Thread: Henry Sears and Son #20

I have my wife’s grandfathers straight razor. On the left side, it says manufactured by Henry Sears and Son. on the right side, it has the number 20. I cannot find anything matching this on the Internet. Everything else seems to say a date and there is no date on this. Can anyone help me with info?

Welcome to SRP. You have come to the right place. There are lots of good gents here to help you find what you are looking for.
As a default I would say do a search. The search box, along with an advanced search engine is in the upper right hand corner. However, I think I can help you with that information.

Henry Sears started out as an importer of, among other things, German razors. Henry Sears & Co. was founded circa 1865 in Chicago IL. The dates that you saw online were referring to the founding date, NOT the date the razors were made. Also #20 is a style number. Sometimes it was accompanied by a fraction (1/2, 5/8, 7/8) which was the width of the blade. In 1879 the business name changed to Henry Sears Mfg. which remained until 1883 when the name was changed again to Henry Sears & Son which was in operation until 1897. That means that your razor was made somewhere in that time line, probably toward the later end. Also it means that it was made in the US instead of being a contracted import razor. This started I believe at the time when his son joined the business in the early 80s but may have been earlier by a few years.
Another good place to check is http://strazors.com

That is Manah's site who is a member here.

Post some pictures of it and we can give you some information and advice about the condition and what your options are about what you can do with it. That notwithstanding, whatever you do, DO NOT attempt to restore it by yourself at this point in the game. I think I rightly assume that you are new to this hobby and are, at the moment curious for information. If this is an heirloom you really don't want to screw it up on your first restore attempt. Many of us.have done it. Also you may have been looking for a more exact date and origin but, sadly, that is really a pretty tight timeliness considering that your best guess is generally a 20 year window.

Enjoy your stay and look around. There are lots of gentlemanly topics covered here besides just razors.

Thanks so much. I had found the information on the company, but nothing that matched the model number info. I’m not sure how to post photos here?

Also, here is a link to a thread about a fabulous one of mine that I restored.

https://sharprazorpalace.com/custom-...ml#post1905357

They are BTW exceptional shavers and were made (the US made ones) at the peak of the hayday of American steel. It is very hard and a trick to hone to shave ready but had great keennesd and edge retention and well worth it once it is there.

In the top right corner of the reply box there is a task bar with several icons. Click on the one that looks like a picture frame.



That will take you to a menu where you can pick the origin, the photo and then upload.

That baby needs some Love!!!

Yes, I doubt it has been cleaned/sharpened/used since the 1930s or 1940s, but it is a family thing, so you know....
Thanks so much for your help!

That is a very nice example and totally worth restoration. It is whats known as a rattler, also known (erroneously) as a faux frameback. It is made to resemble a frameback which I always thought was wierd since a frameback is made to be a cheap alternative to a forged and completely ground all hardened steel razor (not all rattlers were but that one is). A rattler like yours, on the other hand, requires great skill to bring to completion....anyway, it has some hone wear, that's the worn part on the spine, but not too much. I have ones I have restored that had way more hone wear than that one.

You have some options. If you plan to use it you could get it restored, or at the very least cleaned and honed ( Again, DO NOT try to "sharpen" it yourself) by someone versed in it. Or if you just want to keep it as a family momento then you could get some metal polish and clean it up and put it in a.shadow box for a wall hanging or the like. There are lots of.people here who offer those services. The metal polish you could do yourself but very carefully.

That's a nice razor you have there Mivie. Plenty of life left in it for sure. Properly honed it should shave a treat. Love those rattlers.