Thread: Some very luck finds

Hi all.


I'd like to share with you a little treasure I happened to stumble over recently.
When I was looking for a used belt sander last year I did not expect to end up with some fine vintage shaving tools. I found this place on the internet, a used equipment dealer in the Swiss hinterland. Two huge machine halls stuffed to the ceiling with machines and hardware from at least the last 6 decades. The grumpy owner would fit in any B movie as stereotype (Swiss) redneck.
So I touched down there and let the gentleman know about my requirement for a belt sander. He showed me his stock and we started negotiating. “Whatcha need it for, son?” he wanted to know eventually. So I told him about my shaving passion and my humble attempt to bring those old razors I get from around the world back to glory. “Shaving, hmmm? Guess I may have some old stuff somewhere ..” he mumbled, his cheap cigar hanging from his mouth. It took me the best part of the afternoon to find out the full story.
It turned out that the father of this gentleman bought the leftovers of the company Allegro that went bankrupt in the mid seventies. Allegro had manufactured spindles for ring spinning machines. And since Swiss ring spinning machines were built to last, he was interested to get his hands on the immense stock Allegro had left behind. But Allegro had some other business too. For decades they had been manufacturing some of the finest razor maintenance tools ever made. The company was famous for the “Allegro Stone”, an artificial hone material they built into their DE sharpeners and their razor paddle strops.
I was going to fall down on my knees and cry when I learned that they thrashed the stocks by the hundreds and thousands because their objects of desire where the spindles. But who would blame them? Back in the seventies and eighties, not a single soul was interested in that old shaving gear. But a few of these little gems survived. Stuffed away in the farthest corner of those halls. And they have not seen sunlight until I opened those boxes ….
What I found was a lineup of razor strops second to none. They ran under the brand name Allegro Flexible. That is the top of the line Allegro Flexible 50, the somewhat smaller and more economically built Allegro Flexible 35 and the wonderful Allegro Flexible 200 travel set. What they all have in common is their general design and the materials used. One side is a leather strop that is treated with what they called the “Allegro Paste”. The formulation is not known but it does have a very mild abrasive effect. Very mild that is. The instructions say that this is supposed to be used before shaving, instead of the common leather strop. I've been using this for a while now and I can confirm that these strops do a great job! On the opposite side there is the Allegro Stone. It seems to be a kind of a barber hone that is supposed to be used every once in a while. The stone is flexibly suspended by a metal spring – thus the product name “Flexible”.
The build quality is top notch. Hey, what do you think the Swiss engineering reputation comes from. These strops can be completely disassembled. The leather pad, the stone, frame, handle, everything can be replaced individually. And yes, I found such replacement parts together with fully assembled strops!


And here is the evidence:
First, the Allegro 50. This piece is about 13 inches in length. The width is 2 inches. The handle is made of Bakelite or a similar material. In the handle, there is a small slide-out compartment that holds a block of the Allegro paste.
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The Allegro 35 seems to be the economy model. It's a bit smaller than the 50 and the handle is made of wood. Nevertheless is the build quality is equally high and the materials used are identical to the bigger model. It is missing, however, a storage space for an Allegro paste.
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Very lovely is the Allegro Flexible 200 travel set. It comes in a sturdy box with something like a crocodile leather imitation outer lining. Inside, there is the travel strop measuring 7 ½ by 1 3/8 inches. The steel handle slides out. In the box there is again an Allegro paste to recondition the leather pad. There is also a compartment in the box where the traveling gentleman could put his razor to have a complete ready-to go shaving set.
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Another find was a box with shaving soap sticks. More than 40 years old shaving soap, originally factory packaged! I have distributed the lot in my home forum and some daredevils have actually shaved with it – me included :-). While the smell is really old fashion (but still there) the shave is impeccable. Rich, creamy lather, good lubrication and a tender feeling skin left behind.
MORE SOAP PICTURES


Well, hope you liked the read.
Cheers
BlueDun

What an amazing find, well done.
Grant

Nice, put it to good use!

Wow, I really wanna go barn/warehouse diving now.

I liked the read very much, thanks for posting.

Bob

did you buy his entire stock of strops?

Actually no. Or shall I say not yet ...

What a great adventure. Thanks for sharing and buy the strops. : )

Hi,
I just picked up an Allegro "Flexable" 50 from an auction site.

It is used and looks to need a little TLC but seems to all be there including the cover.

Hope to be able to clean it up and actually use it as my main strop!

If anyone has any more info on these I would be happy to hear about it!

I saw a past auction on E-bay where one of these in LNIB went for over $250!

Was wondering what they sold for back when they were being made???

That is a wondrous find!
I have a #50 and it is all they claim for it. It had a cracked hone but careful use of thin CA fixed well. Been helping me out for a couple years now. Only the sheath box with it. I paid about $15 on the "bay
I've seen one NOS on line for $130USD.
~Richard