Jobs for Teams

May 2016

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The Art of Manliness Continued JOBS for TEAMS | 22 www.jobsfor teams.com found it highly beneficial. One indi- vidual, who had tried it for years, has the following spirited remarks on the subject. 'Only think of the inconvenience attending the common practice! There must be hot water; to have this there must be a fire, and, in some cases, a fire for that purpose alone; to have these, there must be a servant, or you must light a fire yourself. For the want of these, the job is put off until a later hour: this causes a stripping and an- other dressing bout: or, you go in a slovenly state all that day, and the next day the thing must be done, or cleanliness must be abandoned altogether….How many a piece of important business has failed from a short delay! And how many thou- sand of such delays daily proceed from this unworthy cause!' Another 19th century writer also advocated cold water shaving. In 1838's Present to an Apprentice, Sir J. Bannard tells readers: Always shave with cold water. Barbers use warm, because they have to accommodate themselves to the habits of those whom they shave. The use of cold water saves much time and trouble— tends to preserve the smoothness and beauty of the skin; and when you have ac- customed your face to it, you will shave as easily with cold water as with warm. In Cottager's Monthly Visitor, a monthly magazine from 1822, the editor writes: Do not lose time by waiting for hot water. Cold is better after you once get accustomed to it. Hot water makes the face delicate and tender, the very cause why shaving is a pain- ful operation. And finally, in a book called Shaving Made Easy, the author argues that the idea that a soft beard gives a better shave is a bunch of bunk and that hot water should be avoided: A hair, as is well known, is a tube composed of a hard fibrous sub- stance, growing from a bulb or root, which secretes an oily matter. This oil works its way up through the hair, and by permeating all parts, renders the hair soft and pliable. Now in this natural oily con- dition, it is very difficult to cut the hair with a razor, and it becomes even more difficult if the beard be made still softer by the application of hot water. Many do this, and it is no wonder they find shaving dif- ficult. When this is done, the hairs become soft and limp, and the razor will either slip over them entirely, or else cut partly into them, bend them back and shave them lengthwise, all the while pulling and straining them at the roots, and making the process of shaving most painful. Why You Should Consider Shaving with Cold Water The reasons for cold water shaving given by the above authors can be summed up in 4 points: Saves time. Granted, getting hot water in the 1800s was time

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