Thread: Free Book PDF from 1905: "Shaving Made Easy"

Wasn't quite sure where to put this so I suppose in with the newbies but I bet anyone will find this interesting.

Often times it seems that some books just are left without a publisher and their copyright runs up. What happens then? Well, they are argued to become "open media." Recently whilst snooping for old time classics, I bumped into this relic ready for download from the Internet Archives. It appears to be the Library of Congress's scan of a 1905 book called Shaving Made Easy: What The Man Who Shaves Ought To Know.

I haven't read too much of it but its roughly 80 pages and appears to be a quick but thoughtful read- and from the early 20th century, it sure has some of that old school class to it. Of course, the 20th century (and so far, the 21st) have had some pretty important shaving developments but if you want to take a stroll back in time, this appears to be a good way to do it.

PDF Link. ~2.5Megs.
Original Link/view it on PC screen.

Anyhows, enjoy!

Interesting stuff, especially the recommendation for a 4/8 for beginners. Many thanks for sharing!

Nice little find - have added it to my favourites and will read through it properly when I can.

I like the remark about the safety razors, after commenting on the difficulty of the maintenance: "Probably a hundred thousand safety razors have been sold in the United States within the past few years and it is extremely doubtful if ten per cent. of them are now in use."

All the best,
Michael

I really enjoyed reading that. How fantastic that someone would go to the trouble of writing a book on how to shave, there's little chance anyone would even contemplate such a book now.

Great little read. Thanks for that.

On P10 the author recommends magnesia and talcum powder. Are these to be used as abrasives for the strop or for something else? And does anyone here use them?

(Thanks for the link, I really like the book.)

Cheers

Chapter 11 may be of interest to some. Warm water apparently softens the hair thereby making it more difficult to cut - so the author recommends cold water. Normally I use cold water but for the last few weeks have turned to the dark side because it's too cold in the morning. From my experience I must agree with him on this point. But I never knew the reason before.

Talc was used post-shave to remove the "sheen" associated with a good shave.

Mentioning that beginners would benefit from a 4/8 because it "bounces" less was pretty interesting. How many guys do we have on here that complain about a razor bouncing on them?

I enjoyed all of it and agreed with everything in there.

I also enjoyed the idea that draw was an essential component of a strop.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Mentioning that beginners would benefit from a 4/8 because it "bounces" less was pretty interesting. How many guys do we have on here that complain about a razor bouncing on them?

When I first started using cold water it bounced. I wrote about it in my thread on the subject - I thought it was going to jump so much it would cut an ear off.

I think every beginner has this problem. I've never been an advocate of "beginners" equipment, but I may have to reconsider.