Oldest wet shaving forums

Discussion in 'The Chatterbox' started by Alex7, Feb 22, 2019.

  1. SparrowPoint

    SparrowPoint Active Member

    Most forums have their own form of Dramapopolis. Most ofthe US and UK forums started over splits and differences. On Facebook it's just easier to to splinter off because no infrastructure ramp up is needed. It's the nature of the internet.
     
    Shaver X likes this.
  2. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    I have a patent on using Dramapopolis…………..send me a '34 Aristocrat and we'll call it even....LOL!!:D
     
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  3. SparrowPoint

    SparrowPoint Active Member

    I would but I don't use DEs. Can I send a 96 year old gent dressed in a tux to stay with you?
     
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  4. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    I’ll pass, just finally got rid of one myself .
     
  5. someone told me late 90s........... rsvp
     
  6. LaneP

    LaneP Well-Known Member

    This is a great site but the only suggestion I have for the owners and maintainers here (and maybe no one else agrees with me and will think I'm in outer space) is that the posts would be a lot easier to read if the background were changed to something like a white color. Due to my age and poor eyesight I have a real tough time reading some posts because there is not as much contrast between the color of the font and the background. I wish my eyes were younger but they don't make them any more :)
     
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  7. S Barnhardt

    S Barnhardt Old, Crusty Barn

    do
    I'm not an owner and/or maintainer as you put it, but your comment got me to thinking. These kinds of things often have a setting, or settings, where you can change how you view it. I began looking after I read your comment and found this one does as well.

    Go to the top right-hand corner of the page where you will see your "user name", "inbox", and "alerts."

    Place your cursor on your username LaneP which will open a drop-down window with several options. One of these options will say "Preferences."

    Click on preferences which will open another menu with several choices. At the top is a drop-down menu titled "Styles."

    Click styles which will open a menu of display choices. While I didn't try them all, I did try one that is titled "Cool Blue." Click that one and "BE SURE" to go to the bottom of that window and click "save changes" before you close the window. After you do that refresh your screen if it doesn't automatically change, or just click on the title of something. You will now have nice shades of blue where you see shades of brown on this style, which by the say is called "vintage." And the backgrounds for text in responses is in white with, I think, the contrast you want.

    ????
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2020
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  8. LaneP

    LaneP Well-Known Member

    You are a life saver! Works great, thank you!
     
  9. Queen of Blades

    Queen of Blades Mistress of Mischief Staff Member

    Moderator Supporting Vendor
    Everyone's eyes are different. White background is too bright for me to read.

    For websites where I can't change the colors, sometimes highlighting what I'm trying to read helps increase the color contrasts between font and page.
     
  10. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    You can also change your forum display settings by scrolling to the bottom of any page. Left side. Click on the word under the Home/Forums/etc. Bar. The default is "Vintage."

    Edit: you will need to use the directions posted by @S Barnhardt if you have the "mobile" display setting active.
     
  11. S Barnhardt

    S Barnhardt Old, Crusty Barn

    Thanks! I learned something today!
     
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  12. Alex7

    Alex7 Active Member

    Thanks for this great piece of history.
     
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  13. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    You're welcome!

    I think it is important to note that the traditional shaving revival began before the shaving forums first appeared. Myriam Zaoui and Eric Malka founded The Art of Shaving as an artisan business in 1996. Emily Witherspoon opened Em's Place in 1997, and still sells shaving products today. The "Three Ts" - Geo. F. Trumper, Truefitt & Hill and Taylor of Old Bond Street - never stopped selling traditional shaving products. The same goes for Parker, Merkur, SOTRACO and many other shaving products companies. In searching for the genesis of the wetshaving revival, one needs to look back prior to the forums. IMHO, at least.
     
  14. Galaktus

    Galaktus New Member

    I was originally a member of the SRP Yahoo group around 2002 or so. Saw some mob mentality and heavy handed moderator/owner abuse of many members who didn't adhere to the groupthink. Joel Ferman was banned from SRP by Lynn Abrams, the owner. So Joel started B&B. Lynn, imho, is very untrustworthy and I decided to part ways with SRP. Yep, censorship, posts get deleted, private emails posted by the group owner. I had no desire to participate in wet shaving forums for years due to this. I got no time for schoolyard bullies and internet tough guys.
    Around 2013 I joined B&B. Yes, the fanboy craziness can be sickening at times. God forbid you don't like a certain soap and are dumb enough to say you don't like it. You will be personally attacked. Very silly, really.
     
  15. Slash McCoy

    Slash McCoy Well-Known Member

    Wow, the banning stories are incredible. I always thought B&B was a pretty good forum. I guess some days some mod just gets up on the wrong side of the bed. I did get banned (three times) from SRP back in the bad old days, for claiming that Gold Dollars could be perfectly acceptable razors, but things are much more live and let live there, now, and I seem to be welcome there. This forum is in many ways the best of the bunch but we could use more members and more activity here.

    Patchouli? Really? The Veg, I could understand, maybe.
     
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  16. Slash McCoy

    Slash McCoy Well-Known Member

    The only two things that irritate me about B&B are the strictly enforced rule against links that are not approved by the staff, and the high cost of a vendor tag there. Otherwise I have enjoyed my several years spent there. I found it most inconvenient once when I was unable to post a link to my own personal website that at the time had NO items for sale and of course no advertising. I had a spreadsheet for quickly calculating bevel angle, or calculating the spine thickness needed or the blade width needed to achieve a particular desired bevel angle. And I could not post the file directly to the forum, either. Other members wanted to see it. I simply said it existed and was available and that anyone interested should google for it, and that seemed to be acceptable. They used to have a "hobbyist" tag that was cheaper than the full blown vendor tag but that went away. Guys selling cheap stuff or very low volume, basically trying to make their hobby pay or partially pay for itself, had no recourse. Two minor irritations. But lots of traffic, lots of activity, and some very knowledgeable folks that I have learned a lot from, particularly related to razorsmithing, metallurgy, and similar topics.

    One of the things I like about this forum and also the new and improved SRP is that vendor tags are within reach of casual sellers. On B&B I have to be very careful to not appear to be promoting my modest wares even though they are mostly targeted to the newbie market and at least in theory ought to help bring in new straight razor shavers (and buyers!). Okay, so three irritations. Still, not bad, and my unintentional oversteps have never resulted in suspension or banning, so far.

    And BTW, @Steveclarkus I am here.

    Hopefully I can remain a member of B&B and unless things change a lot for the worse, I intend to. Meanwhile I intend to at least check in to this forum and SRP daily.
     
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  17. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Badger & Blade is an advertising business masquerading as a hobbyist forum. So is The Shave Nook. The rules there are designed to keep people on the site and maximize the revenue stream. That is why the rules and moderation are the way they are. It is the same with many other hobbies - a dominant, largest forum with draconian rules and oppressive moderation. That is why forums in general have such a bad reputation. The solution is to seek out the smaller, civil, quality forums such as The Shave Den. There are usually at least a couple around.

    Podcasts are also a good source of information, and their demeanor is generally very civil and friendly. They are another good place to advertise.
     
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  18. brit

    brit in a box

    a rolling review source..
     
    Shaver X likes this.
  19. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Yes, indeed. For all the Badger & Blade bashing that goes on, many folks seem to forget the old adage "If you lie down with dogs, you're going to wake up with fleas." The simple solution is not to lie down with dogs, something that applies to people, situations, places, and other things, as well as to forums. It's not running away, but simply negating the need to use flea soap. The easiest way to avoid problems at B&B is to come here.
     
  20. matthewoli98

    matthewoli98 Well-Known Member

    Yep,
    I was warned for featuring and recommending a South African soap in my SOTD posts, even though i have no affiliation with the company that makes them whatsoever, so i rarely go onto it anymore.

    Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
     
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