Thread: Antique Store Find, I need help identifying my first Straight Razor :)

Today i went to all the antique shops in town and the surrounding area in order to find a straight razor.
This was my favorite of them all, one other came close.. dont know what it was, but it had a camel engraved on the blade

Anywho, this is the one i settled on, and got for $30
There are no dings or nicks in the blade, and absolutely 0 hone wear
There is very very little oxidization that had just started on the back of the spine. Hardly worth noting as it came right off without any force.
So, i have no idea what this particular straight is, so any wisdom from you guys would be much appreciated
and did i get a good deal on it

(sorry for the picture quality, my phone is the only camera i have)









One more thing,
Does anyone know where i can get her honed for as cheap as possible, without sacrificing quality..
Im in the willmar area of Minnesota
Perhaps if someone on here would be willing to lend me a hand.. i can pay shipping, it would be a stretch as im unemployed.. but i could spare it

If you can,,take closeups of the front & back of the tang, that is the area most often used to identify razors. I can faintly tell that there is something written there.

Go to our Vendors section & see who might be close to you, than can hone it for you.

Sorry, i just tried to.. but my phone camera isnt good enough.
The metal is so reflective that all you can see is my phone and blur where the words should be.
I can say whats written though

"ALEY BOSSIFF & BROS."
"OLEAN, N.Y."

Its on the same side as the scrolling on the blade (its what you noticed in my picture)
The reverse side doesnt say anything

Regarding honing look in the classifieds then member services.. There are great honers in there for reasonable prices..

I would hone it for postage. PM me if interested.

Im sorry for the absolute garbage quality of this picture..
I took a few dozen, and this was the best i could get it to turn out with my phone :/
Hope it helps a little

I'm sure someone will b along to help u with info

DualNature,

Welcome! Looks nice. How sharp is the blade? Does it pass the HHT? If so, you may try stropping it ~50 times(I never count.) carefully with the strop layed on a flat surface and shave.

Well done! I too found a Vendor honing service to really be a key part in my learning curve.

Cheers

I dont know what HHT is, but it looks as if it has never ever been sharpedned.. but then again, im as green with this as it gets.
I can tell you though, that it wont cut the hair on my arm WTG, XTG,or ATG
Im going to take Bill3152 up on his offer i think.
I really wanna try this
It will also give me a few days more to grow out my joke of a beard..

Nice razor, well done.

Hard, if not impossible, to definitively say who the maker was.

The name you gave was that of a dry goods/hardware dealership c1900s at 521 W. State Street, Olean: they would have imported it from Germany.

Regards,
Neil