Honestly, I think we are spoiled by modern sharpening technology. Our Great-Great-Grandfathers did not enjoy the kind of shaves that it is possible to get today. I can get DFS in one pass. Our ancestors probably got the same in three passes even from a professional barber. A coticule was about as good as it got, for finishing, I imagine. I don't know how long CrOx has been in use, but certainly it predates diamond paste. I believe it was common to apply paste to a hanging strop, a technique that we pretty much know not to use today. It was probably common to touch up a razor with either a barber hone or other finisher, or the pasted strop, daily. Barbers generally had several razors.
The barber hone was probably the first practical synthetic finisher, and you have probably tried one of those by now. You often see them for around $15 on fleabay. The three-line Swaty is the most common out of the ones regarded today as somewhat useable. Finish with lather or dish soap solution or glycerine solution and the results are underwhelming but it will shave if you do your part. I am sure the 8k Norton when it was introduced, was looked upon by barbers as a gift from the ancient shave gods. The very precisely manufactured Naniwa and other stones are a recent thing, as well as the wide availability of carefully quarried, cut, graded, and lapped Arkies and similar quartz-heavy stones. They have been around for over a hundred years, but quality used to be hit or miss.
Japan has more of a tradition in fine natural stones, and I am sure that the best barbers kept excellent edges on their razors, going back a hundred or maybe a few hundred years. No doubt there were also a lot of barbers with less inspiring edges, too, but I imagine the best of them were excellent. I don't know when Jnats became a thing in this country, but I would imagine after the post-WW2 occupation. Keep in mind that just because it is a Japanese natural doesn't mean it is a good razor finisher.
Lapping film had no real raison d'etre until the digital age and fiber optic communications. It has been a great thing for straight razor owners who self-hone, particularly beginners. But that wasn't around pre-internet. Likewise there was not much call for carefully and tightly graded diamond powder or paste historically, and that is a new thing. The internet has brought about a true Information Age, and so honing and stropping knowledge has spread and become universally available. Even as recently as the 80's when I first started straight shaving, knowledge was pretty spotty. My shaving journey got off to a pretty rocky start, with no mentor and no internet, and tips from barbers who already in that day were becoming even LESS skilled at shaving due to the universal practice of shaving at home every morning with DE, SE, injector, etc razors and the very sharp disposable blades available since the early 70's. I started out with a new and very twisty Dovo that my then unskilled hands never managed to get a proper edge on, with the tools that I had which I thought were adequate. For several years my shaves left me looking like I had spent the morning sorting wildcats and sleeping on a poison ivy pillow. My breakthrough was finding a vintage razor with a somewhat usable edge on it, along with a barber who was a pretty clever honer who didn't mind dribbling bits of knowledge into my head as he shaved me with much better result than I had been used to. But still, it was the internet that really brought me up to speed. Now, if it is being done, I read about it or see it on youtube. We actually have information overload, these days, and one click ordering for exotic honing goods. There are guys with a hundred different hones out there. Or more. Old school barbers had like two or three. Lapped? LOL! Dished like a soup bowl, as often as not.
The thing is, 150 years ago, the best shave you could get was the best you could get. No comparison to what you CAN get, today, by doing it yourself or finding the rare barber who is a true artist with the razor. Our ancestors didn't know any better because there wasn't any better, and they were satisfied with what they got. That's my take on it. I am not an expert on shaving/honing history though.
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