Thread: Revolutionary War Era Razor - are these legit??

I see these hand made razors around from time to time and they are sometimes identified as being from the 1700's based on a picture found in Neumman's Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of The American Revolution. Does anyone know if this seems reasonable and whether there are fakes out there also? I imagine the span of these razors goes well into the 1800's. I have further seen very similar razors of chinese/asian origin and figure they may have made their way out here with chinese immigrantion - which really only began happening after the revolutionary war and into the 1800s.

What is this?

See here for earlier discussion from last month:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post483065

That is helpful thanks. I see there is at least agreement that these may have their origin in China. They also turn up in Japan, and in the US.

The question remains about the dating however. The collector's encyclopedia I mentioned, Neumman's Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of The American Revolution, does indeed have a photograph of this type of razor placing it in the United States in the later 1700's. I am not prepared to dismiss the authenticity of these items if indeed some are well over 200 years old. I enjoy collecting razors and whether or not people feel I too may have been swindled, I picked one of these up and am merely trying to establish the correct age for them. They do indeed appear to be legitimate.

I thought perhaps the knowledgeable gentlemen here would be able to contribute to the information base, and not dismiss these razors perhaps on the basis of their place of origin.

·Antique China Razor:
·Single piece
·Handmade in late 1800s-early 1900s

This is what the ad at Smokey Mtn says. You could call there and see if they know more or would say who supplies them. Apparently, no one here knows any more than that. Maybe the dismissive tone was directed towards ebay listings that imply they are rare or have some special historical significance. So far that claim has not been confirmed here.

Go to the stub tailed shavers in razor clubs here and you'll see razors from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. At least according to Robert Doyle's excellent book 'Straight Razor Collecting'. In general they will have a stub monkey tail, no discernible transition from blade to tang and straight, uncurved, scales. This Cast steel razor is a good example. There are no photos or descriptions of a razor such as the 'Chinese' example in Mr. Doyle's book. I don't know what they are or what era they come from. I have read in the past that they were used for blood letting but I don't know for sure.

Nice razor , Jimmy ! What are those scales made of ?