Thread: 1700's straight razor..

I have dealt with many "dealers" of historical collectibles in my several years as a licensed Auctioneer. One such Gent is located in Florida and is a noted Revolutionary War and Civil War dealer. He and I have had numerous discussions concerning items that are "made up" to be something that they would not normally appear to be. Sometimes these previous owners did this YEARS ago hoping to pass along a historically significant article or item and along with the story of made up provenance, increase its value. This particular dealer had a 7/8 Wade & Butcher masonic etched blade chopper in horn that came along with a letter reported to have been written by relatives of General Robert E. Lee and suggest it was his personal straight razor. This dealer had a price tag of $900 on the razor and associated letter. He admitted that it was unlikely that it was indeed Lee's personal blade. I think you have a very nice early razor that is in fact associated with the box and the note attached but that it is in my professional opinion a "made up" item as to the provenance.

Originally Posted by ace

I love the looks of the razor, and the story that has traveled along with it is compelling. I have to wonder what the motivation was of the person who wrote the accompanying text. I have some razors, but none of them has a text description of when I bought it or what I was up to at the time. I would love to believe all of it, but I cannot resist being somewhat skeptical.

I have to agree, but.... After tracking the history of the person wrote on the top of the box it does match with the dates he lived. Also, he lived and died most of his life 15 miles away from here. I googled his name and revolutionary war and found out he served around the age of 16. The year he married his wife was the same year the war ended. Also His wife's father served in the "german" goverment and was a body guard to the king. I guess he was a large man. He sold his daughters into servatude when they moved to the US...who just so happend to marry the man wrote on the box. I also wonder if maybe they didnt get this razor from him. There is alot of stuff matching up here...but I never will know the whole story behind it. It's just fascinates the hell out of me.

Very cool...even if it is only circumstantial evidence to validate your find, it's cool history to discover. (I'm kind of a history geek though)

Originally Posted by Framedragger79

Should I use mineral oil on the handle too? I took a toothpick and q-tip to the letters before these pics. Most of the surface rust looks easy to come off but the rust is thicker around the lettering itself. Also, how far is it supposed to open? It only goes about 90 deg and I dont want to force it open any farther.

Rubbing some mineral oil in will help break up the rust in the least aggressive way possible, so rubbing it in with a qtip or toothpick should clear up the writing even more. While the oil won't hurt the razor at all, I would only use a little in the areas you are trying to de-rust. A little shouldn't hurt the scales, but I would not recommend applying it liberally to the scales. Really no reason to get it on the scales at all. I don't work with wood much, so I have no idea what you should do to treat the wood. I was really only focusing on de-rusting small areas to make the writing more clear. Also I would not suggest using WD-40 - maybe it's just my personal preference, but I think it's a mess and don't like all the "stuff" in it on my razors.

I absolutely think that razor could be from 1778. The style matches other razors that old that I have seen.

Speaking of the scales: They don't look bad from the pics that show them. If there are scratches, scuffs, or bare spots you might consider linseed oil. However, linseed oil has a darkening effect, and won't go over lacquer or wax if there's any on the scales (doesn't look like it, but can't say for sure).

Peace,

Even if it is not that old, it is still suprising to me to see "GERMANY" stamped on such an old style razor

I'll put a few hours in on it this week and see how it comes out. Is there places that restore old straights like this?

I'm not too sure about discounting the date of the razor by the 'cast steel' mark. The process was perfected in the 1740s by Huntsman, in the late 1760s Andersson set up the first cast-steel works in Sweden, James Watt recalls american steelmaster Matthew Boulton using it in the 1760s - 70s, and Huntsman's process was commemorated in 1792 in a report to the Prince of Wales. Certainly, most of the early cast-steel found its way abroad as Sheffield cutlers discounted it (they didn't like 'change'), and it only came into common usage in Sheffield between 1800 - 1820.

Not too sure about discounting the date because of the word "Germany" either - even Julius Caesar called the country Germania in Roman times. "Germayn" was used in the 14th century. It was called Germany in the late 15th Century when the ailing Holy Roman Empire of the time became known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Although Germany fragmented into separate states/kingdoms, those separate entities were still a part of the German Empire of germanic people until reconsolidated in 1815 under the German Confederation.

Regards,
Neil

Well! There's some history for you.

So far as restoring the straight, go to the classifieds here (in the menu bar above) and then look under "member services" to look over your options. You might be able to find somebody nearby that can do it.


Edit: Just had this thought: You might try taking it to a local museum/historical society to see if they can connect you with someone who could date the paper/ink on the writing of the box, and possibly even the box/razor as well. That could help you validate it.

How did you come across this thing?

I bet the provenance is accurate. It isn't making outlandish claims. It doesn't say George Washington carried this during the revolutionary war. Consider any razor that was around in 1778: There is a good chance that someone used it during the war considering the demographic.

Like BigJim said, its likely an ancestor who wrote it. Especially considering its in the third person.