Thread: Mappin razors??

I've owned many incarnations of Mappin's, Mappin Brothers and Mappin and Webb razors including a Lancet Edge that I still own and all have been exceptional shavers.

I have a Mappin Lancet Edge. They were made between 1848 and 1858 if my memory is right. They were charging 2/6 (2 shillings & sixpence) for them at the end of production run and replaced them with the shilling razor, which sold for...? You guessed it, one shilling! That's quite a price drop, but the workmanship involved in producing the shilling razor was a lot less than what was required for the Lancet.

I saw several completely different razors with the "shilling" stamp associated with The mappin surname. I think they were released at different times. About my shilling, I think it was produced before 1851, because this is the year "Mappin's" has already become "Mappins brothers" Therefore, it was released before the appearance of "Lancet Edge". If I say something wrong, correct me.

Thanks Esveka, that's interesting. I based my research on analysis of British newspaper advertising and it seems that the term "Mappin's shilling razor" is found first in 1855 and its frequency rises to a peak in 1857-58. Admittedly, advertising is only a proxy for the actual history. To be more accurate we would have to have access to company records and I don't know whether these have survived. Does anyone in the UK know?