Thread: Gilchrist. Not the composer; his dad. Not the painter; his granddad.

No. 44





Again, a distinctly unusual blade design. It's somewhat similar to the Old Army Razors, but has different proportions.

Now then, why do I think the W. Gilchrist razors come after the Ramapo?

Because I think Gilchrist and some workmen were making the Ramapo razors themselves until their forge burned down, from there all his razors are clearly Sheffield designs and even include corporate marks (Elliot's C's & cross, W&B's bow, also their arrow), and what I know of the poor guy suggests his fortunes were at their highpoint in '53 and then went steadily downhill until they reached their nadir during the Civil War (even though Lincoln carried a Gilchrist pocket knife).

And here my contribution ends, at least for now.

Zak, why is there a WM Gilchrist and W Gilchrist? Are they truly one in the same?

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Zak, why is there a WM Gilchrist and W Gilchrist? Are they truly one in the same?

Yes. Wm is just another way of abbreviating William.

Despite what I previously thought and posted in another thread about Gilchrist, it's unlikely any of the razors were imported by his father. His father married into the North West Company, a fur-trading powerhouse in Canada, sometime in the late 1700's. Great-Grandpappy Gilchrist's area of expertise appears to have been furs.

Thank you, I never knew about the abbreviation. I wish I was better with research. I have an interest and want but 0 skill in that arena. Very interesting though.

Man those are wonderful designs. Are there any general store books with his razors listed? Not sure what the books were called

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Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Wow amazing razor, I swear I just saw a wade and butcher with a similar design. Beautiful shape to it.

Oops! I missed this post in my posting frenzy!

Yeah, every now and then I see that particular blade pattern, but they're pretty unusual. They're also kind of bizarre in that it's a 7/8 razor with a 4/8 blade face, which makes it very, very stiff and wedgy, since the spine is proportionate to a 7/8.

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

Man those are wonderful designs. Are there any general store books with his razors listed? Not sure what the books were called

I've looked, but never found one. Catalogs like that going back to the 1850's are pretty thin on the ground, and while some do cover razors, I recall they didn't have a super wide selection.

So If he made pen nibs in the Ramapo workshop, does this mean he was responsible for Ramapos?

Surely his imported razors with his name on them came later than the Ramapo razors?

MikeB52 has a Gilchrist which I have held in-hand and is an absolute Wade and Butcher Barber's use wedge in disguise.
I will summon him to put on a pic.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

So If he made pen nibs in the Ramapo workshop, does this mean he was responsible for Ramapos?

Surely his imported razors with his name on them came later than the Ramapo razors?

MikeB52 has a Gilchrist which I have held in-hand and is an absolute Wade and Butcher Barber's use wedge in disguise.
I will summon him to put on a pic.

Yeah, that's exactly my thinking, Tom. He made the Ramapos, and the imported stuff came after.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

MikeB52 has a Gilchrist which I have held in-hand and is an absolute Wade and Butcher Barber's use wedge in disguise.
I will summon him to put on a pic.

You rang?





Beautiful examples you've posted Zak!