Thread: Wade & Butcher -J. Wiss & Sons Razor Pick Up

The Wiss concern was started by Jacob Wiss. He had come to America from Switzerland in 1847, was apprenticed to an Austrian for a year and then set up his own shear-making company in 1848. Jacob died in 1880 and his son Frederick took over. Their catalogues for 1907, 1915, and 1925 all featured a number of razors, but no razors appeared in the 1927 catalogue, just scissors, snips and shears, so razor production ceased isomewhere between 1925 and 1927.

They had many lines of their own razors stamped with their brand alone. An advertisement from 1853/4 shows a razor, so they certainly had razors not many years after the company began in 1848, so maybe the early razors were imports from sheffield. There is an anecdote of Frederick Wiss visiting sheffield (he is said to have gone there several times) and asking to see 'the best shears you have' in a tradesmans shop - all the shears laid out were Sheffield made ones. The tradesman is supposed to have replied "you won't find them there sir" and reaching below the counter he produced a set of shears and gave them to Frederick, who was mightily pleased to see that they bore the 'Wiss & Sons' trademark! Apocryphal or not, it makes a good story!

1853 ad:



Another ad:



Regards,
Neil

Thank you for the historical information. I was reading a site about Wiss and the links to the advertisments, but unfortuantely I could not find a mention of Wade & Butcher. This razor will fit in nicely with my Sheffield collection and my NY, NJ, CT collection.