Thread: Turner & Cowlishaw, Meriden Conn, Restoration & History

I been wanting one of these for a while because of its history on a somewhat not to famous American razor co. The ebay alert came in and won the auction.


The razor had to be taken apart because it would barely open, i was actually scared to open it since the horn scales were noisy in trying to open and i wanted to save them.

You cant see it on the pictures but the wedge is built in the scales on both sides of them. The restoration was pretty simple clean everything up and re-assemble.




What got my attention of this particular maker is the history behind it.
Joseph Turner was born in Sheffield in 1838, his father died when Joseph was a mere teenager, so he had to go to work and found a job in the factory of Wade & Butcher. He quickly learned the trade and worked for various cutlery company in Sheffield for 25 years.

Turner gain a good reputation in the field of razor making, and was offered to come to America in 1870 to work for Heinisch & Sons, manufacturer of shears at Newark, New Jersey, as a foreman of a razor manufacturing plant they were about to establish.
After spending 2 years at that firm he resigned and founded Turner & Cowlishaw to produce high quality razors.
The business did very well, and grew rapidly, in 1876 he bought out his partner and became the sole owner of the business. Interestingly his largest customer was the J. R. Torrey Company of Worcester, manufacturers of razor strops.
In 1880 a consolidation of the two plants was arranged between Torrey and Turner and moved its operation from Meriden CO, under the name of the J. R. Torrey Razor Company.
Mr. Turner, president, and Mr. Torrey, treasurer. The business consolidation did very well and became a proeminent razor manufacturing co. Mr. Turner gave his whole heart and mind to his business.He spent the rest of his life at Torrey and died in 1907.
His sons were all employed by Torrey.

Very Cool, Martin. Never saw one before! This would explain why early Torrey's were ringers for Sheffields!

Really cool blade and beautiful bit of history to go with it! Good on you for saving those scales!

Neat old razor, I like their tang stamp

Some information about Joseph Turner son, who was very involved as well with J. R. Torrey.

alright, this is driving me crazy. you guys have so much talent in restoring razors its crazy. I have to be honest here, I am completly jealous. overly I need a mentor...please someone teach me in the southern ontario area wonderfull work btw. it looks amazing

We are all here to help! While Martin is in New York and I am in Texas, most all the members here share their tricks.
I feel the key to this thread is that the razor has not been "over restored". Obviously much hand work was involved. While never again being as-new, it has been brought back to such a time as it had been used well and was still chugging. Perhaps an honest representation of it's accurate form 20 years after it was made. I love this type of preservation. It only makes sense!!
Tom

Originally Posted by sharptonn

We are all here to help! While Martin is in New York and I am in Texas, most all the members here share their tricks.
I feel the key to this thread is that the razor has not been "over restored". Obviously much hand work was involved. While never again being as-new, it has been brought back to such a time as it had been used well and was still chugging. Perhaps an honest representation of it's accurate form 20 years after it was made. I love this type of preservation. It only makes sense!!
Tom

Very true Tom, exactly what i was trying to accomplish! Sleekandsmooth, your a young guy, you can do this, well speaking for myself im much older then yourself, worked with my hands all my life, been doing woodworking for longer then you been alive, and a basement full of tools, and a lot of experienced with wood, metal, cars, house, etc, etc pretty sure Tom is the same way, maybe not. That said everything i mention makes this a lot easier then starting from scratch.

Martin you don't know how close you came to losing that bid. I was drooling over it too. Glad you got it so cheap! :<0) I never would have found the history on it like you did and it does look sweet now.

Great History- For me this is what its all about. The blood and sweat of our 19th century ancestors, the ability they had, we lost- the ability to make products with quality, pride and the Resilience to out last their makers.