Thread: 60-pc Joseph Elliot traveling salesman display set

Thanks so much for the photos. It's really cool to see how the inventory and pricing scheme didn't change for at least 30 years (assuming my set is at least pre-1890 due to the lack of "England") and possibly for 70-80 years (assuming your guess of 1840s/1850s for the age of my set). Funny how that model A1727 razor went from 24 to 48 pounds (assuming those bottom numbers are prices in pounds/shillings), talk about inflation! Might have had something to do with the economy post-WW1 or a scarcity of steel?

I will try to get some more photos of the gold-tone razors, outside in natural light if the weather holds. My gut feeling is it is not a gold plating. It doesn't really look like gold, unless maybe it is a really low carat that we don't see much in jewelry. Also wouldn't gold not tarnish or get any sort of patina? That's one of the fundamental reasons why gold has always been valued in ancient cultures throughout the world.

I'm sure four of the framebacks are brass, 22 and 27 just the spine and 24 and 28 solid brass. They have a very heavy patina on them but the color is definitely not steel underneath. I kinda wish I could polish one each of the solid and spine up to make them shine like new brass just to show the contrast between polished and patina.

I do believe the streaked horn damage is from bug bites. I can see on the back scale that there is even more damage and it all looks just like bug bites. You can see some more damage on razor 26. It looks like bug bites, has the small scallops, but the material looks fibrous and not smooth like other horn scales with bug damage I have seen.

The tortoiseshell is completely free of damage except for some light scratches which you can see in the photos. The carved/solid MOP does have the crack straight across the bottom of the scale. The MOP on it and the other solid/uncarved MOP is not lined but that crack goes over the wedge. The segmented/carved MOP is lined, of course.

I like the theory that some of these razors at least might have been more for showing off the fine work that the firm could do and not necessarily full production razors. Like all of the fancy worked spines and the tip on razor 37. Razors 41 to 60 might have been more run-of-the-mill blades but with some showing off what sort of pressed scales or inlays or blade etchings they could do. If most of these were prototypes or show pieces then that might explain why we see so few others "in the wild"; there simply were never that many made and sold.

I've been to the meeting the past two years. It's really pretty small, less than a hundred people total in a big conference room. It officially starts at 9am but people usually show up early to set up their displays on the provided tables. The registration fee covers lunch which are sandwich trays, chips, drinks. It's over by 3pm and everyone brings down pretty quickly. It's a fun weekend trip and most people would see stuff they wouldn't ever see in person otherwise.

Okay, it looks someone over on reddit might have proven that the bottom numbers below each razor are prices in shillings and pence (see Wikipedia link). So, with 20 shillings to a pound, I converted all of the numbers to a #-#-# format for pounds-shillings-pence. Then I used this online calculator and the "real commodity price" to convert pounds-shillings-pence from initial year 1850 to desired year of 2013 (latest year the website works for it seems). I ignored inflation and used today's exchange rate of 1:1.51 GBP->USD and calculated present prices for all of the razors. I will update the descriptions for each shortly.

Here is one example to follow along and check my math. Please let me know if you see an error in my logic.

Razor 21: bottom number "16/9" so that is 0-16-9 (pounds-shilling-pence) which converts to 78.19 in 2013 GBP which is $118.07 USD.

Beautiful! I am at a loss to say anything else.

Truly amazing, having a antique Joseph Elliot SR set. Every single razor is like a piece of art/beautiful. I can't imagine how the shave would be with these oldies. Thanks for sharing and I hope razors remain rust-free in their cases.

Wow! what a collection. As mentioned previously, thanks for keeping them together! As well as you could do from individual sales you'd never be able to beat the historical value of the complete set :-)

Ok ! That is not funny, i'm depressed now !
My own collection looks ridiculous now !

Glad that you'll preserved and not use thoses razors !

Originally Posted by Magpie

That is the most amazing set I have ever seen. a serious "Holy S--t that's awesome!" moment when I started looking at the pictures.

As for the golden sheen, I have a Boker that was put in a display and never touched, and it too, over a period of a hundred years has gained a stunning gold tone to it. At first I thought it was deliberate too, but in all my searching's I have never seen another, or read of one. The only time I have seen that coloring is on steel out of the heat treat furnace, so I am going to go with it being a reaction to a certain combination of the steels particular makeup and tempering and controlled oxidation. Much like a fine wine, it adds beauty and depth!

Love it!

Some blades was gold plated to avoid corrosion, I have a french wedge like this.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I'm kind of baffled by how the one with streaked horn got that chunk out of it. If dermestid beetles had gotten to it, I can't imagine why they wouldn't have gotten to the other horn scales or the tortoise ones. Maybe an inherent flaw in the scale material?

I can give anecdotal evidence from my entomology days. Dermestids are a big problem with insect collections, sometimes you would find in a single case decimated specimens right next to intact ones of the same species even. It might be subtle differences in the materials that make certain pieces more appetizing, or a localization of the feeding. Not sure.

Originally Posted by charlie48horlogerie

Ok ! That is not funny, i'm depressed now !
My own collection looks ridiculous now !

When Charlie says this, you know you are doing well...

What an amazing get! Really glad you're keeping them together and not breaking up the set.

Myself, I'm really drooling over the #16 pearl - what a beauty! (Of course, if I'm being perfectly honest I'm also drooling over #'s 15 and 17 and 19 and.... It's getting a little damp around here).