Thread: Carl A. Zahn "The Plaza" Razor with story

Today i got this very nice Razor, i guess it is NOS with storage Signs, under the magnifier it looked as if the edge was the first, still sharp
but not sharp enough so i had to hone it.
The Scales are made of Bone and i seldom saw such fine scales made of this material, the Blade is 11/16", very thin with belly and with a
very nice ringing sound, cat wait to shave with it tomorrow

The Story behind this Razor is interesting, it was made for Carl. A. Zahn, first the Barber of the New York Plaza in the 1910s and later the
Proprietor of the Plaza and some more Hotel Barber shops around the US. I dont know wich Solingen Manufactorer made it but the kind its
made seems unusual highworthy to me for that time and especially for the simple use at a Barber Shop (under Searchtag Carl a Zahn Razor,
there are other Razors findable via Google, all with bone Scales and some with the "older" Square Point head style).
Carl A. Zahn died in 1919 in Boston, his Birthdate seems unknown, but he had an interesting life i guess, he shaved President McKinley and
was reknown in some Newspapers that he traveled 900 miles to shave a Man who was so impressed by Zahns Work when he stayd at NY Plaza,
that he paid 50$ to get Zahn to White Sulphur Springs. Here are two Articles about this Journey:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?n...,4062181&hl=de
The Day Book 15 June 1915 — Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections









And last but not least, a short Ad from Zahn http://tech.mit.edu/V34/PDF/V34-N91.pdf

Interesting history about Zahn!

The location of the 900 mile shave was the Greenbier Hotel, known in more recent history as the hidden location of a government bunker.

That is interesting, thanks for sharing! Those are nice looking scales, especially considering the age of the razor. You need to let us know how it shaves

Gents, after the Shave with the Plaza this Morning i feel and look much younger than i really am :-)
The Razor exactly accorded to the expectations i had, after a honing session on my 800 SuperStone, followed by a Vintage Coticule (medium fast and hard), a big hard Thuringian and a few strokes on a reddish LaLune followed by using my gripping GRF Special Strop it made a good HHT and lead the skin as if there were never whiskers before.
It shaves in a way that seems typical for german razor made for export to america, the steel is hard and very fine tempered and addicted to get a very keen edge, maybe its because im so much addicted to these kind of Razors (i have about ten of these Spike Point Razors and enjoy every shave with) but its more or less impossible for me to tell something more objective about this blade

Originally Posted by Rockabillyhelge

...but its more or less impossible for me to tell something more objective about this blade

Nice review Helge!
Only patience! The objectivity returns with time back ...

Beautiful razor.

Nice review, story, and find on that Plaza RH.
Looks like my kind of blade! Really nice looking bone scales as well.
Thanks for the write up.

The scales are great. Thanks for sharing.