Thread: Nice, Clean 'No Name' Razor... ID help?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Another alternative is that a manufacturer allowed workers to make one to take home for their own use every now and then. I know of some companies, not razor companies, that allowed such perks. There is also the chance that it was smuggled out in a worker's lunch bucket, but in that case it probably would have been marked before it was tempered and ground. Looks like a well made razor. Hope it performs well for you.

Actually, if it is Solingen made, most of the workers around the turn of the century worked from home. Solingen was wired up for electricity very early so that the workforce could use power tools at home! No smuggling required.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Actually, if it is Solingen made, most of the workers around the turn of the century worked from home. Solingen was wired up for electricity very early so that the workforce could use power tools at home! No smuggling required.

I read that in a knife book once years ago. It was a collection of articles on pocket knives and they referred to the 'cottage industry' in Solingen. I've done web searches to try and find more on that to no avail. IIRC Hen & Rooster (pocket knives) was one of the brands specifically mentioned. In the '60s and '70s they were variously branded C. Bertram, Voss, and Guttmann among others.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I read that in a knife book once years ago. It was a collection of articles on pocket knives and they referred to the 'cottage industry' in Solingen. I've done web searches to try and find more on that to no avail. IIRC Hen & Rooster (pocket knives) was one of the brands specifically mentioned. In the '60s and '70s they were variously branded C. Bertram, Voss, and Guttmann among others.

This book covers it in some detail. It's a really, really dry read, but full of fascinating stuff. It does not, however, mention that there was a cutlery industry anywhere in Germany but Solingen... And I just got a razor made in Heilbronn sometime in the 1840's which makes it pretty clear Solingen may not have been leading the charge in quality coming out of Germany.