Need razor ID.

[bokerblade]

Need help with ID on the straight razor. There is no name only I-BARBER AND SILVER STEEL. Would this razor be for late 1800's?

[Voidmonster]

Isaac Barber, 38 Meadow Street, Sheffield.

It's a period copy of a John Barber razor, or at least according to the John Barber ad in this thread.

My guess is that it was made between the late 1820's and the late 1830's. Much, much later the Joseph Elliot company bought the I. Barber trademark, but this razor long predates that.

[smalltank]

I suspected john barber as well :-)

[bokerblade]

Are these very desirable razors?

[Voidmonster]

Are these very desirable razors?

Providing they're in good shape, I haven't found any razors from the 1800-1840 period to NOT be at least somewhat desirable.

[manah]

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...er-please.html

or at least according to the John Barber ad in this thread.

Uppppsss .... Sorry.
Didn't see.

[Voidmonster]

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...er-please.html

Uppppsss .... Sorry.
Didn't see.

I was being too sneaky with my link. No worries!

[Neil Miller]

A little chronology:

1797 - Isaac & Thomas Barber, pocket knife cutlers listed in Robinsons Directory of the same year
1802 - John Barber apprenticed to razor maker (John Fell)
1822 - Isaac Barber, pen-knife maker, Eyre Street, listed by Baines Gazeteer of that year
1823 - John Barber acquires his Freedom, becomes razor and razor strop maker at 29 South Street
1828 - John Barber moves to Norfolk Street
1834 - John Barber dies - company continues as 'John Barber & Son'
1839 - John Barber and Sons advert warns that razors marked @I.Barber' are 'inferior copies'
1845 - Isaac is joined by James Barber to form I & J Barber
1847 - John Barber's 'Old English' razor production taken over by Stephen Martin
1852 - Stephen Martin listed as 'late John Barber) and Old English Razor and strop maker, 29 Norfolk Street and 19 Sycamore Street
1854 - Isaac dies
1859 - James dies
1864 - John A. W. Barber (John Barber's grandson) announces that he will be making razors in West Street at the Portland Works
1868 - the old John Barber marks are seen once again in the Sheffield Directory of that year
1869 - John A W Barber takes William Jackson to court for trademark infringement (both used a masonic compass and square) - loses case
1870s - the enterprise being unsuccessful, the John Barber story finishes once and for all.
1871 - Harriet Barber, widow of James, listed as director of I & J Barber
1893 - Harriet defends the companies marks in court
1897 - Harriet dies
1900 - 1928 - I & J Barber are at the ERA works, Sheffield
1928 - I & J Barber marks are acquired by Joseph Elliot

My question is, why would a razor maker (John Barber) operating at around the same time as another razor maker (Isaac Barber) use the 'I. Barber' mark on his razors? Perhaps he was a kindly soul who wanted to drum-up trade for his competitor? No, I think not. John Barber had his own corporate marks which he seems to have used freely. He became famous for the original 'Old English' brand and his company described itself as 'successors to George Shepherd' and used his 'Wolf' mark as well as their own compass and square.

Isaac Barber is described as a pen-knife maker in the old directories, but it is well known that pen-, spring- and pocket-knife makers also made razors - both skills involve the formation of the blade, its heat treatment and tempering and mounting in scales, besides, making folding knives is a far more complex process than making folding razors. That the company of Isaac and James Barber made razors is undisputed - they were granted the ERA corporate mark among others.

The only reason I can see that would explain 'I. Barber' meaning 'John Barber' is if you adopt the roman alphabet, which has no letter 'J' and which uses an 'I' instead, but this seems a bit far-fetched, especially when we consider that John Barber had his own corporate mark. In 1839 they placed an advertisement in trade journals, at the bottom of which is this:



So even at that early date there seems to have been no confusion - John Barber and Son categorically deny that they made razors marked 'I. Barber'.

I suspect that this particular myth is the result of some historian not doing enough research. If John Barber did use 'I. Barber' on his razors than it will be recorded in writing somewhere in the Sheffield Cutlery Registry of Trademarks and I for one would like to see hard evidence of it, otherwise it only makes sense - to me, at least - that John Barber made J. Barber razors and Isaac Barber made I. Barber razors.

Regards,
Neil

[Voidmonster]

So even at that early date there seems to have been no confusion - John Barber and Son categorically deny that they made razors marked 'I. Barber'.

I suspect that this particular myth is the result of some historian not doing enough research. If John Barber did use 'I. Barber' on his razors than it will be recorded in writing somewhere in the Sheffield Cutlery Registry of Trademarks and I for one would like to see hard evidence of it, otherwise it only makes sense - to me, at least - that John Barber made J. Barber razors and Isaac Barber made I. Barber razors.

I hope I wasn't giving the impression that John Barber made the I. Barber razors, because the conclusion I'd come to is exactly the one you did (though with far less data. )

I did not know that John Barber was the originator of the Old English razors, that explains some things.

[bonitomio]

Thought I´d throw a pic up just for some completion :P
Excuse the pitting - its just as I received it.