Thread: West Coast vs East Coast Re: Availability

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a large regional difference related to availability of old straight razors?

I ran into something similat when working on classic CB750 motorcycles where guys one the East Coast or Florida would post as if there were motors and parts for these bikes under every other tree... But, I was driving all over Wa State, even to within an hour of Canada, just to get motors and misc stuff.

Seems there may be something similar with vintage straights. I have been all over central WA and recently finished a road trip to the WA coast with well over 25 stops which yielded exactly 'one' straight razor.

That is one reason I've been surprised about some of the negativity about eBay so wondering if other areas just have more availability which gives them other options. I was headed to the beach anyway for my trip but if I had to justify that kind of cost regularly there would be no way this Hobby would be sustainable. Same results with Craigslist... I've had an Ad up for many, many weeks with exactly 'one' response.

I am particularly interested if someone has lived in multiple areas and noticed anything like this or if it is merely coincidence.

I think it has a lot to do with the type of location that you're scouting. Antique stores are prime, but not all stores have them. Look instead for "Antique Malls", mulitiple venders under 1 roof. These are more common on the State Lines/Boaders & main Interstate exits.

Old school barber shops , where you start a conversation during your cut.

If you found a Wade & Butcher at every stop, then you would not appreciate them as much.

For me it's like fishing, most of the fun is just being out on the water, catching a nice fish is extra fun.

I'm on the east coast and there isn't anything in the antique shops in town, but only a couple of hours away where JoeD is the story seems to be completely different. Ebay is a good place to find stuff, of course, there is the cost of education. Nowadays I would never buy any of my first 50 or so ebay razors, but back then they looked not too bad That's why we have landfills, though

@ Hirlau... I did stumble across one of those Antique Malls a couple weeks ago and was very surprised... Having that concentration of stores in one area was nice and I did find one WAY overpriced W&B. Otherwise, it was pretty dry but it sure was less painful at the pump doing it that way!

@ Gugi... Very interesting... Maybe more related to populatiin than region, then? I like to find the rough stuff in eBay... I use Hobbies like this to get me through Winter... So, I've got everything from smiling blades to frowning clunkers as trial runs learning to fix/hone these issues. I used to get frustrated years ago when I'd make a bad purchase (.. like an '83 Mustang the guy could only show at night I later learned was so you couldn't see the smoke out the pipe as easily... Doh!) but nowadays just control my overall costs and am really thankful for the lessons/education as that makes it so much less likely to reoccur in the future.

I live in WA as well, and would have to agree. I haven't even read the responses "yet" below your post, but can tell you that I've had virtually NO luck here in western WA. Most of my purchases have come from eBay. Kind of sucks, but don't give up. I would recommend letting friends and family know of your interest if it ever comes up, and let them know if they are ever at a flea market, or gun show, or garage sale, or ......... to keep an eye out for you. I had the same thing come up with old Coleman lanterns that I restore. My brother found about 15 of them for me within a few months at the Monroe swap meet. I would never have thought of that until now, but of course people are going to have a large variety of "stuff" at different events throughout the year. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I go to the Puyallup gun shows throughout the year, and have been for about 15 years off and on, and never thought of looking for those kinds of things before I was into their respective hobby. So, now I'm sure the next time I go to a gun show and see a guy with a huge table of pocket knives and stuff "other" than guns, there's a great chance I'll find a few old Straight razors along side them. Bottom line, I've had no luck, although I may have passed many opportunities up without knowing it. Keep friends and family in the loop, and make them aware of your interest. Ask them to shoot you a text with a pic, if they aren't sure if they should buy you something or not. With technology today, it's easier than ever to communicate your desire or interest in something and give them a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether they should buy it for you. It's worked for me with other hobbies, so I'm confident it will work with straights. Lastly, try checking out your local Goodwill. They get a ton of stuff that revolves through their doors daily. Don't give up!!! I won't either....


Geoff

Originally Posted by Prahston

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a large regional difference related to availability of old straight razors?

I ran into something similat when working on classic CB750 motorcycles where guys one the East Coast or Florida would post as if there were motors and parts for these bikes under every other tree... But, I was driving all over Wa State, even to within an hour of Canada, just to get motors and misc stuff.

Seems there may be something similar with vintage straights. I have been all over central WA and recently finished a road trip to the WA coast with well over 25 stops which yielded exactly 'one' straight razor.

That is one reason I've been surprised about some of the negativity about eBay so wondering if other areas just have more availability which gives them other options. I was headed to the beach anyway for my trip but if I had to justify that kind of cost regularly there would be no way this Hobby would be sustainable. Same results with Craigslist... I've had an Ad up for many, many weeks with exactly 'one' response.

I am particularly interested if someone has lived in multiple areas and noticed anything like this or if it is merely coincidence.

You might be right about regionality. I live in North Carolina and am finding them everywhere. Maybe not in great quantity. I got my first barber shave and the lady owner was going to give me her 5 straights, but I decided to pay her $80 for 2 C-MONs and she kept the others. I went to an Antique Festival in a small town outskirts and saw many razors, most for two much money for the quality, but left with a W&B for $12. I got a Frederick Reynolds for $15 at a flea market in Raleigh, a Red Injun 101 for $50 at a Gun and Knife Show, but I did get many good ones from ebay, not one loser. I looked closely at the photos and descriptions and asked questions. At estate sales you can buy a box full of other junk for cheap and find straight razors and DEs inside. I've asked older people to look for them in their stored away family stuff and came up with a wonderful Torrey. Another Torrey for $10 at a junk store in Smithfield along with 2 Sheffield razors.

@ daytona... Thanks! I'm glad someone else has noticed something similar, unfortunate as that may be. The Goodwill suggestion is a GREAT idea! I have never been there... In fact, I've heard on your side of WA that there are a couple so large that they charge simply by the pound... How cool would that be to find a box full of straights and just have to pay by weight?!?!?!?!?!?! Packwood Flea Market... The huge one on Labor Day was where I found one guy that had a bunch but he wanted a lot... That sale is HUGE and had I more time may have found more.

@ lindyhop66... WOW! Yeah, definitely a big difference there... I found a Wade & Butcher chopper at an Antique Mall and it was an okay razor but in rough shape needing full restoration/honing and they wanted $125 for it and were too firm on the price. Your story sounds exactly like the guys picking up bike parts... I was killing myself trying to find motors and some guy would post how he just helped a guy clean out his yard and the guy gave him 2! Mightvbe time for a Road Trip!

Gonna have to drive up to North Caronlina then, nothing here in Alabama, and when you do find one at an antique shop, they think it's solid gold they're selling! I saw an awesome boker with the scales textured to look like a tree, opened the razor and there was about 3 mm of nothing but a jagged mess left, $79! She wouldn't budge an inch...I said good luck, she gave me a puzzled look, and I left shaking my head.

You're right about that thinking they have gold. A one day a week "antique/junk" seller told me she had 8 mint straights with ivory scales. She threw away the case and strop. She thought the strop was a small belt. She brought me one straight with bakelite scales and said she had found a pricing list for straights and bakelite was rare and not plastic and wanted $65 for a no name poor shape straight.

Oye! Yeah you would think if you were going to sell something like that you would do some research on the particular item. The same shop had a vintage Henkel's (spelling brain fart) w/ white bakelite for $100; I just looked out of curiosity ($100 really!?)...all that was left of the blade was the spine and tang...wow just wow She even offered to knock off $20 b/c there were a few scratches on the scales... probably should've pounced when I had the chance!