John Engstrom

[Brando]

I have come across a few of these razors over the years. But I have never seen a rusty indie tarnished. Or have I just been lucky. Does any one know what kind of steel theses are made from. I'm just curious. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Tony

[Neil Miller]

Hi Tony,

It's Johan, BTW! Johan Engstrom's factory ceased production in 1915-17. He was a well-educated steel maker, having studied in Russia, England (in the Wostenholm factory) and other places. The steel, of course, was produced from Swedish iron ore, one of the purest iron ores known. It made such good steel that many countries imported it, including England, Germany and Japan. Some german razor manufacturers even opened their own mines in Sweden. It makes a good, hard, edge-retaining steel.

Not sure what you mean by 'rusty indie tarnished' though?

Regards,
Neil

[Brando]

Sorry Neil it was a typo, I ment to say I have never seen a rusty or tarnished john engstrom razor. Thank you for the info Neil

[Pithor]

I have seen plenty of rusty Engströms.

Funny thing, I've seen one or two John Engstroms Jr., NY razors. My guess is productive progeny that made it to the US.

[Neil Miller]

I have seen plenty of rusty Engströms.

Funny thing, I've seen one or two John Engstroms Jr., NY razors. My guess is productive progeny that made it to the US.

That would be the Little Valley company c1920 - 22:



The Johan Engstrom company in Eskilstuna, Sweden (which is clearly stamped on the OPs razor tang) became SSA - Swedish Steel Forging Co.(Svenska Stalsmides Aktieb or SSA) under Fahle Hammar's control, and they never used the Engstrom mark.

Regards,
Neil

[Neil Miller]

Carrying on with the John Engstrom Jr / Johan Engstrom connection, I have looked at Johan Engstrroms family line. If I am correct, Johan Engstrom (1846 - 1915) was an only son and married Hilma Sandquist and they had one daughter, Tyra Agneta Engstrom, so his line died with him.

However, Engstrom seems to be a fairly common name, and there were very many Engstoms who emigrated to the USA. In New York for example there were a dozen or more listed in the city directory of 1920, including two John Engstroms and a John Engstrom Jr. Various occupations included insurance clerk, woodworker, lumber merchants, mens tailors (John Engstom Jn) and one who described his occupation as 'blower' in an iron firm? The record is handwritten and hard to read, so it could be something else. Another lot of Engstoms in a different state were labourers and miners. An awful lot of Engstroms, and none of them close relations of Johan from Eskilstuna.

To further muddy the waters, some examples of the John Engstrom NY razors have "John Engstrom Jr. Co., Little Valley, N.Y." stamped on one side of the tang and "John Engstrom Jr, formerly of Eskilstuna" on the other side.

Regards,
Neil

[Lemur]

The bottom one is an Engström on it's way to me.
It's also stamped "Sweden" so I guess it was meant for export.

[Dzanda]

*SNIP*

To further muddy the waters, some examples of the John Engstrom NY razors have "John Engstrom Jr. Co., Little Valley, N.Y." stamped on one side of the tang and "John Engstrom Jr, formerly of Eskilstuna" on the other side.

Regards,
Neil

I found this old thread while I was researching something I noticed on eBay: It was an auction for an "Antique Rite Steel John Engstrom Jr Formerly of Eskiltunia Sweden Straight Razor". I assumed that this was another example of a seller misspelling Eskilstuna, but was stunned to see that the razor is really marked the way the seller spelled it!

Is this a fake? It seems hard to believe that Mr. Engström would allow his home town's name to be misspelled on his products.