Thread: Help on Razor Point.

Originally Posted by LERigney

I have a Trenton Razor made in Solingen Germany. It belonged to my great-great grandfather and still in very good condition. I have not been able to find much information on the razor outside of the fact that Trenton made razors from 1880-1906. My question is about the point of the razor. It has a half moon cut out of the tip. Outside of this it looks like a square point. The following link has a picture of a razor similar to mine.

Vintage Straight Razor Case Bakelite Straight Razor OLD

Is there a reason this razor has a point like this, or is it purely aesthetics? Thanks for any help you could give me.

It's called a barber's notch. There's a nice thread about it here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ers-notch.html

Theories being that it allowed a barber to open the razor one-handed, that it was used to mark spots in the lather (e.g., a wart), or that it allowed the razor to shave under the nostrils more easily. I just like the way it looks, though.

Incidentally, I've seen a few razors listed on eBay saying that there was a chip in the blade and it took me a few minutes to realize that they meant the intentional notch.