Seven Razors from the Early 20th Century Maybe
Hey Everyone, I'm Chris.
I've had these razors for a while now and thought this post might be interesting to share. Unfortunately I'm unable to take pictures of them, but they're so worn that it might not matter either way. I'd like to describe the razors themselves and the boxes they came in. I'm a safety razor shaver; I'm not well-versed in straight razor terminology but I'll do my best using the vocabulary. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer but I can't make any guarantees obviously. Forward slashes denote line breaks. I'm not really sure what I'm looking to get out of this post; if you have any information on what these razors could be, don't hesitate to tell us. Otherwise this might just be a neat thing to share. Also, while I'm not in the position financially to have this done any time soon, if you could point me to restoration and sharpening services so I can get these things cleaned up and presentable that would be cool.
For background, these razors belonged to my great grandfather who died long before I was ever born. My grandfather kept them around and when I inquired about them he gave them to me because he wasn't doing anything with them. My great grandfather kept these razors in a small canvas sack that says Anderson Banking Company, Anderson Indiana (which is where he lived and where my grandfather was born and lived until college). For a reference of the time period we're talking about here, I'm in my mid twenties, my grandfather is in his mid eighties, and my great grandfather was born in 1900. While discussing these, my grandfather assumed that they were bought in the nineteen-teens or nineteen-twenties. Neither of us have any idea when they were bought in relation to each other. I'll now go into each one, describing as best I can what they look like and what they say on them.
Six of these razors come in some sort of cover, five of them in heavy paper boxes and one in a soft cloth pouch. One razor is "loose" in the bag, and I'm not sure if the razors are in their correct boxes or not. I know that the razor in the pouch matches because the words on the pouch correspond to the words on the razor.
Razor 1:
I'll start with the "loose" razor. It's the heaviest one by far, and has yellow plastic scales. I don't know if the plastic started out as a lighter color and yellowed with time or if it was a darker color and lightened. Maybe it was always this color. It's a pretty ugly looking yellow. The tang says MANUFACTURED BY WADE & BUTCHER / SHEFFIELD. It seems to be 5/8, with a square point and the blade is either straight or tending towards smiling. This one is pretty plain and I feel I've described all its salient features.
Razor 2:
The second razor comes with dark black plastic scales. The tang says CROWN RAZOR CO. / BOSTON MASS. The blade itself is etched toward the square point, saying EXTRA HOLLOW GROUND. There is an etching of a crown in the middle and closest to the tang is etched FULLY WARRANTED (what does fully warranted mean?). The razor is between 4/8 and 5/8 on measuring, I don't know if you round up or not.
Razor 3:
The third razor also has black plastic scales and has somewhat distinctive features. This blade also splits the difference between 4/8 and 5/8. From the pictures on the wiki I want to say this tang is a long cut/ shoulderless example. Etched vertically on the tang nearest to that "bevelled" part that makes it look shoulderless is the number 28. Etched horizontally on the tang are the words F. A. KOCH & CO. / GERMANY. The blade itself is etched with the word Faultless and has "filigree" designs on either side. The blade point looks to be Spanish and the edge looks to be straight.
Razor 4:
This razor is completely blank. The scales are black plastic and have a roughness about them, almost like they're trying to imitate the roughness of a piece of whittled wood or something. This razor has a round edge and is again between 4/8 and 5/8. The underside of the tang has those grip notches in it (I just read what the word for this was on the wiki and now can't find where I read it).
Razor 5:
Another blank. THis time with yellow scales that have very vague "pinstripes" on them. The stripes have no texture. No markings. Between 4/8 and 5/8 again. Rounded point. Double shouldered.
Razor 6:
This one is probably my favorite. Yellow pinstripe plastic scales. A double shouldered tang with those grip notches on the top and the bottom. The front of the tang says JOHN PRIMBLE / INDIA STEEL WORKS / 1032 - 5/8. The back of the tang says BELKNAP HD. & MFG. CO. / LOUISVILLE, KY. / GERMANY. The blade etching on this razor is really nice. In the center is a shield that says PRIMBLE in the center sash and INDIA STEEL WKS above and below. On either side of the shield are two bars that say BLUE GRASS and emanating from the shield are feathery wings. Really cool looking.
Razor 7:
This is the razor that belongs to the cloth pouch. Yellow pinstripe scales but with "end caps" on both the pivot pin and end pin. I'm not sure how better to describe them. Grip notches on the bottom of the tang. This tang has a "pebbled" appearance. If you've seen hand-hammered copper pots and pans it looks kind of like that only much smaller "pits". The tang says ROBESON / SHUR EDGE and underneath that says "CHEST" -- the rest of the word is illegible. "Chesterton?" "Chesterfield?" I don't know. It could be Rochester, but I can't see anything before the C. The talon says 15-L-400 and the back says MADE IN U.S.A. On the blade is etched the words "The razor that fits your face" in cursive. The pouch used to have a snap closure on it but the "female" part of the closure, which was on the flap, has fallen out at some point in the hundred years it has existed (I don't actually know if this is 100 years old, probably not quite but maybe close). The pouch is a dark brown with a black patch on it that says "The Razor that fits your face" in cursive and ROBESON SHUR EDGE underneath it.
So that's what I'll say for right now. I'll come back later and tell you about the super dirty mangy boxes if you guys want. I hope this was at least somewhat interesting, I do like looking at them and would like to get them de-rusted and have some nice scales put on them at some point in the distant future.
