Thread: Wild Bill Hickok's Straight Razor

That would be just too cool to own!!

But yeah, at that price......too rich for me.




This brings back the thought of where/who has the razors we own been and with whom.
Ya just never know.......

If money was no object would you use it as part of your rotation or just, keep it as a collectable?

“This brings back the thought of where/who has the razors we own been and with whom.
Ya just never know.......l

Sometimes we get a clue when someone has scratched initials or other identifier on the scales. It’s interesting how some feel that is a blemish while others treat it as a link to the blade’s history.

Will be interesting to see what it goes for. I would probably wait until they had a Wild Bill movie or something out so it would get more attention.

Originally Posted by JP5

Will be interesting to see what it goes for. I would probably wait until they had a Wild Bill movie or something out so it would get more attention.

You could wait for a long time. The last one was back in '95 with Jeff Bridges. Wasn't a very good one too.

You do anything in the way of restoration and you destroy the provenance of the piece. Whatever condition it is in it should remain that way and be displayed as such.

It's an historical item not meant to be used.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You do anything in the way of restoration and you destroy the provenance of the piece. Whatever condition it is in it should remain that way and be displayed as such.

It's an historical item not meant to be used.

I beg to differ, restoration does not destroy the provenance: most of the artifacts you can see in the museums today were tastefully and professionally restored prior to placing them under glass. Including paintings, sculptures, historical buildings etc. I don't think it diminished their value as museum items.
As to whether an historical item meant to be used or not - I can see both points of view. On one hand, if continuous use would eventually destroy the item itself - it'd be a pity. But on the other hand, using an item - be it a picture, a razor or a building - brings you an enormously more powerful feeling of connection to history than merely observing it. Call it "associative magic" or whatever Would you prefer the Capitol Building to be closed and preserved or being used as a home of the United States Congress?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's an historical item not meant to be used.

As a historian I agree with your statement, as a functionalist I disagree with your statement. I'm a bit of both so things get complicated.
As an investor, I have no opinion. As a critic I question if it really is his razor.


A known or important historical person used the item, ergo it has added worth, a historical item.

That can be said about a lot of items that were used by historical figures, but not many of these are per se known public figures.

For example, the razor of my father, great grandfather, great great grandfather etc. are all extremely valuable to me and are worth more than just the price of the razor. They're priceless to me, but not to others. These razors are worth more than ANY historical figure's razor, for me.
For items belonging to public figures this differs and there's not only an added worth for a small portion of people, but there's also an added public worth for a certain group of people.

OTOH, it's a razor and was made to be used as its maker intended and it's still just that, a functional item.


If I were related to the person in question, I'd make it shave ready and use it, while treasuring it greatly

As I'm not related, I couldn't afford it to begin with and for the price it'll go for it's simply not worth buying it for a functional purpose. Unless you really don't care about money.

For the right price items are functional, for the exuberant price they're museum pieces.
Historical personal items from related family members are both, for me.

Seems a bit silly to me. Valuing things higher because someone else owned them has never made sense to me. In the anthropology field, its called associative magic, and its just sort of silly.

I eagree that it's silly that anyone would pay that much for a piece of memorabilia, but I think it's amazing that this piece exists and can be traced back so far with its provenance intact. Too bad the same kind of attention to history was not given to the average person's razor.