Thread: I Barber? ... Old English razor

Good morning,

This razor has "Old English" stamped on the spine. The tang stamp is not clear except that it starts with an "I".
I just looked at the tang with my microscope. I can make out the next letter as a B followed by an A, the next 2 letters are unknown and the last 2 letters E and R. So, I Ba??er. Barber?

The tail/tang is rather coarse in shape and shorter and wider than another John Barber razor that I have.
The spine is not flat nor fully rounded. Just a very slight rounding.
The scales are wood and the pins/collars are not matching so I assume they are a replacement.
The wedge is lead.

Date range ?
1800-1850?

Thanks guys,

Hmmmm
I know John Barber and he used the mark of Old English
Is it possible it’s J and not I, it doesn’t look like it from what I see.
https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...tml#post922289
And then there is this
https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...tml#post982314

.
.
I just found and checked my Goins book.
There was an I. Barber, 1810-1834.

It also states there was a John Barber from 1810-1834. So that dates my other John Barber razor.

Yea!

The advertisement referenced above by Rezdog (thankyou, ) says the I Barber straight razor was a knockoff of the John Barber razors ...



So the Goins Encyclopedia was correct, there was an I Barber.
So that dates this razor as 1810-1834
Yea!

I stand corrected.... Since the John Barber "Mark/stamp" was transferred so many times with the last known purchaser being Elliot then we, so far, do not know the age of my other John Barber. Indeed, I looked at it yesterday and concluded it was chrome plated! and chrome plating was not developed until 1954!
I will create a post on that razor tomorrow.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I stand corrected.... Since the John Barber "Mark/stamp" was transferred so many times with the last known purchaser being Elliot then we, so far, do not know the age of my other John Barber. Indeed, I looked at it yesterday and concluded it was chrome plated! and chrome plating was not developed until 1954!
I will create a post on that razor tomorrow.

There is a YouTube video of a fellow restoring an old razor and as part of his process he chrome plated it, so your razor could be an original which has undergone a recent chemical resurfacing.

I found the video: https://youtu.be/xZVEAJ6t1Y0

At the end of the restoration, he uses a nickel plating process to “protect the blade”.