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Dating A Kropp
I've recently bought my first straight razor, a Kropp, so as a naturally curious chap I decided to do a bit of investigation into the brand with an idea to being able to perhaps find an approximate date for my razor.
So here is what I found out...enjoy!
Well the first thing I discovered is there is a distinct lack of information about the brand, finding any primary sources was a bit tricky and a lot of what non primary information is contradictory, so some of what follows is intelligent, well, guess work!
Well, from what I've found there are three distinct generations, as it were, of Kropp, ones with 'Made In Hamburg' on the reverse of the tang, those with 'Made In England Ground In Hamburg' and finally 'Made And Ground In Sheffield. Eng,'. This set me thinking that maybe this was a way of dating them. Looking at advertising from various period sources I was then able to find corresponding trends in the ads.
In the earliest adverts 1888 – 1896 they mention “Real German Hollow Ground”, the only mention of England was in the address of the wholesaler. Then after 1897 England or more specifically Sheffield starts to take equal billing, being mentioned in the main body copy of the advert, along with the continued mentioning of “German Hollow Ground”. This joint billing, as it were, continues until 1910 where on at least one ad from that year the mention of Germany was dropped, this might be due to changes in attitude towards Germany at the time perhaps. Other ads from 1910 did indeed still have the German connection so maybe this was a change over year.
Unfortunately I’ve so far been unable to find any Kropp adverts dating from 1911-1921, however they reappear in 1922, proudly stating “All British”. All future adverts continue this very British feel including a 1936 example that states, “The Navy of to-day’s alright with the Kropp razor”, patriotic stuff that makes me believe they were very unlikely to have their razors of that period marked in any way other than in a similar manner.
Now I don’t know if the Germany was dropped from the ads as it was less of a selling point in the period leading up to the First World War or if during this same period the razors were no longer being ground in Hamburg, but what does seem clear is that after 1922 the razors were sold heavily on being all British, so logic would follow that the ones marked “Made and Ground In Sheffield. Eng,” were likely to hail from this period.
So to sum up, I believe the three generations are as such….
1888-1896 Ground in Hamburg
1897-1910 (approx.) Made In England Ground In Hamburg
1919 (approx.)-1940 (approx.) Made And Ground In Sheffield. Eng,
As an aside, The Madrid Agreement of 1891 came into force in 1892 and meant that razors made after this date would not only have the town of manufacture but also the country of origin on them, so we can deduce that the early “Ground in Hamburg” blades pre this agreement. So this dates them to between 1888 and 1891.
During my searching I have discovered an earlier reference to Kropp razors in the October 1887 edition of the American newspaper “The Sun”, which references a gentleman by the name of Mr. Henry Gilsey returning from a European trip with a box of Kropp razors as a present for a friend. The logical conclusion is that they predate the first 1888 ad I was able to find.
That’s it for now, off for more research!
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I think Kropps are very cool..I haven't owned any by some cased sets have intrigued me in the past.
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3 Attachment(s)
Not bad, but you have missed some info (all posted here, long ago) and left some huge gaps. The original proprietors were Osborne, Garrett & Co, Ltd, Razor & Strop Manufacturers who also made the Elmo, Carrara, Ogee & Osgar brands of razors, as well as stropping paste, combs, etc.
The original company registration was as 'O. G. & Co., London & Birmingham' in 1836 and they seem to have specialised in cosmetics, bathroom products, pharmaceuticals, barbers supplies, etc. Indeed, there are a huge number of barbers tokens (allowing a free haircut/shave) with O. G. & Co. printed on them.
Osborne, Garrett & Co. were based at various adresses such as 51 to 54 Firth Street; 8 to 11 Bateman Street & 35,35 Dean Street London W1; & at Birmingham, Glasgow & Manchester.
Using newspaper ads to find dates from is a risky business to say the least. If we assume, as you have done, that the mention of 'Sheffield' dates a Sheffield influence at that point in time, then you would be wrong - a huge number of adverts well past the date of the first one and second one you listed show no mention of Sheffield.
They seem to have gone with wherever the most convenient and cheap (although the razors are very good quality throughout their history) grinding industry was, and although the war was of course a consideration (made much of here in a number of posts, too) it was not the only one.
There is some confusion about the company going out of business in 1923 - it did not, it simply changed the name to the Kropp Manufacturing Co Ltd and became soundly based in Sheffield, having engaged the services of Charlie Myers at 51 Athol Road to make the Kropp razors. Charlie had his own brand of razors - the C. Myers & Son brand - made in the same premises, alongside the Kropp razors. Both brands look remarkably the same, unsurprisingly!
From a 1925 record we find Kropp and Myers at the same address (51 Athol Rd, the address given in the listing is his home address):
Attachment 165431
Interestingly, in 1919 51 Athol Road was the address of the Norton Co-Operative Cutlery Society. They also made good open razors.
In the 1911 census Charles, aged 31, is listed as a 'razor blade grinder' and 'workman', ie employed.
Below: the premises in Athol Road in 1940 (on the right, foreground):
Attachment 165432
And below in 2009 when it belonged to Walker Manufacturing, shortly before being demolished:
Attachment 165433
The company remained at the Athol Road address into the 1960s, a time when there were only two other razor makers extant in Sheffield (Ragg & Cadman), Ragg buying out Myers. By the 1990s all operations had ceased.
Regards,
Neil
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Hippo, don't forget to take some pics for us and check out the Kropp razor club. They're fantastic razors :D
LINK: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...eam-kropp.html
