Thread: First frameback, need a little info

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.

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?

Originally Posted by Martin103

Eskelstuna is the swedish spelling for Eskilstuna i believe

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.

Originally Posted by Martin103

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?

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.

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

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

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

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