So I've done some digging around and found nothing in the antique stores. Not even a ghost, the sale associates say they've never had them. Is there a certain type of antique store that's more likely to have old barber shop stuff?
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So I've done some digging around and found nothing in the antique stores. Not even a ghost, the sale associates say they've never had them. Is there a certain type of antique store that's more likely to have old barber shop stuff?
I just try to hit up all the 2nd hand and antique stores I can find. I've yet to find one with a straight razor.
It can be hit and miss...some places have zippo and others have twenty. When I've run out of options or to explore new areas, I use google maps with 'antiques' as the search term. Here's your map: antiques - Google Maps
IMHO, thrift stores and 2nd hand stores are a waste of time on the West Coast. My city wasn't even founded until after the Civil War...and even then, the population didn't go over 10,000 until well into the 1900's.
Call ahead on stores too far out of your exploration area. When I visit stores, I make it quick by asking the guy at the counter, 'hey, how you doin' on straight razors'. If he says that he doesn't have any, I just do a cursory check and move along to the next store.
Today I hit 3 shops, one huge place had at least 20 DE's and not a hint of a straight, the next had a box of 20+ at HIGH $'s and one has a few just sitting on the bare shelf for next to nothing... so I bought em :p
Part of the fun on these outings, you never know what your going to find... May go back and grab up a war era torray :)
Yeah, that's the way it works. The other thing I've noticed is just because I've found goodies in a particular shop doesn't mean it always has them and, conversely, just because I've not found them in a particular shop doesn't mean it never has them. Mainly luck and persistence in my experience. Though I'm in Europe so most places have a foundation prior to the American Civil War, hadn't considered stuff like that as a factor which it fairly obviously could be.Quote:
Originally Posted by DwarvenChef
I recently hit 20 Antique shops in a Sydney suburb and got nothing. The next day I went to a different suburb and picked up 3 nice pieces after looking in less than 10 stores. Sometimes it can just be the location and the type of customer they're targeting.
You never know where you might find a straight razor . I've found most of mine at flea markets , some at antique bottle shows , some at antique gun shows , and once I had one given to me , but a big chunk was missing from the blade . I thanked the lady for it , and threw it away when I got back home . You need to always be on the lookout for razors , if you want to find any good deals .
Try the antique malls, which are just groups of small antique booths. You have more items available, but in my experiences the malls are a bit pricier. Some vendors allow the clerks to adjust prices, so always negotiate price -- buyers have leverage in this economy. Here in central FL the malls are usually near an interstate or highway.
I find your more likely to get something in the more hard up type shops, & those that sell more junk. In my experience, proprietors of decent antique shops will generally look at you as though you've just suggested a quickie with their daughter, should you enquire about straights.
Have you had any success using this approach? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ben.mid
Regards - Walt
Lol!
Ben's right! Most of the stores over here either look at you like you're mad or show one solitary razor, covered in rust, with a price tag that would make Warren Buffet blanch.
Pickings arent so good in London it must be said! Occasionally you luck out at a street market, but most of the time its eBay for me..! :)
Just a guess, but all the antique shops have probably been cleaned out by collectors and SRP members......;)
This has been my experience also.I've more often found razors in the seedier antique shops.The ones that seem to accumulate lots of stuff and it's maybe not that organized.The high-end wannabe ritzy shops are extremely clean and pricey but stick their nose in the air if anyone should even suggest anything as base and primitive as a straight razor.I had a snobby antique dealer ask me if I was suicidal when I asked if he had any.Quote:
I find your more likely to get something in the more hard up type shops, & those that sell more junk.
You know, I haven't tried, but I really do think there's a higher likelihood of success if I were to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt
Antique fairs are possibly a better candidate, if you ever have any take place around you.
I had a lady say this to me also, then asked me if I was auditioning for Sweeney Todd. Hers were all far overpriced so I left without buying. $300 for a broken Boker is too much for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by aroliver59
Sorry, we don't have any problems finding straight razors in antique shops, flea markets or estate sales. The problem we have is having enough money on hand to buy all the razors we find. Antique shops are not retail stores in the normal sense. Ya never know what is going to be stocked on their shelves and what the shelves will be restocked with. While buying from an antique shop usually costs less money than ebay there are overheads like time, gas and wear and tear in your car that increases the cost. If I were to resell my finds and account for the overhead there are times ebay would be cheaper. We enjoy the hunt, the time together and perusing the shops. Straight razor finds are a bonus. We just picked up six razors today. We may get to post pics before the end of the weekend if Jr and I get them honed up. If you can afford the time keep at it and you will make some scores.
You don't find the razors; the razors find you.
Don't forget, it only takes one collector in your area to wipe out all the straights in an antique shop.
I must just be very lucky ware i live because 80% of the shops around me always are getting razors in. and the flea market i go to every week has them almost ever week, that people sell for next to nothing. They do find you!
I have been lucky since i got into straights, most antique stores around me have them, though you have to look for them, and over here anyway, locked up, so never on display, but beneath otherstuff, the one place where i seem to get a lot from has them with medals etc in a glass locker, and the other place, he just throws them in a lockable box with a glass lid, i always have to ask him if he has any in, as its impossable to see them under the other stuff he has, the other place i get then from, again, in with the medals locked up.
Many antique stores and flea markets have them in my area of the state. Don't overlook small town coin shops; some of my best finds have been there.
I have had my best luck at antique malls and indoor flea markets. The big time antique stores are primarily used furniture and interior decorating stores. The small dealers in the malls are likelier to handle small items like straight razors. In Colorado I often found them in fringe areas that hit their prime in the late 1800's. I had good luck in areas that were along old railroad routes, but now are just jumping off places for tourists and hunters.
I got lucky on a recent trip to Texas. While shopping with my wife at an antique store, I asked about razors. They didn't have any but said a lady came in trying to sell some. So, I was given her number and to my surprise, I bought 4 nice razors for 50 bucks. One of them is a torrey.
Similar problems here. Either overpriced junk (because "They look nice") or nothing.
An interesting story: I asked one dealer why he no longer had any straights. He told me that until recently in Bergen, the police did not take straight razors off of junkies when they stopped them. The straight razor was classified as a personal item, not a weapon. So apparently, for years the only customers for straights were rather undesirable ones (this dealer said that he stopped selling them after one guy asked to see what he had and promptly began waving one around and ran out of the shop...). And I don't think they oiled them after use...:thinking:
Couple that with factors similar to California (Norway existed long before, but was very poor with few consumer goods until the late 60's) and it is slim pickin's...
regards,
Torolf