Thread: Help with dating old Joseph Rodgers & Sons razor ?

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could help ?

Whilst clearing some old drawers in a shed, found a razor which I suspect was given to my father many years ago.

I can't seem to date the razor - as you can see from the pictures - what I can make out is :

Trade Mark Granted 1682
H.M.Govt.
Joseph Rodgers & Sons Ltd
Cutlers to their majesties
No 5 Norfolk Street
Sheffield

Marked with a small six pointed asterisk and a small iron cross ???

The case isn't in the best condition, but the razor is. Needs a good clean, but is sharp !

Any ideas on dates or anything related appreciated.

Thanks !

Dating a razor can be dangerous - they're very sharp! And don't often chip in for dinner :0

Aside from the dumb comment I don't know anything about dating that razor. But I'm sure someone will chime in

JOSEPH RODGERS (ROGERS) & SONS
Norfolk St., Sheffield
Appointed cutlers to His Majesty King George IV in 1821; chosen as one of 5 firms to make cutlery speciments for presentation to the Duke of York in 1826 ("Old Sheffield Razors" by Lummus. Antiques, December 1922 p.261-267)
1682 - at least 1991

Straight Razor Manufacturers and Dates of Operation

It says their majesties then its pre 1901.

Check out this link:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...+majesties+old

I wouldn't pay too much attention to that authoritative looking table. It's guesswork, some of which is good, some of which is less good.

The problem with Rodgers stuff is that they had different systems of marks for different types of goods and many trade directories jumble them up or use incomplete lists. I have never seen anything complete and definitive that's backed up by solid evidence.

This razor, on the other hand, has enough features to get in a decent ballpark.

Useful feature the first: that little halfcircle 'England' mark indicates it was most likely made after 1891. In 1890 and 1891, nations were getting serious about international commerce and laws and agreements went into effect that generally, usually, meant goods made for export had a country of origin stamped on them (The Madrid Accord and the McKinley Tariff being the major politicking here).

The second is the aluminum scales, which also solidly dates the razor to post 1884, when the capstone to the Washington monument was made of it. It weighed 100 ounces and was the single largest object made of the metal a the time.

However, it pretty rapidly became an everyday material, and with the advent of WWI, it started to become as ubiquitous as it is today.

The stamp on the pile side, H.M. Govt indicates it was made for, well, the British government. Probably the military. It's got that 'military hospital razor' look... A thing which was most common during and briefly after WWI. I know the Germans and the Russians were still using straight razors in hospitals as late as WWII, but I'm not sure about the English.

So the answer is: 1891-1920, heavily biased toward the latter end of the range.

Many thanks @ItalianJoe and @voidmonster for your help - much appreciated

...the irony being I never shave and have owned a substantial beard for a good 10 years

This is just a guess regarding those J. Rodgers with the MIE stamped in the semi-circle, but it almost looks like an afterthougt where they put it. I've had a 7 day set of those with vulcanite scales (long gone) and a single blade with horn scales. So I'm guessing those were made very shortly after the aforementioned treaty went into effect and that semi-circle stamp was added. I could be wrong though, I was wrong once before.