Thread: Wade & Butcher 8/8 and Geo. Wostenholm I*XL 7/8

I picked these up this past Sunday.

Co-incidentally they are both have the same inscription "The Celebrated Extra Hollow Ground Razor" on the blades. And they were purchased from two different vendors.

Can anyone tell me the approximate date of these razors?
I'd like to restore and use them, should I attempt it myself? I don't have the equipment to hone them, so they would have to be sent out for that. But I can put the time in to sand out the imperfections/pitting in the blade.
Is it possible that the scales on W&B are original? They are really rough, does replacing them affect the value of the razor?

Thanks in advance to anyone with answers.

I am not sure of the handle material of the W&B but it doesn't look original. The Madrid Trade Accords of 1891 required the country of origion not just the city to be on the shank in order to protect the copywrite brand. So the W&B blade is pre 1891 but probably no earlier than 1870s or so. The second blade must have the "Made In..." on the other side but the same applies. If it says Sheffield, England it is 1892 or later. Having said that - celluloid didn't come into common use until 1870 so assuming the handles are original celluloid the blade is no earlier than 1870.

I am willing to bet the WOSTENHOLM says Sheffield, England on the other side and the pins in the handle look 20th century.

Wolste's blades were so popular that people would copy there trademarks a little. So it would not be uncommon to find the dual inscriptions. You more commonly find the IXL or some other Roman numeral inscribed to add to the buyers confusion. The buyer thinking they were buying a subsidiary of Wolste and they were not.

Originally Posted by John Crowley

I am willing to bet the WOSTENHOLM says Sheffield, England on the other side and the pins in the handle look 20th century.

Originally Posted by singlewedge

Wolste's blades were so popular that people would copy there trademarks a little. So it would not be uncommon to find the dual inscriptions. You more commonly find the IXL or some other Roman numeral inscribed to add to the buyers confusion. The buyer thinking they were buying a subsidiary of Wolste and they were not.

Thanks for your comment "singlewedge", I guess I should have posted each blade separately so I could have posted more pics of each razor.

Thanks for the info John, very helpful and informative...and you are bang on with your bet! And "celluloid" was the term I couldn't remember when trying to describe what the scales looked like. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe they are celluloid scales.

The Scales on the W&B are wood and on closer examination look home-made, so I am assuming that they are not original. So new scales will be the way to go for this one. The scales on the Wostenholm are in good enough condition that with a good cleaning will show very nicely!

John...good to see you posting again.