I have seen this pattern on quite a few razors. Was it a way of marking rejects or seconds?
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I have seen this pattern on quite a few razors. Was it a way of marking rejects or seconds?
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Haven't got a clue..The scales are probably French and the pattern may be side jimps. I have not seen it on any other razors of the few hundred I have handled at one time or another.
I could wish the show side photo was better!
~Richard
Scales are horn. I just made them.
I know manufacturer:
C. F. ERN
MODEL: ATOR
Just could not figure why manufacturer would do that.
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IIRC a number of years ago this was brought up and one of the possibilities given was that this was done by the owner. At times Germany had a bad name as during one of the world wars and no owner wanted a connection to Germany showing. Good as any guess I suppose.
Bob
Of course it can also be the owner wanted heavier jimps than what came with the razor.
Yes, I remember an older thread that showed a boxed Escher/Thuringer stone, the "Germany" part on the label was crossed out and made unrecognizable, seems like a very reasonable explanationQuote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Makes sense that it could be getting rid of the "Germany" on the blade. Remember the hysteria of World War One, when roads were renamed and anything Germanic was edited. In my home town of Baltimore, German Street was renamed Redwood Street. World War one is prime straight razor time, so this explanation holds water.
I guess the removal of Germany is as good an explanation as any. I can't think why you would need side jimps. I don't hold my razor that way at all and I have some razors with no jimping at all and the handling does not suffer for it.
The only reason I can think for having side jimps would perhaps be for the barber who whilst shaving others may hold the razor differently. Whatever the reason it looks like it was done well. I think that a better way to get rid of a name would be to polish it out, and typically the country of origin isn't on both sides.
I guess this is one more thing that we will never truly know.
Maybe he was more like us, just messing around with his razor, a little customizing
Thanks guys. The German idea makes the most sense. Whatever the reason it must have been stamped in with a file because the lines are too evenly spaced.
And the mystery goes on!
Looks like it could have been clamped in a vise. I would think that would have to be done before heat-treat. It seems like anything striking it hard enough to create those indentions after heat-treat could shatter it.
I don't buy the Germany thing. There were zillions of razors made in Germany during that time and if there was such a hysteria they all would have had the script changed but it simply isn't commonplace and only a few razors have it.
I wondered about that too. Unless there were not many razors made in that period, I guess all manufacturing and much of the steel would have been focused on the war effort. Ironically now it is almost a guarantee of quality and we seek out German blades.Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
I do think the fact that there are so few razors like this adds to the mystery and actually it's that history and that wondering who has used it before that makes vintage blades so attractive. Well at least it is for me anyway.
I know a guy who has cut side jimps into one of his razors. He uses that razor to trim/shape his beard - and by beard I mean full on ZZ top style beard. When he trims his beard he does it against a comb to get it straight so he has to turn the razor 90 degrees to the normal shaving hold and the side jimps give him better grip.
So there is one more possible answer, side jimps for cutting hair.
I use an unusual grip on my ATG passes as I shave cross-handed on these strokes. Essentially I grip the sides of the tang with my tumb and the side of my index finger, meaning that it isn't inconceivable that someone might want jimps carved into the sides of their razor tang. Of course, I think the number of guys who use this unorthodox grip are probably few and far between and, speaking from my own experience, the inclusion of jimps isn't at all necessary.
Actually, on the subject of jimps in general, I have a number of different, vintage razors with varying jimp designs. For my part, as a guy who normally uses my index finger and thumb to hold my razor, I have no trouble with any of these razors and actually have a very slight preference for the jimpless razors in my small collection.
I think the germany thing may hold more validity than we think. Razor manufacturing during the actual war would not have been high priority. Editing the name Germany off of the blades wouldnt have happened before the war, and most likely wouldnt have happened after. Again, I could be wrong but I like the logic of the reduced production accounting for fewer edited blades.
