Recent content by Archéologue

Gotta love those old glasses. Fifty years ago as a boy I lived by Shur-On optical. They used to dump the spent rouge from polishing glass into a creek. It ran red like blood. You can imagine the stories us kids made up about the bloody creek!

People emulate what they see in the media. If all the films, TV, and adverts depict people in the Grunge Look, then so shall the masses follow. Everyone wants to be seen as an individual, but they ironically make themselves look exactly like everyone else when they dress this way. Its a way of...

Wearing combat fatigues in public seems almost un-American. I admire and support our troops, but I feel like I'm in some third world country when I see these guys in the mall in combat boots and camo. All thats missing is the weapon. Is that next? American military men and women used to look...

Many of these so-called "fashions" are actually just a way to express a desire to be an individual and be noticed. I find them all to be amusing, but a little pathetic as well. After all, what's the harm in trying to look good? It seems like many of these are meant to make the wearer look...

Well said, John I would add that many folks just feel the need to be nondescript. They wear what everyone else is wearing, yet ironically feel themselves to be unique somehow. I, on the other hand, feel no shame in drawing attention to myself and dressing for the occasion. Mike

Wearing the hat tilted to the side has a certain rakish look that is appealing. I wear my fedora canted toward the front of the head, thus getting more shade from the hat brim over the eyes.

"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Its amazing how much of this 1930s fictional novel about the future actually came true. We live in a world where the individual is drowned in a sea of pleasure and consumerism. Michael

I own a company that does archaeological investigations before big construction projects. I get to run around in the woods with my equally hare-brained employees and dig up artifacts. The rest of the time I'm sitting at a computer trying to figure out what they mean. I also get to have arguments...

The razor I am currently using is not adjustable, probably an early model. Its gold plated and was my grandfather's. I used to have the adjustable kind and lost it. It was the best. I seem to remember reading that the honing stone came into being for the use of soldiers who did not have access...

I see those stones often at yard sales and flea markets. I think its because nobody knows what they are. I also don't use canned shaving cream. Have the cup and lather brush. Just add a bit of hot water, whip it up, and away we go! For me, its a retro thing, re-living the early days. Enjoy...

Some 40 years ago, I was taught to wear my watch on the inside of my wrist in the industrial patternmaker shop I was an apprentice at. This protected both the watch and me. The idea was that you were less likely to catch the watch on a moving piece of machinery. Some guys also wore their belt...

Flieger- Nice find on the razors. I grew up shaving with this type (age 60). There were no disposable razors in those days. It is important to be well lathered for the shave. The lubrication of the lather avoids nicks. The only time I get one is when I hurry and take fast, broad swaths with the...

Daniel- Bencraft has a great assortment, as you know. Check out this line of straw hats at the Village Hat Shop. http://www.villagehatshop.com/mens_straw.html Like Bencraft, they are fine folks to deal with. -Michael

I should add to my original post that these are button suspenders with the small, woven, loop ends rather than with the leather things. They will be for informal wear. http://www.rainbowconnection.com/product_info.php/products_id/663 Mike

I have read conflicting information on the web about the placement of suspender buttons. Those of you who wear button suspenders should know which is correct. Are they sewn on the inside or the outside of the waist. I would imagine they would chafe if placed on the inside, but once source...