Thread: Brown Brothers Straight Knife

Hi All! I would appreciate any help to date this knife. It's marked Brown Razor Co. Little Valley, N. Y. The only thing I could find on the company was that they were in business from the late 1880's through perhaps 1939. Then the name was changed to Union Cutlery Co. I know nothing about knives. My husband got this when he was stationed in Alaska in the late 60's. I believe the tortois patten is celluloid. And I know that the blade IS sharp. It looks like it was stored dirty and needs a good cleaning. Thanks in advance, Betty

I'd say it's from the '30's. The blade is a bit haggard to say the least. With pitting that bad on the edge, you might have a hard time getting it honed up past the pitting.

Thanks for the reply! Most of the time I can't take detailed pictures for nothing. But these sure showed every pit on it. I'm not interested in getting it honed. Was thinking of listing it on a site to sell and I like to include all the information I can. Thanks again and I probably will post other knives when I can get hubby to let of of them. lol Betty

PS- It's a Razor, not a knife! Good luck with your treasure, there.

I moved your thread out of the club forum and into the "Razors" forum for more visibility.

I don't know about Brown Razor Co. specifically but hopefully someone else can give you more information about them. I do know that Union Cutlery had some good little razors. I have a Union Cutlery Spike and love it -- not sure about their other razors, but the Spike is pretty easy to find even today.

The Brown Razor Co. of Little Valley appears to be a brand name used by the Union Cutlery Co. prior to 1902. After 1902 it became the Brown Razor Co. of Tidioute, PA, and later Oleon, NY. I hope I'm wrong, but that pattern of rust could be the result of celluloid rot, a degenerative condition of the celluloid scales (or handles) that causes the blade to rust. I have seen it most frequently with scales with a mottled pattern such as these. It's hard to tell just from photographs, but it raised a red flag in my weary brain when I saw it.

Regards - Walt