Thread: Straight razor Original owner stories

Yesterday while looking at and admiring a few old razors in my collection I got to day dreaming about their long lives. I have an old greaves stubby and a Tillotson's chopper that are have been around for a long, long time. Each razor was purchased on eBay, and neither seller could tell me anything about them... Where they came from, who they belonged to, how they made it over the past 200 years.... Undoubtedly these razors have been through a lot. I have a fair collection of serviceable razors at this point but only one came with a story, and even that razor's story was no more then a few lines long..

The razor I speak of is one of the younger members of my collection... It's a 5/8 hollow ground etched wade and butcher that I can easily date to the late 1880's- just pre 1890.

The story only said it was found in the house of a farmer who worked a large corn field who passed away in the 1930's on the Indiana-Ohio river boader.
The time line makes sense, as if the farmer passed old, lets say 80, that would mean he would have been born in the 1850's and would have been 40 or so years old give or take when the razor was made.

I would love to see this thread turn in to a commemoration to the original owners of our prized razors- I would Also like to see pictures of the razors to bring the story to life... I can't wait to hear what some of our razors have to say!!

I only have one razor with a story.Is a Japanese western given to me by a very old friend of my wifes.
Was her fathers,(she also gave me his hone) I belive the hone to be a nakayama Kiita.
At any rate her father and brother were killed in the final attack on Hiroshima,(the bodys were never found) but the razor inc the orig box and the hone did.Re-scaled the blade in Ivory and it is a great shaver.
I know the rulz.see if I can find a pic.

The Razor.

The stone.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

I only have one razor with a story.Is a Japanese western given to me by a very old friend of my wifes.
Was her fathers,(she also gave me his hone) I belive the hone to be a nakayama Kiita.
At any rate her father and brother were killed in the final attack on Hiroshima,(the bodys were never found) but the razor inc the orig box and the hone did.Re-scaled the blade in Ivory and it is a great shaver.
I know the rulz.see if I can find a pic.

_________________________________________

Bill
Is there any need to check these items with a gieger counter?

That's an awesome story and an incredible razor pixel!

I've had a few with at least partial histories. One, a Wade & Butcher, belonged to the eBay seller's grandfather. That one I resold to a member here.



Before anybody gets judgmental about someone that'd sell their grandfather's razor: I've spent the last month cleaning out my mother's house, I'm here to tell you it's entirely possible for a close relative to have so much stuff that something like a razor doesn't represent a drop in the ocean.

Another I've got with a history is a French razor I got from France. Communicating with the seller through internet translation was a very special challenge, but I've done some research on my own and his claims are plausible. He said it belonged to a doctor and Rosicrucian in the early 1920's. It's a Rameau, and a fantastic shaver. Also has the nicest name engraving I've ever seen in a set of scales.

Ok! A good idea! I think these stories and razors should be documented. This pair of razors (on the right) are smaller Rodgers in ivory. Only pic I can find right now! The box has the initials on the lid as well. A quote from the person I bought them from:
" They belonged to William R P Clark, a San Francisco doctor who was a good friend of my aunt's and also related to her by marriage. I met Dr. Clark only once, in 1947 when my sister and I visited that aunt in SF. They lived in the same apartment tower on Russian Hill that had a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. He was 78 then and I believe died in the 50's. That's about all I can tell you. If you google him, you'll find a medical paper on tuberculosis that includes a comment from him"

Anyway, a doctor back in the day. Perhaps exceptional, perhaps not! At least I know who he was.




A few more pics

This pair infuriates me.



I got them from completely separate vendors, hundreds of miles apart who got them from completely different estate auctions and just happened to put up auctions that ended within 20 minutes of each other. Both razors have an owner's name and town engraved on the pile side.



One name is very hard to read, the other is too common to track, despite the very tiny town of Danville, Ohio. (The other appears to be John {something} from Woodstock, Ohio).

My best guess is that they were gifts or commemorative items to members of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans organization for Union soldiers), but I can't track them.

The razors themselves were made around or after 1851, as this newspaper ad attests:

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

This pair infuriates me.



I got them from completely separate vendors, hundreds of miles apart who got them from completely different estate auctions and just happened to put up auctions that ended within 20 minutes of each other. Both razors have an owner's name and town engraved on the pile side.



One name is very hard to read, the other is too common to track, despite the very tiny town of Danville, Ohio. (The other appears to be John {something} from Woodstock, Ohio).

My best guess is that they were gifts or commemorative items to members of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans organization for Union soldiers), but I can't track them.

The razors themselves were made around or after 1851, as this newspaper ad attests:

Wow, that's an incredible pair! Given that names are engraved in the same font I would presume it was the same engraver who did them. Perhaps even an original razor manufacturer?

Great idea for the subject btw! Why don't we start a wiki on it? Have a featured razor story of the week etc?