Thread: Manah, I need ya bud. Wm. Allen etched 1815-40?

I dunno. Maybe it is the mysterious Celtic thing, as in these Heiffors?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I dunno. Maybe it is the mysterious Celtic thing, as in these Heiffors?

Very cool, thanks for those pics. I suppose anything is possible..

Another theory... Wm Allen is actually a person, who commissioned this blade with his own name on it... and the tang stamp is actually the makers name, followed by "STEEL". lol....

either that... or it says:

WEIRD STEEL

Originally Posted by Undream

Very cool, thanks for those pics. I suppose anything is possible..

Another theory... Wm Allen is actually a person, who commissioned this blade with his own name on it... and the tang stamp is actually the makers name, followed by "STEEL". lol....

either that... or it says:

WEIRD STEEL

Yes! I can see what you mean! Weird steel it is! (luckily, Manah will be along soon!)

Nice score Brad - that is definitely a keeper and personal rotation worthy! Wish I could help on the XXXX Steel part. Definitely looks like a "D" before steel. Too short for Warranted. Guess it could be a "B" or "G" as well, though that doesn't really help.

The 'E's in "STEEL" look more like "A"s to me, but maybe that is just due to wear

Know anything about where it came from? There are a goodly number of people named William Allen in the 1810-1860 range, all of whom could have had a razor made for them.

Wikipedia's list of William Allens

The laurel wreath at the bottom tells me it was someone who either was important or who wanted to be. I'd put money on the etch being a depiction of 'Wm Allen'.

I'm pretty sure you're right, that definitely looks like 'WEIRD STEEL' to me.

First of all. Very nice blade. Really nice.
Now some details.
Why 1820-30 or 1815-40?
According many sources, "ornate blade etching" began since 1830's.
But here it's not simple ornate, it's "Detailed fancy blade etch". Such blades began since 1850's. Now "worked back", in production is since 1860's. And based on my personal experience, such "detailed scenes etch" were made since 1860's.
Yes. You can retort: what about tail. But if you'll see some razors from 1840's-1870's period, many razors had not correct tail. Problem when you see tail from the future in the past. Here, everything is right.
Now about Wm. Allen. Who is it? I couldn't find. The most closer is W.H. Allen from Philadelphia. He had Hdw.Wholesale. In business since 1843.
Very possible candidate ...his name on the spine.
So. The blade was made about the end of 1860's - 1870's.
Of course, I can be wrong ...

P.S. Unfortunately, I have not idea about the stamp ...steel or not the steel.

India steel seems plausible, how about:

GT IND.STEEL (great india steel)

Can you get a better picture of that etch? I'm guessing it's a traceable illustration, probably from a book.

I'm still thinking that the Wm. Allen is not the maker but the person commemorated on the blade. There are plenty of other commemorative blades out there.

William Allen was the founder of Allentown, PA. His famous Trout Hall is one of the oldest buildings in the city and it was originally a fishing and hunting lodge. Is the figure in the etch fishing?

As both a prominent Mason and a major figure in pre-Revolutionary America it's pretty easy for me to imagine someone making a razor with him on it. Conceivably as a Masonic item, but also just as a general commemorative piece.

As for the stamp, I'm pretty sure it's none of the usual suspects. I'm seeing the last two letters of the first five-letter word as RD. The last word is almost certainly STEEL. There was probably a dash or bullet between the words. But the first three letters are a total mystery. Later on I'll see if I can replicate the stamp using some reconstruction techniques and work backwards toward the letterforms of the first three.