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Barrell trade marks from Wigan and Salford
I have been fortunate to aquire a nice razor dealt from an old ironmonger in Wigan, England and one from another dealer in nearby Salford. The larger one was sold by J.M.Hall in Wigan, located on the river Douglas. I enjoyed learning about old Wigan back in the day. It seems the first coal mine was established there in 1450 and things really ramped up there during the Industrial Revolution. At one point, there was said to be 1000 mine shafts within 5 miles of the town center! In fact, a town chancellor was quoted as saying a coal mine in the backyard was not uncommon.
I actually came across a story of a small train pushing coal carts across town in 1945 disappearing down a forgotton mineshaft which opened up! They filled it in and left a stone for the engineer! J.M. Hall was an Ironmonger there and sold all sorts of things. I found pics of his establishment from the early 1900's.
I found it difficult to believe that, in spite of his "cutler" proclamation on the blade, that Mr. Hall was cranking out razors in back of his shop and wondered if he actually made it, or just dealt it.
Then, I came across a razor with the name of T. Smith of Salford, just 25 Km down the road from Wigan with the same trademark on the reverse tang as the blade etch of the J.M. Hall razor. Salford seems to have been a hub for textiles, cotton and spinning, located by Manchester on the river Irwell. With my resources, I could not find a thing about T. Smith
I now feel that both of these men were dealers and the razors were made by the same maker as they both share the same trademark and undeniable features. Question is: who made these razors? Perhaps Mr. Hall made them both? The stamped signature on the tang of the Wigan one seems to be more of a maker's mark than the T. Smith of the Salford razor, which looks "added on". One day, I shall make it across the pond and see these old places. Fascinating History.
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Another J.M. Hall of Wigan Razor
Hello Tom. Just thought you'd like to see my latest J.M Hall Wigan razor.
Not as nice as yours I'm afraid, but interesting nonetheless.
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The coffin style box is nicer than the razor, appearing to be ebonised papier-mache.
Of more interest, I've recently bought a number of documents belonging to J.M Hall from the late Victorian and early Edwardian period, including one of their invoices:-
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No barrel trademark, but I'm happy to add it to my collection of Wigan items
Kind regards,
Andy