Thread: Clauss USMC question

As a former marine, I would really like to have a Clauss USMC razor. I keep checking the bay and a couple days ago I saw this one listed.
Vintage WW2 USMC Clauss Straight Razor w/ Box Excellent - eBay (item 160343070028 end time Jun-26-09 18:20:00 PDT)

My question is: This razor has USMC etched/engraved on the blade itself, not stamped on the tang like the others I have seen.

Can anyone shed any light to this? A later USMC, perhaps? The listing states WWII era.

Another member here, (Leighton?) has had a few and noted that they were around the Spanish War and WWI era, if memory serves me correctly.

I'm wondering if this is an authentic USMC razor. Any knowledge passed on will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

Here is a link to the one I snagged way back when there is some info in that thread hope it helps....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...proud-one.html


BTW here is the info I have on the company

CLAUSS
Elyria, Ohio: ca. 1878-1887
Fremont, Ohio: ca. 1887 - present

Mine does not have USMC on the blade either. I have not touched it since acquiring it from eBay. Someday I will make it shave and shine again!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Here is a link to the one I snagged way back when there is some info in that thread hope it helps....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...proud-one.html


BTW here is the info I have on the company

CLAUSS
Elyria, Ohio: ca. 1878-1887
Fremont, Ohio: ca. 1887 - present

Originally Posted by Croaker

Mine does not have USMC on the blade either. I have not touched it since acquiring it from eBay. Someday I will make it shave and shine again!

Thanks for the inf...hang on a second......sorry, just had to wipe up some envy drool from the desk ..........gotta go.

Kev

There were two Clauss USMC razors. The ones with the USMC on the blade are usually in much worse shape, and the ones with the USMC on the tang tend to be much cleaner, with mint examples fairly common. My belief is the ones with the USMC on the blade were made for the build-up for the spanish-american war andthe phillippines campaign, and the ones with USMC on the shank were made for WWII.

I don't have hard data to back this up mind you - just that the marines have always run on a shoestring budget and the only two events that I can think of that would have been big enough to provide them with a budget for thousands of USMC-marked razors and would also have occurred at the right time for the stylistic details on those two razors.

Originally Posted by mparker762

There were two Clauss USMC razors. The ones with the USMC on the blade are usually in much worse shape, and the ones with the USMC on the tang tend to be much cleaner, with mint examples fairly common. My belief is the ones with the USMC on the blade were made for the build-up for the spanish-american war andthe phillippines campaign, and the ones with USMC on the shank were made for WWII.

I don't have hard data to back this up mind you - just that the marines have always run on a shoestring budget and the only two events that I can think of that would have been big enough to provide them with a budget for thousands of USMC-marked razors and would also have occurred at the right time for the stylistic details on those two razors.

Thank-you. My memory failed me again. It was your response to another thread that I was thinking of. Well, I'll keep an eye on this one and see how it goes.

Someday I'll have one. If not this one, there'll be others.

Cheers,

Kevin

Three or four years ago I got in touch with Clauss Shear Works and asked them when these were made. They told me that the newest catalog they had was a 1922 catalog. There offerings in straight razors dropped of considerably after WWI. They told me they believe these are from the 1890s but they could have been made under contract prior to WWI. Straight razors started to fall out of favor during WWI when the troops were issued double edge razors. This made shaving quicker - which was critical in achieving a good seal with a gas mask.

Thank-you, John, for the insight. Makes sense to me with the advent of chemical warfare around the same time as DEs really catching on. Hmmm.

Kevin

And now I see another thing I need to go in my moto collection. I thought I had it just about sewed up with my grandfathers WWII issue K-Bar and his samurai sword and nambu pistol war trophies. I never knew they made a USMC razor, but since I am a prior service marine and a newly christened straight shaving fan, I HAVE to have one of those! Thanks for enlightening me, brother! Hope you find the answers you are looking for.
Semper Fidelis

The last one I had I honed up and gave to a Marine reservist I worked with. I felt a Marine should have it.

John