King Camp Gillette was Utopian Socialist and wrote a book called The Human Drift, 125 years ago.
It's about "replacing competitive corporations with a single giant publicly owned trust ("the United Company") [that] would cure virtually all social ills. One-third of the book is devoted to Gillette's plan for an immense three-level metropolis (called "Metropolis") on the site of Niagara Falls. Designed to accommodate a population of tens of millions of inhabitants, the mega-city would draw its electric power from the Falls."About the only thing going for them is they are a slightly less murderous flavor of crank. Sort of like Ayn Rand is a utopian capitalist, these folks like Gillette and Robert Owen. Never hear of him? That because he didn't murder millions like welterweight socialists like Hitler or Lenin. Or tens of million like heavyweights Stalin or Mao.
Razor technology has fascinated me for some time. And I totally grok the evolution over the past century, through personal experience. Safety razors require less skill to give more efficient shaves than a straight razor. Double edge razors are better than the safety in efficiency and comfort and closeness than a safety. Triple edge are marginally better than doubles. Then you get into diminishing returns with your 7 blade vibrating razors with slime strip. There is a reason to switch to new and improved through the 20th Century. The new IS improved. Until lately.
I've shaved with all of them. While I enjoy a straight razor shave, it's really not for every day. Too slow. Normally a safety razor is my go-to, and good replacement blades are cheap cheap compared to the more moderns. But every now and then I shave my face with a drugstore brand plastic double edge and realize that the safety razor isn't really the most efficient.
I use the Gillette Mach 3 on my head. I get two heads to the blade. Expensive.
We won't get into manufacturing processes that made disposable razors possible, or the hypocrazy of a socialist in the business of planned obsolescence. (Yes, I said hypocrazy)
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While a straight doesn't seem to have any costs after initial investment, that's not entirely true. And upfront costs are steep. To get a good razor is $150 and up. Don't drop it, you will ruin the blade beyond repair, chances are, and now you need to buy another. Stops and badger brushes wear out. An extrafine ceramic sharpening stone is another $100. $100 buys a thousand weeks worth of safety razor blades.
The main reason I learned to straight razor shave is because what if I trip into a wormhole and get thrown back in time? You need these skills. Now I just have to get used to cellophane collars and wool in the summer
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Update: Stephen Green had a similar shaving journey as me.
My Scoutmaster told a story once about a man in college who drew a crowd when he would shave because he shaved with a straight razor (in the 30's when "New" and "Improved" were more than sales puffery.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just Jillette. Most of the marketeers went to the same schools and accepted the same Leftist attitudes. There is a reason they have their HQs in NYC.
ReplyDeletehttp://stonetoss.com/comic/burger-kang/