doesn’t have to be so daunting. Here’s what I did, that was recommended to me. Make the switch from your electric or cartridge razor to a double edge safety razor before even picking up a straight razor. With a double edge razor you’ll learn to let the weight of the razor do the work. You’re going to learn not to push. This is also the time to learn how to use a shaving brush and shaving soap or cream. Yeah, you could keep using that pressurized stuff in a can, but why do that if your intent is to understand and experience what these people of the past did? Some good places to learn more about shaving with a safety razor and using shaving brushes with shaving soap is www.shaving101.com. Also, I highly recommend watching the shaving videos by geofatboy on youtube.( http://geofatboy.blogspot.com/ , http://www.youtube.com/user/geofatboy )  

After you’ve gotten used to using a double edge safety razor (I’d recommend at least 6 months of shaving, but that’s just me) then start thinking about a straight razor. A razor with a 5/8ths blade with a rounded end is a good choice to start learning with.  Watch, watch, watch the videos that geofatboy has. When you take your straight razor on it’s maiden shaving voyage….take….your…time. Let the razor do the work. If you force it, the razor will bite back.

I was recently able to track down an appropriate razor to use for my personas at Fort Union and for the AMM. It’s a wedge type straight razor made by Joseph Elliot. Here are a few links on being able to figure out the dates of different straight razors that you might get yourself. http://www.uniclectica.com/misc/manuf.html , http://strazors.com/uploads/images/articles/Identification.pdf

“Man Leif, this sure sounds like an investment.” The truth of the matter is…it is. You don’t have to go this route if you don’t want to. Please do understand that there is a drastic difference between shaving with a cartridge razor and a straight razor. There’s a definite learning curve. What I have posted here for you is the shaving path I went down, and it worked well for me. “But I don’t think I should have to learn how to do this.” You know what? That’s fine. There are many wonderful and challenging aspects to living history. There’s tailoring, leatherworking, blacksmithing, gardening, carpentry, music…the list goes on and on. So go ahead and pick something new to learn about the people you depict. Straight razor shaving is merely one on the list. - Leif