Thread: And Meet Mr. George Packwood

Gentlemen,
Here is a photo of my Packwood. It's a smiling 6/8 in Spanish point and horn scales:

Well Congrats Obie! Thats the finest example of George i came across, Enjoy!


The Lighter and fountain pen strikes my fancy as well!

That is a handsome razor Obie

Mike

WOW! Lovely razor, Obie! Someone has obviously restored it? Mine is so cruddy, I put it in an "oldies" display! Now, lets guess who made it for Packwood!
Looks a little "Greavsey" to me?

Looks like a Mont Blanc pen and maybe a Dunhill lighter.

Originally Posted by ace

Looks like a Mont Blanc pen and maybe a Dunhill lighter.

Right you are. I grew up writing with fountain pens. I still write with them. The lighter is in the Art Deco style. I always carry it with me even though I no longer smoke. I thought the fountain pen and the lighter would balance the Packwood nicely.
Stay well.

That certainly is a lovely example Obie - I envy you, my good friend!

It also seems that you, ace, Martin and myself have a lot in common - my attention was also divided between the Mont blanc and the lighter!

I have a small collection of fountain pens myself - when I was at school you had to have one, 'biros' were forbidden. I still remember being caned for attaching five Parkers to a piece of rod to write out my lines! Those were the days.

I collect Ronson lighters, too. I guess my house looks more like a post-apocalyptic museum than anything else. Especially when the mother-in-law visits. You don't see women built like that anymore...

Anyway, you have scored a magnificent piece of history and hopefully an excellent razor, and I am so happy for you.

Sincerely,
Neil

Bless your heart for the kind words, Neil. Indeed, we do seem to have much in common.

There is nothing like writing with a fountain pen. I have used them all my life. When growing up in Tehran, I lived on the same block with the sales representative for the Pelikan Pen Company. The man also made exquisite cookies and cakes, which all the kids on the block loved. That's why I have a special fondness for Pelikan pens. I have two. Anyway, we used fountain pens in school. To this day, with rare exception, I will use nothing but fountain pens.

The lighter is a gift from my wife. I smoked cigarettes decades ago. Pipes and cigars followed. Eventually I sold most of my pipes — I had about 100 — and kept only three for the old days: a Jobey and two Comoys. I no longer smoke — my wife and two girls made me quit. The lighter is my lucky piece, especially since it is in the Art Deco style, a period I love. Of course, the 19th century is my century, before Art Deco came along, and I often feel I lived then, in London, preferably down the street from Dickens.

Any wonder then that I love the old Sheffield razors? What glorious razors. The Packwood, I figure, dates from the 1820s or 1830s. That is history, my friend. Who had that razor before me? And before him? And before him? We'll never know, will we? And whose hands created the razor? We'll never that either. On the other hand, perhaps we tipped hats when passing by on a street in London.

Obie, my friend, nice razor and a great piece of history.
On your picture all things are self-sufficient: the classic lighter, the classic pen and the classic razor.

I still write with them.

I write with them too.
But I have no time to make photos of my fountain pens collection.
Good lighters are my weakness too - My lighters.

P.S. Now, I smoke cigars more than pipes.
But my pipes (about 100 ) are always by my side.

Hello Alex,
Yes, I thought the Packwood, the fountain pen and the lighter would make a fine representation of the classic. I, too, have always loved lighters, although I don't have a collection of them. In Vietnam I carried a Zippo for my cigarettes. After that I went through a series of lighters. A couple of them are still around somewhere. This lighter has been a constant in my life since I received it some years ago, even though I no longer smoke. The fountain pens have always been with me, although my collection is really tiny: Waterman, Mont Blanc, Pelikan and Parker. And I rotate them as I do my razors. As for the razors, the collection has been trimmed to about 30 straights of various types, mostly vintage, including five Le Grelot. A 7/8 Wade & Butcher, a 7/8 Frederick Reynolds and a 6/8 Wostenholm are going in for restoration. The Packwood is the latest. I have not shaved with it yet. Saturday is the day and I already can't wait.
Stay well, my friend.
Obie