Thread: strop identification

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.

I can't help with the identification, but I would like to comment on the phrase "made in USA". Punch-Lok
(a subsidiary of Parrish Ent.) stamps their tools with month, year, Punch-Lok and "Made in USA" right after
the "Made in Taiwan" sticker is peeled off. I have a couple of friends (from the Dart League) that work part
time at Wally World, part of their job is to put "Made in USA" stickers on items made in Asia. I don't trust
that phrase anymore.

Unless he copyrighted the "llama" anyone can use it. If it was his, the leather itself should give it away.

Maybe this thread, which started the Kanayma craze on SRP, will have something you can go with ? The first post addresses his branding for different entities.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...strop-man.html

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Maybe this thread, which started the Kanayma craze on SRP, will have something you can go with ? The first post addresses his branding for different entities.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...strop-man.html

Yea I looked through that thread. Those strops are all in new condition. It looks and feels like an authentic one to me. I was questioned on its authenticity, and don't have any verifiable proof. Are people making counterfeit vintage leather strops with the llama brand registered trademark, probably not.

Originally Posted by prodigy

Yea I looked through that thread. Those strops are all in new condition. It looks and feels like an authentic one to me. I was questioned on its authenticity, and don't have any verifiable proof. Are people making counterfeit vintage leather strops with the llama brand registered trademark, probably not.

I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of counterfeiting strops, or razors. That USA made hanger might not be original. Might have been added later.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Unless he copyrighted the "llama" anyone can use it. If it was his, the leather itself should give it away.

I don't know where to even start looking up that information. I know that it's a high quality strop regardless of who it's maker was. Just wasn't sure on if I should call it a kanayama or not.

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

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.

But kanayama have been making strops for 150 years. So an antique one could be authentic...

But they had different maker's names stamped onto the bottom ends, all in the U.S., and no mention of Kanayama.