Thread: A find at my Grandma's

Hello! My first post here, quite obviously. In the past few months I've abandoned multi-bladed razors, picked up a double edge, and was looking for a straight razor. As theoretical-luck would have it, I wound up acquiring these when we cleaned out my grandmother's house in preparation for her estate sale. Due to the large size of the pictures, I'm simply going to provide links to each of them. The first one is black, and has "United Special" "Guaranteed English Steel" printed upon it, and appears to be in the original box. The second is in a box marked "Jas. J. Scott. Warranted. Hand Forged" The second one is a tad more mystery to me: the letters of the manufacturer have been worn off, and "Razor Co. XLNT" (The XLNT appears below the Razor Co, which curves above it. I believe that, if the whole manufacturer's name was there, it would curve like a rainbow over the XLNT. My apologies for the crappy simile.) There are the faded remains of part of the end of the manufacturer's name on the blade, and previously I had thought them to say "ORTIER" but looking now it looks more like "ORTH," though what letters I see seem to change every time I look. Can you guys tell me anything about these blades? Also, my mother thinks that the second one is an actual ivory handle, but someone I sent the pictures to seemed to think it was most likely faux-ivory. Thank you in advance for anything/everything you can tell me about these, by the way.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2732.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2733.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2734.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2735.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2736.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2737.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2738.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2739.jpg

I don't know about those razors, but it must be nice to have something from the family in your hands. Hope they clean up well and shave great for you.

X

So nobody has any ideas as to the source of these blades? =\

If you had some pics of the stampings on those razors, I might be able to take a guess. As is??

Hard to tell from those pics, you might be able to restore them without too much effort.

The ORTH could be OPHIR.

The XLNT could be a Wolstenholm, but, but, but. After the success of the Wolstenholm line and the fact that the company would use lettering similar to that other manufacturers started using similar lettering.

They are pretty. Congrats on the finds, sorta.

Originally Posted by Silvio

Hello! My first post here, quite obviously. In the past few months I've abandoned multi-bladed razors, picked up a double edge, and was looking for a straight razor. As theoretical-luck would have it, I wound up acquiring these when we cleaned out my grandmother's house in preparation for her estate sale. Due to the large size of the pictures, I'm simply going to provide links to each of them. The first one is black, and has "United Special" "Guaranteed English Steel" printed upon it, and appears to be in the original box. The second is in a box marked "Jas. J. Scott. Warranted. Hand Forged" The second one is a tad more mystery to me: the letters of the manufacturer have been worn off, and "Razor Co. XLNT" (The XLNT appears below the Razor Co, which curves above it. I believe that, if the whole manufacturer's name was there, it would curve like a rainbow over the XLNT. My apologies for the crappy simile.) There are the faded remains of part of the end of the manufacturer's name on the blade, and previously I had thought them to say "ORTIER" but looking now it looks more like "ORTH," though what letters I see seem to change every time I look. Can you guys tell me anything about these blades? Also, my mother thinks that the second one is an actual ivory handle, but someone I sent the pictures to seemed to think it was most likely faux-ivory. Thank you in advance for anything/everything you can tell me about these, by the way.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2732.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2733.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2734.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2735.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2736.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2737.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2738.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...a/IMGP2739.jpg

The more important thing is not the maker of these razors,but who's razors they were? If they belonged to a member of your family you just stumbled upon precious family heirlooms to pass down to your sons and their sons.So get busy and get those razors in shaving mode.That is one great find! CONGRATS!!

Here is a pic of a Wolstenholm tang




Does it look like that?

Welcome to SRP ! The second one is celluloid not gen ivory. If you decide to pursue shaving with those go to the SRP Wiki at the toolbar above to the left. Scroll down for many tutorials on what you need to know to be successful at straight razor shaving. There is a learning curve but you will find it worth the effort if you go throught it. I don't know about the makers of those but someone may come along who can tell you.

Originally Posted by Blackstangal

The more important thing is not the maker of these razors,but who's razors they were? If they belonged to a member of your family you just stumbled upon precious family heirlooms to pass down to your sons and their sons.So get busy and get those razors in shaving mode.That is one great find! CONGRATS!!

The history of them is unknown, due to their being found in my grandmother's house whilst cleaning for her estate sale. It's believe that they were one of my grandfather's, but which is unknown. I've every intent to clean them up to shaving-shape. I'm just really curious as to their history. I have yet to figure out a method for getting the inscription on the blade to show up when aiming my camera at it. Perhaps I'll try it in a different lighting environment, and see if that helps. Both of them possess very simple inscriptions. As I'm sitting here examining them, I'm beginning to think they're probably of a semi inexpensive brand. Partially due to the generations of frugality that existed on that side of the family, and partially due to the feel of them. I'm thinking that while one may have a rather ornate design, I'm beginning to think that both are actually just plastic. Hopefully, with my next post, I'll be able to provide you with some up-close pictures of the inscription.

Originally Posted by Silvio

The history of them is unknown, due to their being found in my grandmother's house whilst cleaning for her estate sale. It's believe that they were one of my grandfather's, but which is unknown. I've every intent to clean them up to shaving-shape. I'm just really curious as to their history. I have yet to figure out a method for getting the inscription on the blade to show up when aiming my camera at it. Perhaps I'll try it in a different lighting environment, and see if that helps. Both of them possess very simple inscriptions. As I'm sitting here examining them, I'm beginning to think they're probably of a semi inexpensive brand. Partially due to the generations of frugality that existed on that side of the family, and partially due to the feel of them. I'm thinking that while one may have a rather ornate design, I'm beginning to think that both are actually just plastic. Hopefully, with my next post, I'll be able to provide you with some up-close pictures of the inscription.

Semi inexpensive or not.What seems to be plastic could be bakelite and by the looks of the ornate one,it looks vintage.Some vintage razors had scales that were made from a waxie plastic-like substance,the ornate razor seems to have the same material I described.Some models of the Bresneck Dubl Duck razors had scales made from that material,I believe.I'll stay in tune with this post for I am curious about you alsome find.Hope you can show pics in the near future.