Thread: Any info on a straight marked S over L & Co within a square?

I wonder if any of you would have any more info on this razor that bears no markings other than a square box with a capital S above L & Co? I can provide proper pictures if needed but here are a couple of snaps with my phone:



Tried searching the web but didn't find much more than this: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...o-17-16-a.html

The scales are hideously clumsy and made from pink plastic. They give me a feel of the 1960´s but they don't really feel original to the blade as they are way too long for the blade and the diameter of the pivot hole is much larger than the pin. Am I looking at a US made blade from the 20:th century or could it have been imported prior to the requirements of the blades being stamped with the country of origin?

Nobody's got any info on this brand/make?

This is what the razor looks now, halfway through my rescaling project:

'

Pontus

From what I can gather, they were silver-platers, makers of shaving mugs, brushes, and silver plated tableware. Most of the plated items, including shaving mugs, are stamped 'quadruple plated' on the bottom. Ordinary silver plate consisted of 2 troy ounces of silver in solution used to plate 144 forks, whereas quadruple plate used 8 troy ounces for the same amount of cutlery. Quadruple plate was the best you could get at the end of the 19th century. This shaving brush and quadruple plated mug is by S. L. & Co. and is dated 1880:



From the bottom of a shaving mug:



From the bottom of a creamer:



One firm which looked interesting was Schohay, Ludwig & Co. They started off as Schohay & Ludwig but by 1867 adopted the S L & Co appellation. However, they were based in Philadelphia and the only marks attributed to them that I could find are an arrow and the word 'COIN'. They seem to have been around up until 1877, but maybe they relocated later on and the successors filed another mark.

There are other S. L. & Co.s, notably the Aberdeen firm of silversmiths, but once again the mark is different.

Regards,
Neil

Aberdeen as i Scotland? Kind of far away from Philadelphia or NY but the silver connection would have been there.

I guess the razor definitely is connected to the plated silverware, brush and cup since the stamp on my tang is so similar. Only that there is no NY. Perhaps razor making wasn't really along their main line of business but they wanted to be able to sell complete sets and commissioned someone to make the razors for them?

From the information you have I would assume that the last decades of the 19th century would be a good guess for the age of my blade?

Pontus

Originally Posted by pfred

Aberdeen as i Scotland? Kind of far away from Philadelphia or NY but the silver connection would have been there.

I guess the razor definitely is connected to the plated silverware, brush and cup since the stamp on my tang is so similar. Only that there is no NY. Perhaps razor making wasn't really along their main line of business but they wanted to be able to sell complete sets and commissioned someone to make the razors for them?

From the information you have I would assume that the last decades of the 19th century would be a good guess for the age of my blade?

Pontus

Yes, Scotland.

I don't think there is much doubt that the razors were made by others. If the company in question is the New York one, then the date is as above.

However, you haven't got enough info to do much with. Just too many S. L. & Co's (including two from Germany, one of which produced american litho postcards, and one from Sheffield, another in Boston that produced agricultural goods and another in Texas that dealt in fabrics and skins, etc, etc) to make it rewarding enough to keep looking into until something more definite comes along.

Regards,
Neil

Ok, I see. Then the only thing I really have is that the square on my Razor really resembles the one that the NY company used on their silver plated stuff. But if they were recognized for quality it might just as well have been that anyone of the others wanted to piggyback on that reputation and "ripped off" the logo.

Thanks a lot anyway!

Pontus