Thread: New member with a John Barber Razor

Hi and thank you for allowing me to join your forum,
I live in Hot Spring, Arkansas. I retired from the U.S. Navy in 1985
and have my own welding & machine shop, I don't make much money anymore, it has become more of a hobby shop for me to play in,
anyway I joined your form to find out more about an old straight razor i have had since i was 16 i'm now 64, I bought it at a antique store for ten dollars in Flippin, Arkansas. I'm not a collector and I don't shave very often, just wanted to know more about it. I could part with it.
Thank You , The Chief

I am new or renewed to this site recently. It has an increadable wealth of info in the Wiki tab on names. There were several John Barber's in the cutlery business in both US and England. YOu razor apears to have be rescaled with hand made wooden scales. The razor looks 1850ish to me.

redrover66 :: Where do you get your Info. from , I have owened it since 1963 and it has never been touch. in 48 years, And it is in it's Case and I think for storing it for 48 years and keeping it in it's great shape I should get at least $ 20. oo Dollars a year for keeping it in its Beautiful Condition. That comes to $ 960.oo dollars,
So I'm Thinking with the the ten Dollars I paid for it, and I need to make A Dollar or Two, I think $1,025.oo is about the right price.
Remember the last year it was made was 177 years ago.
Thank you, The Chief.

Is shipping free?

I don't quite understand your answer, Perhaps it was made in the 1830's, If the handle scales are wood, I think they were replaced, perhaps in 1875. A nice find for a youngster like you, I was a SR in HS when you were in 8th grade.
Now if rare makes a razor valuable, and age makes it more valuable, I bet the photos of a razor of mine show one more rare but not as old. I also, would bet, no one on the forum has one of these. It was made in Newburgh, NY by the gunsmith James Dotzert and has Ivory scales.

According to Lummus these were made in early 1800s, but the ones I have (and those I've had) have had the stubby tail and different lines. I would agree with redrover that it seems from a later period.
And those scales I very much doubt are the original ones. The originals are usually horn or ivory and in 200 years they can still look quite good.

Of course we don't do appraisals, but in the razor market it's rare that you can charge $20 storage for too many years.
Here's what my best one looks like (there's etching still intact, so I think it's quite close to the original condition).

You might just toss her up on eBay and explain your whole story of finding it as an early young man. There is really not as much demand for them as you might imagine. I guess I sort of understand your sentimental attachment to it as I have a few by that maker as well...

Originally Posted by ChiefBen

redrover66 :: Where do you get your Info. from , I have owened it since 1963 and it has never been touch. in 48 years, And it is in it's Case and I think for storing it for 48 years and keeping it in it's great shape I should get at least $ 20. oo Dollars a year for keeping it in its Beautiful Condition. That comes to $ 960.oo dollars,
So I'm Thinking with the the ten Dollars I paid for it, and I need to make A Dollar or Two, I think $1,025.oo is about the right price.
Remember the last year it was made was 177 years ago.
Thank you, The Chief.

Ok now that I recovered enough from my laughing fit to type this...

I think you are up for a serious cold shower.

First, how long you stored it does not matter at all to the market value. How long you held on to it is your problem.
Second, it is not in great shape. Not by a long shot. It looks pretty bad actually, and needs some serious restoration to make it look decent again. And it has a lot of hone wear, meaning that the original shape cannot be recovered.
Third, it has wooden scales which do not look like the original at all.
Fourth, if John Barber razors in much better condition are sold for 1/10th of your suggested price, common sense dictates that your razor will not go for more.

You are sadly mistaken in your assumptions.
The only reason I do not delete this thread for soliciting sales is that it is so unrealistic that I want to leave it here as a testimonial to unrealistic expectations. I'd suggest you throw it on ebay and see for yourself what the market value is.

I want to start by saying I'm sorry for putting a price on my John Barber razor that I put on here, It was not my intent to try to sell it on here,
I think I was just trying to say what it meant to me, and I guess that was the wrong way to do it, I some times speak before I Think,
It won't happen again, I Hope.
O.K I will try to answer every one who answered me,
And Thanks you Guys for setting me straight on the subject of straight razors,
Ace:: I guess for my dumb idea of what I thought it was worth yes shipping should be Free and a free beer

redrover66:: you said you didn't understand my answer, Lets just say I didn't know what I was talking about, and I didn't, Sorry for my dumb answer, Please for give me.

gugi:: you said the scales are not original, they are the ones that was on it when I got it, so I didn't think some one had changed them way back then, So I guess i'm wrong again, Thanks for the info.

AntiqueHoosier:: you said I might just toss it on e-bay, thanks for the advice, but if it is not worth more than a few $$$$$ I guess I might as well become a collector my self LOL
because I went digging in some old boxes of junk I have from my 20 years in the Navy and I found four more old razors I didn't even know I had,
they are: Genco Army Navy, IXL Geo Wostenholm & Son,
101 Scll??? Special, Simmons Hardware CO. #8 Special,
So I Guess I'm a Collector and didn't even know it.

Bruno:: Thank you for not kicking me off of here, Because I guess I realy did a No / No it won't happen again, And I don't want the Cold Shower I had enough in the Navy LOL you can Laugh at that too.Ha.Ha.
But I do want to Thank all you Guys For all the Good info you Gave me.
Thanks The Chief

Chief Ben...You are the kind of guy I can have a beer with...Enthusiastic, able to laugh at his mistakes, humble, and friendly. Cheers to you and enjoy your involvement here!

Mike