Age of this J.Wiss & Son razor?

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How's it going. I recently purchased this razor from Ebay. 1st razor, I work in Newark so I thought it was an interesting choice and it has so far worked well.

My question is on the age of the blade. J. Wiss & Son was open from 1885 - 1969, which is almost a century. Does anyone know a more precise age, maybe within 10 years or if it is over 100 years old? The only thing I have is that it is still squared, which if I recall, was going out of fashion near the turn of the 1900's.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

- Jesse

First, you have the dates of J Wiss a little wrong. The company was started in 1848 as Jacob Wiss Cutlery. In 1885, a few years after Jacob's death, the two sons renamed the company to J. Wiss & Sons. Then it was in business until December 1, 1976. At that point it became part of Cooper Hand Tools.

Razors were made from near the beginning of the company. Popularity of straight razors plummeted after WWI. J Wiss ceased making them in the middle 1920s.

There are two catalogs of Wiss razors on the web. The razors with names, like your Wiss Special, are completely different between the catalogs. Yours does match the one in the 1915 catalog:

J. Wiss And Sons Co - 1915 Catalog: Page 53

Don.

That catalog is amazing! If only more companies had archived that kind of material it would give us so much more information to work with.

No company archived that catalog. Except for my catalog collection from the 1970s, I bought all the catalogs from either a trade catalog dealer or on eBay.

Don,

Are you any relation to the cutlers? If so, is there any more you can tell us about their history?

I am one of many descendants.

I've put everything on their history at my website: J. Wiss & Sons Co. - Scans of vintage books, pamphlets, catalogs, ads, etc.. Razors were eradicated from their history after they stopped making them. I was fortunate to come across these two catalogs. I also have a razor ad elsewhere at the site and an image of a razor ad not in my collection that isn't at the site.

Thanks for sharing, that catalog is really cool indeed. Imagine a 7 days set in a hard case and 7 strops for the princely sum of $30! I wouldn't have guessed my Cosmo was that old, it must have lived a fairly pampered existence as it has aged quite gracefully and still holds a whopper of an edge.

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Originally Posted by DonWiss

I am one of many descendants.

I've put everything on their history at my website: J. Wiss & Sons Co. - Scans of vintage books, pamphlets, catalogs, ads, etc.. Razors were eradicated from their history after they stopped making them. I was fortunate to come across these two catalogs. I also have a razor ad elsewhere at the site and an image of a razor ad not in my collection that isn't at the site.

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I find it odd that they would, as you put it "eradicate" razors from the company history. Surely there's nothing shameful about having made razors.

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Originally Posted by DonWiss

I am one of many descendants.

I've put everything on their history at my website: J. Wiss & Sons Co. - Scans of vintage books, pamphlets, catalogs, ads, etc.. Razors were eradicated from their history after they stopped making them. I was fortunate to come across these two catalogs. I also have a razor ad elsewhere at the site and an image of a razor ad not in my collection that isn't at the site.

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I saw in your site that you collect pics as they go by ebay! There is one in ebay at thr moment...

Attachment 144576i didnt see this one in your pic collection but it is in the catalog

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Originally Posted by robert2286

i didnt see this one in your pic collection but it is in the catalog

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I got its pictures. There are about two years worth of pictures that I have harvested but not yet put up at my site.

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Originally Posted by DonWiss

I got its pictures. There are about two years worth of pictures that I have harvested but not yet put up at my site.

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Sweet! Btw i really like that site and all the history thats on it! Great job on collecting all that data

Welcome aboard Don! Glad to see one of the desendants of the company a member of SRP.

J. Wiss & Sons are some good razors if all are as good as the one I have. I originally thought I gave too much for mine as it needed honing and a scale repair but after honing it up and giving it a shave I was well satisfied especially considering it came with the original case.

I repaired the scale, see pics 4 (before) & 5 (after) and was happy with the results. I didn't think I gave too much after the repair.

What's the number on the tang? A 2L should be white. Wiss didn't make many single shoulders.

One downside of my putting these catalogs on the web is I've created competition when I bid on a razor at eBay.

Don,

Thanks for responding! I haven't seen very many J.Wiss & Sons razors for sell. What I did read said they were quality razors and I have to agree there. I haven't seen many razors of any kind with that kind of leather case. I would appreciate any info on mine.

The number on the monkey tail/tang is 2S145.

I took a quick look at your link but could only find the 145 which mean single shoulder. Will take a closer look later.

The 2S is on this page: J. Wiss And Sons Co - 1915 Catalog: Page 69

Oval Pearl Finish - silver tipped

The 45 is Medium Thin Concave - 5/8"

Looking at my harvested pictures I find I do not have a 2S. That means none have appeared on eBay in the past six years.

I didn't buy mine on ebay, bought it from a neighbor. Not sure where he got it.

Nice to know the correct name for the scales. I've been calling them cracked ice, show's what I know.

Appreciate the info.