Thread: Moravia razor - a trip to history made in Czechoslovakia

Here is my little story about one razor.

One day, I told my parents who live in the Czech Republic that I am into straights and asked my father if he had his Grandfather's razors. My Great Grandfather was serving in Czechoslovak Legions in WWI, he was a man of great honour (Czechoslovak Legions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Dad dearly loved him and has a lot of his memorabilia (including his military uniforms and decorations) intact and very well cared for. He has the razors, too and I cannot wait to inspect them when I visit my parents the next time.

But that is not my story. My parents also told my grandparents. My Grandma, a vigorous lady in her 70s, embarked on a quest of finding some treasures for me in her local antique shops. She is from a small town which has (like many small towns in the Czech Republic) long history and rich tradition in crafts and industry.

She discovered and bought a blade that looked like new but which (according to the shop clerk) could be as old as from 1920s-1930s. Its tang is stamped with the town name and with a fairly common gentleman's name. The shop clerk also told her that a gentleman of that name was a local pre-WWII entrepreneur who owned a factory manufacturing high precision surgical instruments.

Now that made me hooked. Not only is it my first razor made in pre-war Czechoslovakia (we Czechs are fond of our pre-communist achievements), but I became interested in the history of the local manufacturer and its razors, too.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find any internet sources mentioning that gentleman or his works. Nothing, zero, nada. Who had to step in to save the day? My Grandma again! She managed to track down a lady (in her 60s now) who is a grand daughter of the mysterious entrepreneur. The lady was quite surprised but also very pleased that someone is running research on her family legacy. Obviously, they are proud of their old man and she promised to share some facts about him and about his factory. Thank you Grandma, you are better than internet, well done!

Enough talking. Here is the first picture of the razor that my parents sent me. If it is as old as said, it is in a remarkably good shape. Stainless steel perhaps? (surgical instruments!) I will not know for sure until I have it in my hands which can take months.



I hope I'll have some more pictures and pieces of the story to share, soon (of course only if you are interested ).

Its beautiful! I cant wait to hear the rest of the story. God bless your grandma.

EDIT: Thanks for the link to the history of the legions, what a story!

Good looking razor and a GREAT story to go with it. Congrats.

Awesome research and story! Keep it up! We are waiting.

So cool! As a member of a family whose history was nearly completely erased by WWII, I wish there were those alive who could provide a link back like that. My granfatehr is alive, and has some knoweldge of those in the generation before him, but doesn't even know town names, let alone individuals in that town.

I can't wait to hear more! And the Legions...WOW! ANother remarkeable piece of history.

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Viktor

A very nice razor! The story that will come with it adds to the personal value. I remove tarnish, rust and grime from the razors I buy but I do like to leave personal patina like initials. Hopefully I will only be part of the history behind the blades I have and not the end of it's history. Enjoy your razor and regards to your wonderful Grandmother!

Thank you for your kind words, gentlemen. The history of the Czechoslovak Legions is very interesting indeed, here is a good site with some more data and one with great photographs:

The Czechoslovak Legions 1914-1920
http://www.czechlegion.com/

My Grandma will be thankful and thrilled for your regards!

That looks like a really nice razor! The history really adds to the story but your grandmother is the real treasure! She is a keeper

The razor looks very nice, indeed...
I love the feeling when you hold some thing in your hand and know what's its history background...
It is also very nice to be the one to whom is this history transferred to...
I was in Czech republic few years ago, I visited Prague and I was absolutely thrilled with it's history, and historical monuments...