Thread: What would he have likely used

I know what my pop used, I saw it. I know what my grand father used, I saw it. Now I am attempting to go further back, to a man who lived most of his life in New York City and probably took up shaving around 1890s and had approximatly fifteen kids, so he did not have the time and dollars for new fangled hardware. He would have gone with the traditional hardware. Any idea what a man of this profile would have used? He would have most likely used the dominant brand of razor at the time. Did Dovo dominate the market around the 1890s through 1920s? Gillette was a new upstart at the time. Who dominated the market in that era?

Interesting question. I agree he likely would not have had a lot of disposable income for fancy things (very productive guy by the way). However, shaving is a deeply personal experience for a guy and what he used would have been more dictated by his personal likes and dislikes.

Originally Posted by dward

Interesting question. I agree he likely would not have had a lot of disposable income for fancy things (very productive guy by the way). However, shaving is a deeply personal experience for a guy and what he used would have been more dictated by his personal likes and dislikes.

hmmm..... I would guess something handed down or picked up at a general store maybe?

You are probably correct ben. His family was all german and his wife's was russian so its entirely possible that his blade of choice was german. Troubble is that the dominant straight maker today, Dovo, was not around when he would have picked a blade. It is also entirely possible that he might have used the one his wife had with her from her family in russia. So the question is what german straight razor makers were around in the late 1800s for Solomon to chose from? What were the russian makers that Golda might have had? What brands of razors would have been sitting around in stores in New York City around 1900. I am doing a bit of research online to come up with an answer and I have seen some John Jay razors which were quite common in the appropriate time frame in New York City. It is much more likely that his was a family heriloom that his pop gave him, the family does not know Solomon's dad's name or anything about him.

Maybe a local brand, Genco?

Google has supplied some pictures of Gencos, and if I do not miss my guess Gencos were american. Solomon probably used a german one since he was born and raised in what would later become germany.

Google has told me that gencos were higher end razors, Solomon would have been a lot more practical since he had a large family he would have wanted to get in and out and get the job done with the minimum of fuss.

I bet he used a Kropp

Just to point out that any razor going back to the time of the American Civil War (or before) would still have been in servicable condition in the 1890's (if properly kept).

In addition, one should not forget that their were still hundreds and thousands of very talented blacksmiths plying their trade at that time not only for farrier work, but also repair of carts, machinery and so forth. Although razor making is somewhat specialized, it is certainly not beyond belief that a metalworker of that time could have produced some fairly good 'one-off' razors (simple wedge design?) were it requested.

very very likely. Google has showed me what the Krops looked like and they were rather plain razors that one might have seen in a general store and were german so he might have gotten it from is pop.

Its also possible, and a lot more likely that he simply bought what he needed from a florida blacksmith after describing what he wanted. I do not think that he would have bought one from an earlier period since he was coming from germany and was not familiar with the local shops and culture. I think he probably bought something from a local florida blacksmith or a cart merchant selling his wares on the streets. Not having the blade around I can not be sure of what he had. He would have come off the boat from germany with some children in tow and throught "I need a razor and strop" saw a cart and bought what he needed.

He likely used the one his father handed down to him.