In George Orwell's novel 1984, the chief character, Winston Smith is asked by one of his contemporaries if he has any razor blades.
He says no, he's been using the same one for months...
Using the same blade for months...?
How could he do that?
I'd tried it myself, and after a couple of months I would have been just as well off trying to shave with a phone book...
So how did he keep the blade sharp, well, sharp enough so that it scraped over his skin, but did an adequate job...?
Something was missing...
The vital clue wasn't there...
It was something that the author took for granted, something that had, it seemed, become forgotten knowledge as time had passed...
Winston wore heavy woven cloth, much like denim, overalls - the uniform of the Party, and that's where the clue lay...
He used the heavy cloth as a strop, bring an edge, of sorts, admittedly, back to the blade.
Stropping a razor blade, on your thigh, or at a pinch, your forearm, your sleeve, to keep it going that bit longer.
Ingenious.
🙂
