How To: Research a razor (warning: long post)
***First and foremost, this post does not determine prices of razors. Nor does this post encourage people to ask. This post is meant to educate members on the process of researching a razors history, what condition it is in, and a method of determining what the razor may be worth to the member.***
This post has evolved from several sources. I am a bit OCD about some things and was trying to organize all of the references I have acquired to research razors. I have seen numerous posts by members asking if anyone has information on their newest acquisition or where to find books or online sources to find out. In my job, I read, interpret, research and generally muck about in a lot Federal and State regulations. Strangely, I kind of enjoy that part of my job. It lets me research a question and generate an answer based off my research. All of this led me to write up this post to 1) Help out others 2) Give back to the SRP community, and 3) make me organize my stuff :) * NOTE* I do not claim to be an expert in any way, shape, or form. I am just hoping to help some members out. If this information is wrong or misleading, please let me know. It will help me become more knowledgeable and I can fix the post and share that with others.
So, you want to know more about your razor. You may want to know what the markings on the razor are, who made the razor, where it was made, how old it is, or you think you may have just struck e-bay gold and you want to know more info about your razor and maybe how valuable it is/was/could be. Let’s start off with trying to identify what it is that you actually have. You can’t determine value until you know what you are selling.
Let’s start with the basics. While examining the razor, lay it down so the blade is facing to the left and the scales (the handle) facing down. This is referred to as the “show side” or the front of the razor. The back side is usually referenced as the” non-show side” or the back of the razor. The show side will have any etching and/or gold wash on the blade and is most likely to have markings on the tang (the metal spine between the actual razor and the scales, where the scales pin to the metal.) For more information on straight razor terminology and construction, please see the Wiki article “HERE” As we search for information, write down all of the info you find (or copy and paste the info into a word document). This can be invaluable down the road when you have bits and pieces of information from multiple sources.
Look on both sides of the tang and see what kind of markings you can find. Very often these marking can run under the scales and are often illegible due to being worn down, poorly applied, and lost due to past restoration / modification, or age. Tang markings can be as simple as a makers mark or as complex as where it was made, who is was made for, and in some instances some kind of dating system. Dating systems will be covered later in the Age section. You may also find some kind of hardware store or pharmacy referenced. Razors were often made for certain stores as promotional items.
Now take a look at the show side of the blade. Is there any etching or gold wash on the blade? Many times there will be a phrase or symbol that is common to a specific brand and/or time period of razor. An example is Wade and Butchers “You Lather Well – Ill Shave Well”
Scales and coffin boxes
When we talk about researching a razor, we are most commonly talking about the blade itself. Scales may have emblems, phrases, makers mark, or slogans carved into them. When done correctly and in good condition they can make a razor really look good. However, due to the ease of scales being replaced, the information you find on a scale may or may not have any connection to the blade itself. YMMV. This is especially true with the razor cases that are often sold with razors. Unless the box matches all of the information found on the razor there is an excellent chance it is NOT original to the razor.
At this time, you should have some information. This may be a maker’s mark, a manufactures name, the place of origin, who it was made for or maybe all of the above. We are going to take this information and see what we can do with it.
Searching:
Here is how I go about looking up razor info.
First off go to Google. Try typing in different combinations of the information you found on the tang. Make sure to try the information with some different key words such as straight razor, cutlery, cutler, and company. You may get lucky and find your razor, or the razors maker, with a short write up of the history of that company or individual.
Next, there are several websites out there that have searchable databases, online PDF, and even complete write-ups on makers and their markings. The SRP database is a prime example. I have listed a few more at the end of this post. A useful hint when searching online or a PDF is to click on the website/PDF with your mouse once and then hit CTRL+F. This will make a search box appear at the top left or right of your browser (this is for Internet Explorer, should be similar for other). Type in your phrase and hit enter. VIOLA! This can really speed up trying to scan pages of info to find the nugget of info you are searching for.
While researching, you may find references to your search term associated with other edged metal products or razor products. This is very common. Many companies that made razors also made many other edged implements such as axes, shovels, swords and farm implements.
By this time I often have come up with at least a few leads, if not a trove of information. If you have not had a lot of luck, then here is where the more difficult work comes into play. At this point I turn to hard copy resources and out of the way internet resources (books and print outs of materials I have found). Some of these books are indexed by the makers and some by the makers mark. Electronic copies of these can be useful as it allows you to search the document for a phrase or name. One of the more common reference books cited is Goins’. I have posted a list of references at the end of this post.
As far as the “out of the way” electronic resources, if you only have partial information, say a location and a date range, you can try hunting up local histories of an area to see if there was a razor manufacturer located in the area. If you have a name that shows up in Germany and then the USA a few years later, you may be able to check online immigration websites. Immigrants often were told to put down their name and occupation. (Genealogy sites are a good place to start for this kind of thing.) When doing Google searches, I often find scans of historical pamphlets from world fairs showing listings of vendors and their display products.
Another way to get some data is to mine E-bay or other online auction sites for current and past listings. Try searches for the pieces of info you have and see what comes up. Makers and brands commonly altered or tweaked what was stamped into the tang of a razor over the course of the company’s history. If all you have is a company name, you may search that on e-bay and see another razor with the same company name as well as a maker’s mark or a point of manufacture that you have not yet found. BINGO! Take your new information and start searching your material over again using your new information.
*This is what can make research so long and tedious. When you get a new data point..... WRITE IT DOWN. Write down the new data, where it came from, and how to find it again. Then you need to re-start your search at the very beginning with all of your new information. You would be surprised what adding something as simple as “and Co.” to a search of a brand of razors can turn up.
AGE
So you know who made it and maybe an idea of the period the company was in business. These and other clues can be used. Be careful when using systems to date a razor. These are guidelines and can probably be argued back and forth.
Tang length: WIKI LINK Tail Styles
English razors: Monarch initials, to the best of my knowledge, began with George IV. These were used outside of Sheffield, too. London cutlers DEFINITELY used it, and it's possible it was also used in Birmingham. The date ranges are:
GR (George IV) 1820-1830, WR (William IV) 1830-1837, VR (Victoria) 1837-1901, ER (Edward VII) 1901-1910, GR (George V) 1910-1936
There were a very few razors stamped with ER, and some J. Weiss razors (the ones marked 287 Oxford Street) with GR, that being George V.
"ACIER FONDU", which English cutlers borrowed from the French. 1760's-1800ish, probably with some holdouts for a decade or two
Cast steel: Thought to have started around 1810, for the most part seems to have died off after 1840
WARRANTED: Warranted is usually seen pre 1800, may be seen as late as 1830s. Various versions of “Warranted steel” common.
Types of steel: Many manufactures advertised their razors as being of special steel. Take a stroll through Wikipedia and find the earliest known date for that steel type being invented.
-Silver Steel was first used in the early 1820's, specifically after the Stodart/Faraday paper on the alloy. It was used as a marketing term extensively for a couple of decades then fell out of use only to be picked up again later. It's still used on some German goods. The meaning is extraordinarily slippery
-India Steel /Fine India Steel also got its start in the early 1820's and was used here and there forevermore.
*Note* Stainless steel is used as an all-encompassing term. There are many different formulations of steel that can fall under the stainless heading.
Made in/ Country of Origin:
-Sheffield razors stamped 'Sheffield, England' probably all date to 1891 or later, to comply with the McKinley Tariff, but that only applied to goods made for export.
- after 1921."...in 1914 the words "made in" were required as well and in 1921 it was required that items be labeled with the country of origin in English
Overall design: Over the course of time certain makers, brands, and in some cases the razor industry as a whole favored certain blade design and shape, jimps, scales design and composition. Here are some examples:
- Jimps are thought to have shown up about 1820
-Frameback razors were introduced around 1850
-NE PLUS ULTRA was another advertising term etched onto razors beginning in the early part of the 1800's (the first ad I found is from 1810). It seems to have been popular for 5-10 years, fallen out
of use, and then was used very occasionally.
-MAGNUM BONUM, ditto to NE PLUS ULTRA.
-Some early Wade & Butcher razors were stamped 'Doubly Swaged' beginning around 1830 and not used much beyond that.
-Joseph Rodgers stamped some razors in the early 1830's with the Sanksrit symbol for steel, which is translated as WOOTZ.
-HOLLOW GROUND came into use as a marketing term on the blade around 1850.
-DIAMOND EDGE began around 1840. ADAMANTINE EDGE, similarly.
Scale material: Do you have a set of Bakelite scales? Bakelite was invented in 1907. Celluloid about 1870, and Aluminum was used for scales about 1920. If the scales are original to the razor, you have a better idea of when it was made. Same goes for vulcanized rubber, turtle shell, and ivory, ect...
*Many thanks to Manah, Voidmonster, and johnmrson for responding to me plea for help for the above information in the age section.*
WORTH
So what is my razor worth? IMO there are two groups of people who buy razors. The first group is people who use razors. This may be for shaving, as show pieces, or props. The second group is collectors (either people who hold a love for razors and/or those who purchase razor as an investment). There can be a large overlap with these groups, not to mention a range of knowledge of what they are buying. (e.g. Everything from: Stuffy voice “I say Nigel, this is an excellent example of Mother of Pearl scales. Look at the excellent finish work.” To this: “James Bond is cool, I want to shave like him!” all the way down to “Duddzzzz, look at this monster Sweeny Todd razor.... it looks old, let’s sell it and get rich!”
I feel I overlap a little in both groups. I enjoy shaving with vintage razors and am interested in the history as well. I will admit I have some faint notion of fixing up razors to sell at a break even to small profit to keep buying more razors J Only time (and ever evolving skill level) will tell.
Now that you know what type of razor you have, I’m going to suggest you look at a copy of “The Standard Guide to Razors”. Let me note, that the prices in the book are almost meaningless. As soon as this book was published, it was out of date. What is useful is that it describes a standardized system to grade a razor and determine its condition and desirability as a collectible. This does not help determine what people will pay for a tool used to shave with.
Collecting anything can be broken down into a few rough categories. Condition (original parts, paint, finish, operability), Uniqueness (material used, design, artistic value), Age (older it is, less available), and the Neato factor. Most of these are pretty self-explanatory. The better the condition, the finer the craftsmanship, and the older it is the more it’s going to be worth. The Neato factor is what makes you (or other people) sit up and take notice. Maybe it’s a certain brand, a scale material, or blade design. This is what makes it worthwhile for you to pay that extra few dollars...or in some cases x2 to x10 the price.
The other useful part of this book is that while the prices are out of date, there is some value to the relationships between the different prices. Let me try to explain. Razor AAAAA is in NOS condition and valued at $500 and razor BBBBB is In NOS condition and is valued at $100. Remember the actual numbers don’t matter, but the ratio between them can be useful. The ratio of 5:1 (for these two specific razors) is a useful tool if you are out shopping or looking to sell. If you can establish the price of a comparable condition razor of another make, then you can use that as an idea of what the other razor is worth. Be warned that while you may feel that you have done your due diligence and are certain of the worth of the razor, it is no guarantee that someone else will be willing to pay, or accept payment for, that amount.
Safety Razors:
Looking up information on safety razors is fairly similar. The only difference is that there seems to be much better documentation, as the concept (and popularity) of safety razors is not all that old. (At least as compared to straight razors.) Safety razors can be broken down in Single Edge (SE) and double edge (DE). These can be further broken down into how they are operated to insert and fasten down the removable blade. There are Twist to Open (TTO), flip top, 2 and 3 piece, and the list goes on. Another identifying factor is the distinctive styling of the handles. Safety razors in the USA were usually plain brass, stainless (I think), or brass with a plating of nickel, silver, or gold. European models were commonly plated with Rhodium (a cleaner brighter silver look). Branding stamps and date codes were often located on the underside of the head of the razor or sometimes on or under the flip top.
