Thread: question for the old guys or the ones with the knowledge

A custom maker would probably provide documentation showing where and how it was sourced.
A vintage piece would likely be dated by when the blade was made. Meaning that if you have a stubby razor from the 1800s, the scales would probably be from that period as well, though it would be impossible to prove this if you were ever challenged by law.

Sometimes you can find a specific pattern of ivory razor that keeps reappearing - which, paired with some knowledge of the manufacturer, indicates that the razor was mas produced long before the ivory ban went into effect. One example is this piece by Wostenholm etched with advertising:



You see this razor with some frequency if you keep an eye on sites like eBay. As for dating, it appears in at least one vintage barber supply catalogue that was printed in 1899. (I found the catalogue page reproduced in LW Book Sales' book "Barbershop Collectibles").

Another example is something like this Keen Kutter with a pearl tang. I don't have quite as an exact date on this one, but judging by the construction, it was probably made somewhere around the turn of the 20th century as well. Regardless, Simmons Hardware went out of business well before the ban.



They aren't common, but they do pop up from time to time. In fact, there's one of these on eBay right now.

The only problem is razors can be rescaled so except for matching scales and razors you never know for sure.

Post ban ivory, being illegal I imagine is pretty quite rare and expensive and would be used for things more valuable than a set of razor scales. It doesn't make any sense to use it to scale a razor.