Thread: I came across these old razors, anyone offer some insight?

Hey guys,

I am still brand new here to SRP as of this week and am looking to get into the world of straight shaving. I'm 26 years old and teach High School Science and coach soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Yesterday one of my student-athletes saw a picture of a straight razor on my desktop and told me he had just found 3 of them under a floor board in his house that have probably been there for well... who knows when. Anyways, he brought them in for me to look at, and a snapped a few pictures and wanted to know if anyone here may know a bit about them? My apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, I left my camera at home and was forced to use a 3.2 megapixal one the school library has. I can try to snap some better quality pics when I get home if people need, or want.

The first one seems rather plane with plastic scales.



Its says "Manganese Steel" on one side of the blade shaft and "C & C Barber Shop Supply Co.- Lewiston Maine" on the other side. I live in Maine... any chance this was made locally?

The second on the list seems a little bit better quality and had a box with it.



The Box Reads- "Peter A. Whitemore, Portland, Maine" ... "Made in Germany"

On the shaft of the Blade however is inscribed- "Geneva Cutlery Co."... "Geneva, N.Y.U S.A"

Last one seems to be the most special of the three and also came with a box...





The Box Reads- "Salamander-Wedge"..."Hand Made Razor"... "Made in Salamanderworks Foche- Solingen"



Inscribed on the scales is an emblem that reads "Special Quality- Bedard"



The blade has the same thing on it... "Special Quality- Bedard"



The shaft of the blade reads- "Solingen Germany"

Any insights about these? I don't think the are necessarily anything special, but the sequence of me deciding to start looking into the world of straight razor shaving and then coming across these was pretty cool.

Cheers,

Josh

All three of those could be brought back to shave ready. The Manganese Steel imprint was used by a number of makers but mostly by Wester Bros. of Solingen. The first one looks like a Wester Bros. A lot of corrosion. If it isn't rusty and pitted on the edge it might be brought back. A bit of uneven hone wear there too. It looks to me like it is more worn at the point but it might be the camera angle.

The Geneva is a good American company and they made darn good shavers. I believe they were also branded Genco.

The Salamander is a beauty. Not only because of the gold wash and the scales but it looks to be in good shape and although I am not familiar with the maker I bet it would be a heckuva shaver once honed up.

If that young man is willing to sell those to you send them out to be honed up you would have a mighty nice rotation to start out with.

Basically, you can disregard the boxes, as they don't match up with the razors.

The Geneva one is a reputable brand, and the Solingen one is a keeper as well.

I'll have to look under my floorboards at home too!

Wow. Quite a find. The above posters are correct. The third razor is not a salamander wedge. Or even a wedge, for that matter. However, the third razor appears to be in EXCELLENT shape. Very little hone wear (will appear as a flattening across the spine) or rust.

IMHO, you have a nice starter kit here. You can send them all out for restoration and honing, or if you're crafty like me, send out the third one to be honed and shave with it, while you try out some of the restoration on the first two yourself. I'd start with the second one, because it seems to be an easier task. The Geneva Cutlery Co. makes the list of "good razor brands" on the SRP wiki, so maybe check that out as well.

Lastly, is there any cracking or chipping on the scales (handles)? Especially around the pins? That would also be something to look at when trying to assess the condition of the razor, especially since the scales seem to be original, at least on the third one.

Of course, this all depends on you being able to buy them from the owner

Thanks guys for the responses. I looked over the scales and there are no cracks around an of the pins.

A quick question I have is people keep suggesting this to be a good "starter set" for me. What is the purpose for having more then 1 razor? I have seen 3-7 day sets sold and was curious why someone would want or need more then one. I can understand if they are different sizes/lengths and so you use them for different areas of the face or depending on the amount of facial hair you have...

Cheers,

Josh

Originally Posted by TJoshX

Thanks guys for the responses. I looked over the scales and there are no cracks around an of the pins.

A quick question I have is people keep suggesting this to be a good "starter set" for me. What is the purpose for having more then 1 razor?
Cheers,

Josh

One razor will do and if you are capable of maintaining it yourself that is fine. If you have two or three in a rotation you won't have to touch up as often. If anything happens to one you still have others to shave with.

If you aren't yet skilled in honing having more then one will give you something to shave with until the one you sent out for honing comes back. Also, variety is the spice of life. Straight razors are all the same yet they are all different.

don't tell the guy you don't want the boxes though, always nice to have something to carry a razor in and sometimes other guys have razors and no box and will buy them, might only be a few bucks, or you might give it to them to be nice. either way saving them from the trash. the salamander box doesn't look too bad considering a lot I see. I have a bunch of boxes and although I couldn't care less about them I haven't chucked them yet in case somebody wants/needs one. (for free by the way guys).

Red

These look awesome. These have probably been stored without any use for a long time. A bit of elbow grease and you would get, at least, a couple of brand new-looking razors. Caution: be careful when you clean the one with the gold wash, I read it is very easy to damage it. As for the local razor, I am sure that others would chime in shortly but most likely, it was a contracted razor from another place. However, if it does not have a place of origin is probably VERY! old. I forget the date but I believe it was like 1886 or so when you had to indicate the origin on the tangs, please guys correct me if I am wrong (most likely I am about the date). Now, start cleaning them ;-). I would recommend to have, at least, one honed by a pro so that you know what they should feel like. Congratulations on your find and good luck in your new project ;-).

Al raz.

It looks like you got some nice razors there. Are you going to use them or get your student into the straight addiction?