Thread: Maine Razors

As a Maine-iac, I love things made in Maine.

Does anyone know if there were any razors made in Maine? I know there were a lot in Boston and New York, but as every true mainer knows NY and Mass ddefinately ARENT Maine.

Thanks in advance, ad

I think you'll find most American Razors were made in the late 1800s and very early 1900s and the manufacturing centers ran from Pennsylvania through Mass. I think it unlikely you will find any razors in that era made in Maine in commercial quantities unless there were some one man operations doing custom work.

The Standard Guide to Razors 2nd Ed. lists Maine Barber Supply, Portland ME. It commonly gives the country of origin if not made in US. There is none in this case.

OTOH, I"m looking at one of my razors with the tang marked 'The Maine' 'Portland ME.' It also has 'made in Germany' BUT, this is probably the newest of my old razors. It looks like a 1950's. Maybe they were made in Maine earlier?

Regards

Probably a majority of the razors sold in the U.S have all kinds of sayings on them but they were made foreign for the particular retailer in the U.S. If you were to have a razor actually made in Maine it would probably have to date back to the turn of the century or at least pre WW I. So ask yourself what was Maine like in that era. I would guess mostly fishing, lumber and farming and some light textile. I'm sure there were some individuals doing custom work or work for themselves. Check with your local museums.

http://www.uniclectica.com/misc/manuf.html has two more brands from Maine: Thomas Hanover and C F Ulmer.