HISTORY OF SHAVING

Evening Star, Issue 21292, 22 December 1932, Page 11

HISTORY OF SHAVING

HAIR-RAISING EPISODES EVOLUTION OF THE RAZOR , Whilst most- people are conscious that there has been a remarkable revolution in methods of shaving during the past,twenty years or so, it is less generally known that the razor, and the practice of shaving the hairs of the face and head, are _as old as history. There is positive evidence among the discoveries of archaeologists that the prehistoric inhabitants of Egypt were bearded, but that their _ succesors of the . first historic dynasties, between 5000 and 4000 n.c., shaved both heads and beards. It is fairly safe to assume that the practice of shaving had, at that time, a strategic rather than an hygienic or an resthetic purpose. Hand-to-hand warfare being the custom ..of belligerents, it was distinctly unwise to offer such an inviting hold as was furnished to an enemy by the flowing beard. A man acustomed to the luxury of shaving with a modern razor and other accessories may well _ wonder how the feat of removing hair from the skin could be accomplished in an age that knew not steely nor had, in fact, any method of working in other metals. No doubt there was a time when the feat was achieved by the heroic method of plucking out hair by the roots, and it may be imagined that submission to such a process, even at infrequent intervals, provided food for thought and ample encouragement to research. At all events, some genius of the ancients conceived the idea of shaving with an implement of flint. It is to be hoped that as a public benefactor ho ranked high in the esteem of his fellows. When men discovered how to fabricate implements of copper the razor entered on a new and,: one would imagine, refreshing phase of its development. The _ metal was comparatively soft, and it was, no doubt, impossible either to create a very keen edge or to maintain the edge for long. Such implements would, at any rate, perform their function with greater efficiency and less need for fortitude on the part of the patient than was the case with the flint razor. Two copper razors which date from the old Memphite Kingdom are broad knives with one wide, rounded end and a prong at the other end for the handle. The invention of bronze introduced the possibility of a more durable and effective instrument. Changes in design were also evolved, a somewhat startling development being the rotary type of razor, in which the handle projected at right-angles from the centre of the blade, and the cutting edge was rotated back and forth against the hair. This type appears to have been as popular for several centuries as is the safety razor to-day. Throughout a number of generations the razor underwent minor changes in design and in the material employed for its blade. The fashions of each age in regard to hirsute adornment had, no doubt, a material influence on the interest and ingenuity applied to this problem of the toilet. DIGNITY OF. THE BEARD. Such races of mankind as have consistently favoured the beard have regarded it as a sign of maturity in the wearer; one, therefore, to command respect. But even within the last few hundred years the tactical disadvantages attaching to a beard were the means of converting many to the merits of a shaven, if not clean-shaven, face. The Britons, before the immigration from Sleswick, used razors, but compromised by wearing moustaches. During the later history of this country we find the beard alternately admired and condemned; now popular as an almost complete covering for the facial features, now derided, as by Bishop Serle, as something fit only for filthy goats and bristly Saracens.” After languishing into disfavour, the beard again became fashionable with Henry VIII. The reign of Elizabeth saw it developed as fashion with a hundred interpretations; at some periods of history it was an indication of caste, at others a sign of a man’s vocation.

Early iu the nineteenth century moustaches were brought into favour as a military fashion, but regarded as a mark of affectation in civilians. Slowly the full beard became less general, side-whiskers lost popularity, and young men, in particular, adopted the fashion of shaving the whole of the face ,or being content with a more or less exiguous growth on the upper lip. _ - Recently there have been signs of a vogue for beards and for side-whiskers among young men, but it has not become a general fashion. There is not much evidence to show that consideration of hygiene overbad much to do with the changing fashions in shaving until, possibly, the last few decades. This factor has, however, certainly influenced many in favour of shaving the face, if only partially, during recent years. What lias probably had the greatest effect, however has been the development of the modern shaving instrument and of the soaps and creams which make tne operation an almost effortless matter, requiring neither skill nor endurance, and taking but a few minutes to accomplish. It is remarkable to think that until 1895 no material improvement was achieved in the design of the razor. It is true that the practice of hollowgrinding, evolved, early in the nineteenth century, had enormously improved the durability and cutting efficiency of the instrument, and the principle of a guarded blade had been applied iu a crude form as , early as 1782. ■ . ' , Blade guards were developed by various inventors, hut the first really material change in design was the invention of his safety razor by King Camp Gillette in 1895. It is common knowledge that Gillette, like many another benefactor of the human race, received very little encouragement, and even a certain amount of derision and obloquy, in his endeavour to overcome prejudice and convince people of the worth of his invention. Over five years passed before he could get any measure of commercial backing. Not until 1903 was a single razor sold, but before ten years liad passed the annual sales had risen to nearly 400,000 razors and almost three and a-half million blades. THE RENEWABLE BLADE. The principle of Gillette’s invention was the use of a waferlike blade which could bo removed and replaced. The term “ safety razor ” had, however, been applied to a number of earlier inventions, and appears in patent claims of 1880. t . • x Once the advantages being able to shave oneself without risk of injury were appreciated, numerous refinements of the idea began to appear. Various devices were introduced for prolonging the life of the blade by means of mechanism incorporated in the head of the razor, through which a flexible strop could be threaded. Improvements were also made in the design of the original type of holder, and other designs, incorporating variations in the manner of holding the blade rigid, and in the construction of the guard, were put on the market. The advantages of a safety razor which permitted the stropping of the blade have also' been combined with the virtues of a hollow-ground blade. Material progress has also boen made during the past few years in the production of special metallic alloys for the making of blades having not only durable qualities, but also the property of resisting rust. So general has the use of safety razors become that many of the younger men of to-day have never handled one of the open type. For many years the safety razor was regarded with some scorn by men, who looked upon its use as an effeminacy. It was not unusual for a man to conceal the fact of bis conversion to a safer and more rapid method of shaving, and some of the old military school have been known to express themselves very forcibly on the subject. . . But in 1926 the authorities decided to supply safety razors to the Army, and the last stronghold of prejudice was won. Someone has compiled that a man has, on the average, approximately 25,000 hairs on his face. The wear on a razor blade, not to mention the user’s feelings, would be immense but for the use of a lubricant, generally - in the form of a soap or an emollient cream. The development of these lubricants has occupied the attention of research chemists for many years, and the various creams available now make the business of self-shaving a quick, effortloss, and refreshing process. They are for the most part put up in the convenient form of tubes.

The fashion of shaving the whole or the greater part of the face has now become so widespread that a reversion to beards as a general vogue seems highly improbable. Without doubt the facility with which a man can shave himself in these days will form the strongest of all checks to any movement for their reintroduction.—London ‘ Daily Telegraph.’