Old ways vs new ways.....

This is a duplicate of a post that I made at another forum... I have been thinking about this all day tho.. I have made a concious effort for many years to learn what the old ways of doing things were like... I have never been content with commercially available products for the most part, even tho some of them are very, very good..... I feel driven to learn more. This is true for many aspects of my life, not just soap, but here is the post....

I bought a bar of homemade soap in Hawaii once.. made there on the Island by an old woman out of 100% coconut oil who was selling the soap from a cart in the lobby of the Turtle Bay Hilton. I had forgotten to pack my Caress.

After one shower with that soap, I went back downstairs and blew about $100 on soap so that I would never run out again. It seems trips always have finds for me and this was the find of a lifetime...

Well, eventually I ran out of her soap. I called the Turtle Bay Hilton and they had no idea who she was. I searched the web and found nothing and then one day at a craft show here at the local fairgrounds I found another soaper and again blew $100 on soap. And that eventually ran out too.

So, I started to learn. I wanted to know what it was that was so much better about homemade soaps. I never wanted to have to buy another bar from the store again but didn't know where to go. Eventually I decided this was something I needed to learn to make myself.

The old ways weren't necessarily better, there were not formula's and grandma's soap was always rumoured to be lye heavy and would burn your skin off but the stuff in the stores dried me out and made me feel like I had a face lift all over my body.

hhhmmmm, maybe I need to reconsider this...

But anyway I learned. Homemade soaps are now something that is known about by many folks and once you have used one you won't go back.

I suspect that this applies to shaving soaps and creams as well.. the storebought variety is good, but mass produced without some of the love and special ingredients that home crafters use in search of the perfect product. Going back to the old ways is a good thing, when you are armed with knowledge.. and there is a lot of knowledge out there these days...

by the way.. I am very much enjoying my homemade beer too... and we all know that a homemade meal is superior to anything else.... ;-)

 

Soap + Love = Happy Doc

BTW SEND BEER!!!!:rofl

 

ah... good point...

 

Sue, I feel the same way about a lot of wooden products out there today. I can't really afford "nice" furniture, but I can't stand the pressboard stuff that Target, Ashley and even some of the "better" stores sell. So I make my own.

Nothing fancy, but I have made my computer desk, a bookcase, an entertainment center, and even my own cat tree (and if you see what pet stores charge for some cheap wood covered in carpet, you know why I tried making my own!)

I think that is why I was so attracted to old-fashioned DE razors and shaving like this. Because the newer-is-better sales job that Gillette, Schick and others were putting out is a load.

 

I'm with you, Blair. I can make furniture of much higher quality than I can afford to buy. And I love a well-worn, good qualtiy, old piece of furniture. I'm hoping some of my stuff will be passed down a few generations.

 

When I was a younger whipper snapper I thought the old folks ways were outdated and at times, just plain old dumb! Somehow things have turned around, and as I approach the age [currently mid-fifties] those old 'fuddy duddys' were, I am finding many of the old ways now seem to be some of the best ways. Ain't life funny like that.

Soap for one! I'd never even considered homemade soaps until a couple of years ago. I'd seen some of them a few places we'd been, but thought "there ain't no manly-man gonna' use something like that." For me, the turn around came in mid 2005 when I did a quick search of the web to find me a shaving brush. I wanted to once again shave 'the old way', but had thrown away my brush years ago when I moved up to the new and improved 'goo-in-a-can' and them disposable razors. A man's gotta' have the latest technology ya' know.

Turns out I found a couple of shaving forums during my brush search, so after not a little perusing, I ended up with a Vulfix Super Badger Brush, some Taylor's Rose Shave Cream and a Merkur HD razor. Once it all arrived, I realized that Rose shave cream ain't exactly a manly-man type thing for a guy to have around. One shave with the stuff and I was hooked. The wife's first reaction to me smellin' like a rose was, "are you all hopped up on goof balls or somethin'?" To which I think I replied somethin' about 'em shipping the wrong stuff!

From there I got some Trumper's Violet [has been described by some as smellin' like a harlot's handbag...whatever that's supposed to mean], which ain't exactly the kind of smell that the rest of the boys are wearing. And now, one of my top creams is Nancy Boy, which I know y'all will keep as a secret here....'cause I really believe that "What Happens At The Shave Den Stays at The Shave Den!"

What is your point you ask. Well, my daughter found out about all that fancy shave cream stuff and started gettin' me hooked on homemade soaps of all things. She's an enabler, I learned later. I must admit, I wanted to throw rocks at the bath soap section every time I went to Wally World. Me an my daughter were now shopping for soap together at any place we could find that sold the handmade stuff.

Do I like the old ways better than the new ways? As far as shaving is concerned I do. I wouldn't trade my DE's, my brushes, and my soaps and creams for any amount of the new-fanlged discount store variety. And I absolutely deplore having to use a 'chemical bar' for bathing purposes anymore.....I'd rather have a root canal than use that stuff.

There are some other old ways I like better. I love my collection of old cast iron skillets. I make cornbread the old fashioned way, in a cast iron skillet or cast iron corn stick pan, and there ain't nuthin' else like it. I have a big old cast iron dutch oven I use for making a big pot of chili sometimes.

I like makin' old fashioned bread pudding, which is a thing of the past for many folks. I have a collection of old recipes from my mother and grandmothers, along with some old cookbooks with classic or heritage recipes. These are the ones I really enjoy making when I find the time to cook.

I like my old fashioned front porch. So many of today's problems could be solved if more of us would spend more evenings swingin' on the front porch and talkin' things out.

I like my old fashioned wood burnin' stove. It keeps my buttocks warm on these cold winter evenings and just makes a cozy atmosphere no matter how ya' look at it. And everyone that comes over just can't get enough of it.

I like to go watch them make molasses the old fashioned way just a couple of counties away. Cane harvested by hand, mill turned by a mule, cooked over an open fire and stirred with a big old wooden paddle. And them homemade biscuits, buttered and sopped in some o' them 'lasses.....well, now that's just about as good as it gets.

I guess the list could go on and on, but I've already took up enough space a talkin' about the good ole' days. The old ways....yes'm...them was the days!

 

great posts. thanks for them. home brew, biscuits and molasses/chili cook outs, wood stoves, cast iron pans, front porches, .... love them all!! Each one of those subjects could entertain me in a thread all day long. The only things missing are snowboarding and great music!

 

Why do I have the song LET IT BE Stuck in my head? Wisper words of wisdom.

I can see how the old-fason is better, Heck I used a razor from the 1940's today.

I am still a youngin (circa 1980), but I am already at the point where I say man I remember when arcade games cost a quarter and you can play all day for like 5 bucks, now it takes 5 buck to play one game for 3 seconds. :mad:

BTW Rene, check your 6 buddy I will be playing Breakout later. :rofl

 

listening to "The Lads" right now. Anthology 2 disc 2....

I know exactly what you are talking about. A roll of quarters could leave you with change for a coke on the way home... I still act like a youngin'. I am a vintage 1974 ....

 

I've been an "oldschool" type more or less as long as I can remember. My granddad introduced me to steam-engines and old-type diesel engines as well as old farmers-gear, the best meals I've ever had (and still have) are those my other grandma cooks on her wood-burning stove. I've been intoduced to nature, to chopping wood, to catching fish, do do the gardening, the laundry, to cook, to bake and many more things. I've never been a "fashion" guy, meaning wearing whatever was fancy at the time, I've always liked quality and comfy stuff.
I don't eat fast food or junk food or whatever, I don't buy pre-cooked stuff to be warmed up in the microwave, no, I do cook for myself or, most of the time, my ma does ( ). I've also got recipes going back a long time and I love to cook some of those traditional meals.
I enjoy the woodwork, either chopping firewood or building something from it. A few weeks ago I made myself a nice box for my DE-blades, a few years ago a little "treasure-chest" and many more things.
A big change also came with wetshaving. I grew tired of gloop from the can and electric facial-vibrators so I went into DE and straight-shaving. I enjoy it every single day.
With wetshaving also came a change in body-care. My first homemade-soap was one from Olivia when I ordered some shaving creams from her. The next day after I first used her soap I threw out all those bath-gels, shampoo-gels and all that industrial stuff - I've never looked back to them ever since and never will.
When in a few years I'll be building my own home, I know there'll be a comfy front porch, wooden furniture, a wood-burning stove and a nice garden where I can relax and eat some homemade cookies, smoke a good cigar or a pipe listening to the birds chirping and watch the butterflies flying.
Life is good that way :chores026

 

Modern has it's places. The computer I'm using is one of them. I'm the type who appreciates craftsmanship and quality. I am definitely learning more as time goes on what that really means. I'm getting really tired of big box stores killing off the little guy. It usually means that they are also killing of a wealth of experience and knowledge. I am more than willing to spend a few extra dollars on something with quality that has been made with care instead of some sweat factory in China.

 

'xactly, Rich!

I avoid these big super-stores whenever I can. I love to shop in those little, family-run places, where you get great service and great products. And there's something pleasant about it when I buy something where I know the manufacturer/seller, be it bread, meat, furniture, eggs, milk, firewood, soaps, I know what I get and I know I'm supporting a local man, woman, family, etc. Even if I shop with Mama Bear I know what I pay for and who the lovely lady is who receives my money.
Whereas, if I bought an industrial product (and I'm talking big corporations here, not home- or family-run companies), I wouldn't know who the guys are, that I pay, what origin the ingredients are from, how many per cent are shoved up the rear end of the boss for just sitting around and letting others do the work for next to no payment, how many cents off it are used for bribes and so on and so forth.

 

You mean that cigar chomping, port swilling, hog riding woman kind enough to persuade us to part with our hard earned money for her wares? :rofl

 

sounds very close to the one I was thinking about :rofl

 

You guys are so rotten, I have never chomped on a cigar in my life.... Besides, where else are you going to find a woman willing to work barefoot in the kitchen for ya...

 

Oh, I am so not going there! I'll be :signs089for life!

 

working barefoot in the kitchen? So that's the reason behind all your soaps smelling so lovely :rofl

Just kidding, mama :agelic13 We all know how hard you work for us so we can get those great shaves we do

 

So much of my day is taken up with new technology (I program computers) that I love being home and living 'the old way'.

I feel spoiled living the way we do. The work is harder, but I don't know of anything more satisfying that raising 90% of our own food and being able to cook it on our wood cookstove. Maybe the best part is knowing my kids will know how to survive in the face of disaster.




But I'm not ready to give up my washing machine or hot tub!!!

 

One of the of things I have learned is try and tune out the hype when making a decision about a purchase. The first thing is ask myself 10 times do I really need it or am I just feeding an AD? Second. Does it really do the job I want it to do or is it a serious compromise just to get something? Third. If I were to draw a graph with quality on the x-axis and price on the y-axis where would it fall? Fourth. Knowing where it falls on the graph and the answer to the rest of my questions, where is my value zone located? That's the tough part because different things have different values to me. The variable list can be quite long. Once I have done all that, I go back to my first question and ask myself another 10 times. Of course, there is the occasional AD impulse buy which throws everything out the window.