Thread: Bengall's Band of Brothers

Ok, having read through this thread in it's entirety, and being absolutely stunned by some of the beautiful work here, I feel I should mention a little something.

In this post: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post485230 the small Australian town of Cowra is mentioned as a small chapter in the life journey of one Alfred Edments. That's where I live, in fact I grew up here only leaving town to undertake my apprenticeship as an electrician with Lithgow Small Arms factory (where I acquired a rather nice, unused WWII bayonet), start my family and then turn around and bring the whole brood back here again.

Sorry to hijack the thread, just a little tangent.

You'd find a bit of interesting history in many razors I suspect. If only they could speak...Or at least be engraved with the merchants name,address and date. And maybe it's first owners name and D.O.B too. Life in the research department would be real cruisey.


Mick

Yeah that would make tracing the history of these fascinating pieces much easier, now to start hunting through antique shops and deceased estates etc for further examples!

I think it is true about Australia being a major market for Cadman. I've just bought one on eBay, for $10.50 Australian. The pictures don't exactly guarantee its condition, but it seems very acceptable, and that price is worth taking a chance on.

Maybe they had a family member there who did the selling, but items of information like that are so often lost. Australia was a penal colony well into the 19th century, and not everybody wanted to draw attention to a family member who made the trip.

I think the very narrow razors were probably made for people with some unusual line in noses, and the predominance of very wide wedge razors in early Victorian times was due to the commonness of moustaches. I have a picture of my grandfather in uniform and wearing spurs in 1916, and as a most matter-of-fact Wigtownshire farmer, he must be about the most unexpected person to have sported an almost imperceptibly thin Ronald Coleman/Errol Flynn moustache. The truth is, he wanted the absolute minimum of the detestable thing regulations forced him to have. I believe I can see the outline of his celluloid safety-razor case in his pocket, though.

The Cadman Bengalls should remind us that while high prices are paid for a small number of well-known makes, there are real bargains to be had in less familiar ones which are just as good.

If you guys check the Wiki you'd think there should be a heap of Bengalls in Japan India & Poland too Dunno if that's the case tho.
Cadman, T. R. & Sons - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Well, even if there were finding them would be conditional on someone, somewhere bothering to keep the items. Like many antiques it comes down to pure luck finding something that, was considered SO common as to be not worth keeping past it's useful life or the life of it's owner. Fortunately for us some people did hand on to great grandfather's razor, though as I'm currently finding out, many people simply did not. Even perfectly good items were often thrown out when the old bloke passed on, only to become sought after antiques only one generation later.

Originally Posted by MickRussell

Well, even if there were finding them would be conditional on someone, somewhere bothering to keep the items. Like many antiques it comes down to pure luck finding something that, was considered SO common as to be not worth keeping past it's useful life or the life of it's owner. Fortunately for us some people did hand on to great grandfather's razor, though as I'm currently finding out, many people simply did not. Even perfectly good items were often thrown out when the old bloke passed on, only to become sought after antiques only one generation later.

My Grandmother is one of those that threw out a collection of perfectly good CT's that were part of my Great Grandfathers belongings. Makes my guts twist up just thinking about it too. How I would love to have had them kept for myself and my cousins...Or just for me ...


Mick