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Found this in an antique store here in Edmonton, was surprisingly decently priced. There was a bit of rust near the edge, but a quick run over the 1k cleaned that up. I did a quick search of the site, but got no results for Ankstrom, could this be an Engtsrom marketed to another country? Eskilstuna is also spelt differently. :shrug:
Attachment 149718
Eskelstuna is the swedish spelling for Eskilstuna i believed, seems that all the writting on the razor is Swedish as well, my best guess would be that Ankstrom is actually the real spelling and that Engtsrom is the maker of this fine Swedish razor.
Perhaps one fine Swedish member could clear this up?
Nope, it's Eskilstuna in Swedish too, I can't say for certain that Eskelstuna isn't some alternative spelling that I don't know about, I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to the spelling of words before the 1906 reform but Eskelstuna just sounds weird to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Ankström means literally "duck stream", Engström means "meadow stream", the modern spelling of meadow being "Äng", I think it's very far-fetched that it would be an Engström.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Eskelstuna might sound odd today. It's definitely not an official variant for spelling the name of the place. Unfortunately I live too far away to know how the locals actually pronounce it over there, but I thing it's very possible that it is close to the way they say it in their dialect. This would be supported by the fact that the spelling Eskelstuna accially is fairly common today in facebook where people tend to write in their dialects.
Then this spelling variant might very well have been just as correct as the more common variant back in the days. It's not exactly modern Swedish in the etching either.
I would not doubt that the razor was made in Eskilstuna. Neither that it wasn't made by Engstrand. There was a lot of knife and cutlery makers in the town and this just happends to be one of the ledd known ones. But I so believe there is someone who will be able to tell you more about this particular smith.
Pontus
Thought you might be interested in what the etching on the blade says.
In the middle (easy one I suppose): Finest quality Swedish steel, Eskilstuna
To the left: Would be spelled like "värje-blad" today where Värja is a type of cavallery sword and blad is the same word as the English blade. An extra h was often put before the v in the old days. Don't know what the correkt word for the historical Värja is in English but the modern variant used in fencing is at least called Épée in English.
To the right: Here I have to guess. The word is too old for me to know what it really meanes. To Ansvara is a verb that means To be responsible for and adding a d to the end a verb means that it has been "applied to a thing". Think of the English word to drop. Put a d after it and it means that the knife has been dropped. But, it doesn't really make sense in modern Swedish to say ansvarad. It might mean something like the blade that has been entrusted with the responsibility. But as I said, I'm guessing.
Pontus
Wow, that sure got me thinking!
Your sure it doesn't say "Hvarje Blad --- Ansvarad", that would be like "Every Blade --- Responsible", it sure is odd Swedish, like someone trying hard to sound important.
It's like he told what to stamp on it over a bad phone line, it's just wrong!
Baxxer is right about Swedish spelling, in the old days people spelled as they liked but sure you would know how to spell your name.
The name "John Ankstrom" sounds like "John Engström" but Americanized, lots of Swedes emigrating to the US changed their names like that but did he move or what?
Many Swedes today miss spell "Eskilstuna" to "Eskelstuna", but there's more strange stuff on that blade "Svenkst" is truly wrong, it should be "Svenskt" as in "Swedish"
... more pics!
Edit; Does it say "John" or "Jonn"?
I always thought hvarjeblad ansvarad meant 'every blade guaranteed' - I think Mikael may have told me, not sure though.
I do know that if you google 'Eskelstuna' you get a whole lot of hits - most of them Swedish.
Regards,
Neil
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
Yeah, "every blade guaranteed" would be it!
"Eskelstuna" is just people who can't spell!
i come to the conclusion that the guy that made the blade was either drunk or had ADHD.
I think 'svenskt' is OK, too.
It seems to depend on whether it is used as an adjective or noun, singular or plural.
So 'svensk' ; 'svenska' , 'svenske' and 'svenkst' are all proper forms. There seems to be some discussion on the web about the way modern Swedish is spoken as opposed to the way old swedish people say things, so maybe some forms are archaic.
BTW it says 'JONN' - have seen it before and wondered.
Regards,
Neil
As far as i remember Engstrom never moved out of Sweden, he did however learn his trade in Sheffield and Solingen and was a major exporter to the US and others as well. To me the razor is marked "Jonn".Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
Nah, "Svenkst" is way off, I can't even say it out loud, old Swedish or not it's just plain wrong!Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
Why all the similarities to a John Engström, miss spelling, dyslectic spelling and so on, what's going on with that blade?
Svenskt is ok. Svenkts is not. you dont say "Made in Engladn" do you? :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
Yes, hvarjeblad could be Varje Blad as you say. But I just can't imagine anyone making a spelling mistake like that back then. They would have known that was two separate words although there was no standard way of spelling the words. Joining two words like that is what people do today because of bad schooling and reading too little :banghead:
But it has already been pointed out that the guy etching this blade most probably was drunk. Or then it was that bad phone line.
Svenskt stål would be 100% correkt, but not svenkst as it says on the blade. No Swede ever would have written that! The spelling of Jonn doesn't surprise me. It's a version of your John. Today it is quite common but spelled with a single n, Jon, but it is pronounced with a long nn sound and could very well have been spelled Jonn.
Pontus
You'll see that this will turn into quite a valuable razor in the end. Like one of those misprinted stamps that sell for fortunes on auctions! ;)
Could it be a blade made by John Engström in Sheffield but then stamped / etched by someone without his supervision?
How does it compare to other framebacks he did?
Quite right, Magnus - dyslexia strikes me again! Obviously it should be spelled the same as the other words in the series, but with a 't' at the end.
If you read through all the posts in this thread there are a lot of mis-spellings, so we can't really blame the old uns can we?!
How about this in support of 's-v-e-n-s-k-t':
Attachment 149762
Its provenance is here.
Regards,
Neli
(drat - dyslexia again.... :) )
Yes im pretty sure thats a Engström frameback and stamped by someone els.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
I'm not even going to mention dyslexia - besides, I know you are from Sweden! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMagnus
:) Neil i like you toQuote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
Anyway it's got "character", I like it!
(I know a girl called Neli, bet she's cuter than you Neil ;))
That's a biographical account of "all renowned Swedish men and women"! John Engström could probably be found in there but perhaps not this Jonn Ankstrom we have run into now...Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
This is what comes to my mind when I hear Ankstrom;
Attachment 149763
Well, I don't know about that - I cut a pretty dapper figure in a skirt ... (nah, like a pig wearing lipstick, actually!).Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
As a point of interest, 'Joh. Engstrom' is short for 'Johannes Engstrom' (I think), so we are anglicizing the name into 'John', that being the case, what could 'Jonn' be short for?
Regards,
Neil
"Jon" is a common name in Swedish. The landowner or the priest would have been named Johannes but the farm-worker would have been Jon (higly simplyfied but anyways).
+1 on that.Quote:
Originally Posted by pfred
Jonn with its 2 "n" is not a common name tho, you would have to spell it out or people would write it John or Jon.
Today Johnny or Jonny is common (one of the "y" names, Jonny, Conny, Ronny... by some reason those names often show up in police reports, in the US it would be like Bubba or such, still a lot of nice people carry those names so no hard feelings)
Pronounced sort of like 'moon' for anyone interested.Quote:
Originally Posted by pfred
So I have a razor from a drunk, dyslexic Swede who had an affinity for ducks. Cool.
Yes, but how does it shave?Quote:
Originally Posted by Thisisclog
Bob
I think this is the most important question.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Like a svensk dröm, I should imagine! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Regards,
Neil
When I checked the edge for rust with a 1k it was popping hairs nicely, but the spine isn't totally flat in one side and the scales are shot, so it will be a little while before I can answer that.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Jon
I am sure it will shave well in the end. Pretty unique razor reading over this thread, great find.
Bob
I've definitely seen misspellings on razors before... But that one may deserve some kind of award.
Maybe it was made by vittra?
I'm reminded of this:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi.../Otto_bits.jpg
I believe it is short for 'Johan Engström', but you are correct about the anglicizing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
Pontus
I thank you, Pontus!
Regards,
Neil
No the most important question is what he drank cuz i want the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baxxer
