Thread: New here, looking for some information (history of the compagnies, dating,...)

Hi everyone

A few days ago I posted this same thread on some other knife-related forums showing the razors you'll see below. Since I got no additional information, a few members on both sites showed me the way to this forum, thinking you guys might be able to help me out. So here's the story behind the following razors...

I'll commence with a bit of a backstory. My great-aunt is currently aged 86, but her health conditions have been worsening. Doctors said she couldn't live in her house anymore by herself (she's a widow) and since she lives far away from the rest of the family, she will move into a retirement home nearby. She said herself that she can't live on her own anymore and that she needs help. The retirement home where's she's going now is only a few blocks away from where she was born and lived until she was 19, so she's happy to come back to a known environment close to her relatives.
Of course, she can't take everything with her and together with her we're sorting through her stuff. What can she take with her and what does she want to take with her? Among her personal possessions were two straight razors that belonged to her husband. He was a barber until 1979, when he retired. He died back in 1996 or 1995, can't remember since I was 5 or 6 years old then.
Long story short: she didn't really care for the razors anymore and she seems to be more fond of pictures and the like to take with her. I could have them.
So here they are!

First up is the one that's been used the most. There were even little hairs left in the pivot and all that. It's stamped 89 Fram, Solingen on one side and Mandler, Solingen-wald on the other. What I found on the web was that -among other brands- it was made by C. Friedrich Kratz & Co. That's all I know. I don't know anything about the quality of the products by this maker, year of production or anything. This one does need some cleaning up. It has red rust all over it.
















(continued)

Next up is a straight razor made in Belgium. The stampings say J.J. Maes, Bruxelles, and on the other side: World-Master reg, 165. World-Master Trademark is stamped on the box. I've found no info at all on this one...

Some side by side pics...
First, thickness compared. The one by J.J.Maes is a lot thicker:


Full front blade shots... Fram:


JJ.Maes:


And together... Notice the wider blade of the J.J. Maes.

Finally, here's one that I got from a friend of the family. Here's the story and the pics (older story, so don't mind about the "yesterday" and all that, it's been a couple of months):

A good friend of the family gave me this old razor yesterday. He gave it to me because he knew I was into knives (although I know absolutely nothing about razors, that's why I'm posting here). He still had two others (one of them was very nice, also from Solingen, like this one) but he wanted to hold on to them a bit longer. They originated from the father of his uncle, who was a barber back in the day. His uncle is at the moment in his nineties, so I guess all of them do have some ago to them. All of them were rusted, and so was this one. I took most of the orange rust off, cleaned and oiled this razor. Ready for some pics! (extensive cleaning to get the orange rust out of the letters that are stamped on the blade will be for later on).

First, the details:

On the handle it says Tuckmar or Tückmar. One side of the blade states "Bartputzer Modell - 1930" while the other side states "Welt Schutz Solingen", "Dreistern" and "Ruf Marke Germany".

From a little of gogleing, I found out that they were actually produced in between 1930 and 1940 (please correct this if it's wrong!).

I don't know many other things about it, so I'd like some additional information on it.

Pics:













The handle is a bit bent, sadly.




Nice hollow grind:




So in the end, I hope you guys enjoyed the pics and the stories.

My specific questions would relate to dates of manufacture, some history about the companies and the like. Any kind of information on these 3 blades would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone.

About the Fram razor!
C. Friedrich Kratz & Co. GmbH, Solingen in 1920. Band names: 'Fram', 'Kratz', 'Melior', 'Owigut', 'The Dewey Razor', 'Vesuvio'. Open-blade razor and safety-razor maker. Founded in 1890.


About the J. J. Maes razor.
J.J.Maes is a barber/hairdessser supply company in Belgium. World MAster is a trademark by Otto Busch and that a high quality Solingen razor.

Originally Posted by Martin103

About the Fram razor!
C. Friedrich Kratz & Co. GmbH, Solingen in 1920. Band names: 'Fram', 'Kratz', 'Melior', 'Owigut', 'The Dewey Razor', 'Vesuvio'. Open-blade razor and safety-razor maker. Founded in 1890.


About the J. J. Maes razor.
J.J.Maes is a barber/hairdessser supply company in Belgium. World MAster is a trademark by Otto Busch and that a high quality Solingen razor.

Thanks a lot for the information! I had missed your edit on the World Master. I suppose that Otto Busch just made that one for JJ Maes then? So in other words, JJ Maes outsourced its razors to other companies such as Otto Busch's World Master?
Since uhm... we've been cleaning up the house a bit more to put it up for sale. And I almost dare not to say it but we found 2 additional World Master blades. One again by/for J.J. Maes and the other one is the same model number, but by with the Otto Busch stamping. These two were users and are not NIB like the one in the OP.
I'll post pics tomorrow.

And here are the pics...

The new 'old' guys in town...


Opened up


Makers marks


We found them in the red box you'll see in the picture below. It's and old gift-box from Solingen, Germany, made to display straight razors.
It's now the home of these two used World-Masters, the Fram and the Tückmar. I keep the NIB JJ Maes World-Master inside its own box (was the only one that still had the original box). Obviously, that won't fit in the display gift box :-). Hope you guys enjoyed!
I was also wondering if there are some databases with model numbers from these brands and pics coupled to it? Would be interesting to see how many different types were made by one maker and what every model looked like...




Cheers,

Jerry

Well you could try the straight razor database on here. I think the real question is though.....are you going to use them.

Originally Posted by cosperryan

Well you could try the straight razor database on here. I think the real question is though.....are you going to use them.

I've been looking in the database before and it has been helpful and interesting, but I'm always looking for more!
As to your question: the NIB WM will not get used. The users... maybe. I've tracked down a place that offers a course on how to sharpen/hone straight razors and also on how to shave with them. I'm sure I'll end up giving it a shot, but I've got other priorities at the moment. I don't want to rush things and think everything over.