Quote Originally Posted by Voidmonster View Post
That's got a complicated answer.

Partly, these were sometimes made decades apart. Stamps wore out and had to be restruck. Later W&B's used etchings instead of stamps, and the resist masks for etchings could comparatively easily be changed up on a whim.

Also at play is the fact that not all Wade & Butcher razors were made in William & Samuel's factory. While 'name brand' manufacturers had their own establishments, the workers very often worked for multiple different manufacturers simultaneously and did work for the one who currently had work to give them. It was nothing like a modern factory, where there's always work to be done. The Sheffield work system relied on orders for products, and when there were no orders, the factory could sit unused. It was entirely normal for a foreman (called a Little Master, or M'ester) to do work for one manufacturer in another's factory with their toolings.

I imagine that's why there were so many razor makers in Sheffield or so to say..............