Captain Bob Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Since I retired from the service I've been growing my hair long. I'm hoping to get it long enough to tie back, and that got me to thinking about hair care and hygiene in the Golden Age of Pyracy. How did seamen (and lubbers) groom themselves? Was washing or soap ever involved or was cleanliness viewed with deep suspicion? Did they use shampoo or in any way attempt to discourage tiny livestock from homesteading their bodies? had dental care advanced beyond toothpicks and (eventually) pliers? Tell me what you know. I'll just sit here and listen. :) ~~Cap'n Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tora of Tortuga Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 I would love to give you answers but, I am posting to add my own question to the mix. Did they shave and if so, how, when, why, how often, etc. Also what about nail care? ~Tora of Tortuga~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Bo of the WTF co. Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Capt. Bob, some of this was covered under the dental hygene thread below. I can't give any further details other than soap of various types has been around well before the GAoP, but how often it was used...? I'll leave the rest to folks that know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumba Rue Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 well first ye have ta catch the scoundrels in order to wash them....pirates.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doctor Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Well, hair that got too long would get hacked off to a length maintainable as a pigtail. Beyond that, it was unsafe around the ship's workings. Bathing? Well, mate... a good storm while you're on watch should wash away many an ill stench, save salt and musk. Otherwise, time taken while moored or during careening should suffice if yer own odour begins to offend yer own nostrils! Soap would doubtless be a luxury, reserved for officers (and their ladies) and their favoured crew. Otherwise, ye get to stink like a bear in two days, like the rest of the men! Yo ho ho! Or does nobody actually say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bob Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Capt. Bob, some of this was covered under the dental hygene thread below. For the convenience of folks who haven't seen it, I am including a link to the dental hygiene thread here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJackRussell Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 They shaved. Certainly. The ones which where rich enough to buy a shaving knife and soap. The rest I guess just let ir grow until too long to work with, then cut it of with...what they had. Otherwise they may have used a quite sharp normal blade, but it will hurt and not repeated so often. I use a shaving knife and normal soap, if I have to shave in role. Fair winds, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorian Lasseter Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 What's this 'shaving knife' look like? Or are ye talkin' a 'straight razor'? Like this? Truly, D. Lasseter Captain, The Lucy Propria Virtute Audax --- In Hoc Signo Vinces Ni Feidir An Dubh A Chur Ina Bhan Air "If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me." Deuteronomy 32:41 Envy and its evil twin - It crept in bed with slander - Idiots they gave advice - But Sloth it gave no answer - Anger kills the human soul - With butter tales of Lust - While Pavlov's Dogs keep chewin' - On the legs they never trust... The Seven Deadly Sins http://www.colonialnavy.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJackRussell Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 It's just this. The shape is almost the same for the last 300 years... What would you change?:)) Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 I think they were a lot cleaner than we give them credit for: A large quantity of soap was included in the stores list for Woodes Rogers' 1708 voyage, for example. Also, any ship which carried a surgeon would have had a fairly clean shaven crew, since until the later 18thC surgeons were also generally barbers - shaving people was part of their job, and between battles was probably the major part of it. Monson wrote at length about the job of the swabber on ships, and recorded that one of the swabber's jobs was to report any man who was unclean, so that he might be properly washed. I forget who it was (might have been Barlowe) who recorded dunking crew men as they crossed the equator. He noted that it did the new crew good, as they stank by then. This suggests that the older hands already knew the value of keeping clean, and that dirtiness was a bit of a lubberly trait. At least two manicure sets and ear scoops have been recovered from the Mary Rose. Foxe"With this Fore-Staff he fansies he does Wonders, when, God knows, it amounts to no more but only to solve that simple Question, Where are we? Which every chi'd in London can tell you." - Ned Ward The Wooden World Dissected, 1707ETFox.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Grace Oakum Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 And all this time I thought the opposite. I got to tell das about this thread. She insists they didn't bathe much. About how many times a week did they bathe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Brand Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 What's this 'shaving knife' look like? Or are ye talkin' a 'straight razor'? Like this? I cannot find any evidence of the folding razor before 1760. What did shaving knives look like before 1710? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshuaRed Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 The firsthand texts I've read suggest they did in fact care a good deal about hygiene and understood that being cleaner meant being healthier. Dampier for instance, was very vocal about keeping clean at sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjohn Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 We got into a log discussion about Shaving and Haircuts on the Pirate Brethren forum. There's a good pic of a period razor on the first page if discussion. My Home on the Web The Pirate Brethren Gallery Dreams are the glue that holds reality together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Brand Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thank you, John. I might make one just like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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