Thread: strop identification

I guess I'm just confusing myself. It's a top of the line quality strop. That's all that really matters.

My Koken shell strop was made in Scotland & they were proud of that. My Jager Barber Supply Shell strop has no listing of where it was made but it has a very fine draw & I don't care where it was made. They are both great vintage strops that I use every day.
If your strop works for you why worry where it was made??

Slawman

Originally Posted by prodigy

Hello gents. I have a llama brand strop that i thought was a kanayama. It has an identical llama brand stamp at the top. however its numbered 928, and the name featured on the bottom is a US based company from Maryland. I thought for sure the llama stamp meant it was an authentic kanayama, but have been informed that this may not be the case. I thought i read somewhere that naomi san made his strops for other companies to brand and sell. Anyone have any helpful insight into this predicament? I can post better pictures later if needed. Its about 5mm thick at the top and gets thinner towards the bottom, roughly 3mm. The back side of the leather looks similar to the backside of my 90000, as far as looks and finish. Also, it was meantioned to me that the hardware used was suspicious, and it does say "made in USA" on the hanging hook.

Kanayama (Kanoyama) made strops for many different sellers worldwide. Just as you see straights with company/corporate names on them there were many Kanayama's just like the one in your picture. I believe you do have a Kanayama strop pictured and what your picture shows of the actual leather looks like his work.
This link shows many of the "Brands" associated with Kanayama strops.

Kanayama Strop Variations | Eastern Smooth

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

For what it's worth, I have seen several 'Llama' branded strops on both eBay and Etsy that were clearly antiques and not Kanayamas.

Yep. I've got one. A good ol' American barber's strop, stamped "H.M.C. Cutlery, New Bedford, Mass." The OP's seems to be in better shape than mine as received, which required a bit of resurfacing. Great strop though. Good find!

Originally Posted by lz6

Kanayama (Kanoyama) made strops for many different sellers worldwide. Just as you see straights with company/corporate names on them there were many Kanayama's just like the one in your picture. I believe you do have a Kanayama strop pictured and what your picture shows of the actual leather looks like his work.
This link shows many of the "Brands" associated with Kanayama strops.

Kanayama Strop Variations | Eastern Smooth

Thank you. This is exactly as I perceived it.

Originally Posted by lz6

Kanayama (Kanoyama) made strops for many different sellers worldwide. Just as you see straights with company/corporate names on them there were many Kanayama's just like the one in your picture. I believe you do have a Kanayama strop pictured and what your picture shows of the actual leather looks like his work.
This link shows many of the "Brands" associated with Kanayama strops.

Kanayama Strop Variations | Eastern Smooth

That's interesting, because "BRAND" as stamped on my vintage piece is finer than the Kanayama examples as shown in the link; and instead of "REG. TRD. MARK" beneath the llama representation, "SOUTH AMERICAN CAMEL" is stamped there. Corners at the bottom of the strop are also a little more square-cut than in the OP's example. (Mine is shown as received below.)