Thread: Philadelphia Straights?

So, I know there are quite a few old distributors from Philadelphia, razors marked "xyz phila." On one side, then "Germany" (or where ever, though germany seems to be the most common) stamped on the other side, but I'm curious, with the big steel hub of Bethlehem just a little ways North, (about an hour or so today, a bit longer back then) if there are any old school Philadelphia brand razors from the 19th - early 20th century who actually made their own straight razors (with local steel) and not just import distributors which seems to be the only ones I can ever find? And if so who were they?

A quick search here at SRP showed a couple of links that might interest you
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ladelphia.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...-co-razor.html

Wolfertz up in Allentown was close.

Thanks leatherstockiings, that creutzberg looks mighty fine, I'm going to have to now include one of those to my "must have" list...

Something that sparked my interest, is A) my current gift idea I'm trying to put together for my brother who lives in philly; and B) I currently have an ABT (American Barber Tools, Phila.) In route, that actually didn't appear to have a German stamp on it like all others I seen, which really peaked my interest.

I searched the forums before posting and for whatever reason I didn't see those threads come up... I knew the deep rooted blade history in the tidiouete/bradford PA region, but never saw a Philadelphia knife co. Made in tidiouete either, very interesting...

I picked up a razor on eBay from a fellow in Lehigh county that cruises flea markets.
What caught my eye, and the reason for bidding was, the stamp "Allentown B. S. C." and "Allentown, Pa." on one side, and "Shamrock" on the other?
I would guess the the BSC is Bethlehem Steel Corp.
I managed to put a nice edge on it and now have a good shaver.

Neckbone, I think B.S.C. probably stands for Barber Supply Company.

Here's a few older ones I have. I haven't researched the Richardson fully, but the other, Justi was a manufacturer of dental instruments in Philadelphia. Both have easily traced addresses in the city (not too far from the Delaware, and actually the Richardson's address is very near to a nice ice cream / soda fountain in modern days).

Originally Posted by starling

Neckbone, I think B.S.C. probably stands for Barber Supply Company.

That makes more sense.

I have a couple American straights that have BSC on them & they stand for Barbers Supply Company. I know this because it says it on the opposite side of the tang plus the box one came in says Barbers Supply Company on it. The one from Allentown had to be just a coincidence.

Arch St must have been a busy spot . L. Herder, T Hessenbruch razors came from there. Fine stuff!

Then, there is Tryon. Razors from this establishment have been posted.