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How did girls shave their legs a long, long time ago?

B

bluefoxicy

... well excuse me for making stupid assumptions. :eek:

So I put something into Google along the lines of "how did girls shave their legs before safety razors" and ... um.

According to my research....

Women didn't start shaving their legs/armpits/whatever until the 80s? :001_huh:

I guess culture changes.
 
... well excuse me for making stupid assumptions. :eek:

So I put something into Google along the lines of "how did girls shave their legs before safety razors" and ... um.

According to my research....

Women didn't start shaving their legs/armpits/whatever until the 80s? :001_huh:

I guess culture changes.

18 or 19? Didn't shave at all. Some still don't.
 
... well excuse me for making stupid assumptions. :eek:

So I put something into Google along the lines of "how did girls shave their legs before safety razors" and ... um.

According to my research....

Women didn't start shaving their legs/armpits/whatever until the 80s? :001_huh:

I guess culture changes.

Not a good idea to type women and shaving into google at all really, your lucky with what results might have popped up........... :001_rolle

I would say probably it probably started around the 1890s -1900s with it becoming most prevalent around the 1920s [WW1 did a lot in Britain at least to emmancipate women from slavery at home, and in many cases they had more money and free time to enjoy themselves......] with the introduction of as was said above more risque fashion, before this surprisingly little of a woman was actually shown, even when bathing, with Coastal resorts in many places employing people to measure costume lengths etc., in the 1920s on the coast of florida etc. they were more worried about swimsuit length than the shark attacks was the quote in one newspaper.......

Tom
 
and in many cases they had more money and free time to enjoy themselves.....

Getting a little OT, but I did some research into this as part of some post-graduate history work. There were three technological inventions which appeared in quick succession which today we hardly think about, yet at the time they had major impact on the lives of women. They were...

1) The Washing Machine (resulting in a release from very time consuming and exhausting hand washing). Associated with this is electricity supply to the home

2) The Chain Bicycle (independent transportation which could be done without male chaperones)

3) The Typewriter (huge increase in employment opportunities in corporate offices)

Not only did they make women's lives easier, they also had a considerable impact on class structure
 
Getting a little OT, but I did some research into this as part of some post-graduate history work. There were three technological inventions which appeared in quick succession which today we hardly think about, yet at the time they had major impact on the lives of women. They were...

1) The Washing Machine (resulting in a release from very time consuming and exhausting hand washing). Associated with this is electricity supply to the home

2) The Chain Bicycle (independent transportation which could be done without male chaperones)

3) The Typewriter (huge increase in employment opportunities in corporate offices)

Not only did they make women's lives easier, they also had a considerable impact on class structure

I agree, shaving of tender areas, seems to have been one of the unheralded outcomes of the great war :D I must admit throughout my study on Soviet Russia I saw no such parallel until the mid-late 80s and in some cases well into Glasnost and Perestroika in the very late 80s early 90s. :D

Amazing what shaving brings up :D

Tom
 
I have seen "primitive" tribes using fire and obsidian. Before the safety razor, I assume they used straight razors. I believe I have also seen electric wand doo-dads from that era. I would also guess that hair-removing cremes and powders existed then, too.
No reason to believe that a woman wouldn't take advantage of whatever technology existed.
 
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$5248628800_251c860f01_z.jpg

This advertisement is from 1916
 
In my lifetime, women from Continental Europe and to a lesser extent from Asia, were less likely to
shave the underarm area, legs and arms than ladies from the US, UK and Canada.
And even here in the US, those of the counter-culture and feminist movements rejected shaving as
regressive. Think 1980's??
I tended to favor the bra-burners to those who didn't shave their armpits, but YMMV!
 
I just saw on the B&B a post with the history of shaving. Egyptian women and men shaved their bods and used creams for hair removal
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I know this chick that never shaves her legs. And I didn't find this out until 4 years after having known her. I forget what brought up the topic but I didn't believe her when she said she never shaves her legs because you could not tell at all. I saw her in short shorts and swim suits every summer and never noticed. Wasn't until I actually felt her leg that I believed her.
 
Ever regret clicking on a link? Apologies to all for bumping this one. I'll attribute it to Newbie enthusiasm.

Then again, that 1916 ad for the Gillette Milady is pretty nifty.

Terry
 
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