Well guys, I finished my first eBay purchase. The Good Doctor recommended this over another (I believe he said something along the lines of "with some elbow grese, it should make a fine shaver...") and I think he was spot on. The lines are smooth and I find them very appealing, and I like how she's turned out. You can see more details on my blog.
Here's where she started:
And here's where she finished.
No, it's not a perfect mirror finish but I think this is where I'm leaving her. I don't want to screw her up with inept buffing, and I kind of like the mildly worn look. Also, the staining was left intentionally--I want her to have some signs of her age.
Me too. I find smooth curves much more appealing than the straight lines and angles of most razors; in fact, if I were planning a custom razor, this is very VERY close to the shape I would choose.
I can't wait to get her honed up and shaving!
Thanks very much, gentlemen. It was an enjoyable job...perhaps not totally finished, but close enough for government work, as they say.
Doctor, when do you think this razor was produced? It's not marked as to location (though, as it's obviously any English razor, Sheffield is the natural assumption) and no one seems to know ANYTHING about the producers--not dates, not anything. Google only returns three razors, and this is one of them. I'd love to know something about this company, but no one can tell me anything...
Ecosse, I believe my NEXT trick might include a hat, and very likely a rabbit will be involved somewhere.
So, I foloowed up on Matt's very helpful post with some research of my own, and this is the whole story (also on SRP, for those who are members):
The seller who sold this razor to me (Hi Tim!) listed it as a Sheffield razor, which is a reasonable assumption. It is stamped "Empire Razor", which certainly sounds English. And the name sounds English, as well.
BUT. In my research about this razor, I encountered a reference to a company called "Beardsley and Alvord" in the book "Annals of Winchester (and Winsted) CT." I could only find the index, however, not the text, so I knew nothing. THEN, as you know, Matt posted a page from History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut on Google books, where we find the text
"It is necessary to turn back the pages of Winsted's history to the year 1852 in order to find the record of the first work accomplished by the concern which is now known as the Empire knife company. It will be found that two Englishmen, Messrs. Thompson and Gascoigne, came to Winsted in that year and opened a modest little shop for the purpose of making pocket cutlery...The founders did a fair trade, but lacked capital to devlop the industry, and in 1856 the business passed into the hands of Beardsley & Alvord." (p. 289)
So there was a cutlery business in the 1850's in Connecticut by the name of Beardsley and Alvord, which in later years changed its name to The Empire Knife company (in business until 1930)! So this razor was a product of the Beardsley & Alvord cutlery business in Winsted, CT...
Further digging turned up THIS information:
"James Richard Alvord was engaged in the dry goods business in his early years. In 1853 he took up the manufacture of pocket cutlery. This business was continued under the firm name, of Beardsley and Alvord, who bought the small pocket cutlery concern of Thompson and Gascoygn. In 1856 they built their factory at the Lake outlet, enlarged the business and placed it on a permanent basis, changing the name to the Empire Knife Co." (From A GENEALOGY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF ALEXANDER ALVORD AN EARLY SETTLER OF WINDSOR, CONN. AND NORTHAMPTON, MASS. V COMPILED BY
'SAMUEL MORGAN ALVORD 1908 A.D. ANDREW B, Pb int sb. Wbb st bb.N Y., p.288--found on the Library of Congress)
So Beardsley & Alvord changed their company name to The Empire Knife Co. in 1856, placing the date of my razor somewhere between 1853 and 1856...
Now THAT is some interesting stuff.
Now, further research shows that Connecticut had a lively iron and steel industry in the 19th century, so it is very possible that this razor, as English as it sounds, is a pure old American razor...which makes me inordinately happy!
ZethLent wrote:That's some serious reseach Jim. A great story to an heirloom that will most likely stay with your family now that the story in known.
On another note I have ancestry on my mother's side with the surname 'Gascoigne'.
What a story...
Thanks Seth..."work" today was not so busy... I'm surprised at my success, actually...and yeah, this kind of does make the razor somehow more "real" to me. Definitely a keeper...
Gascoigne, eh? From England originally? Pretty cool coincidence!
That's exactly the kind of razor I plan to be my next purchase, gets the old juices flowing.
Give us the luxuries, and we will forgo the necessities.
Give a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be toasty for the rest of his life.
Dominic
By the way - is that a frameback, or was it just dirt in the before shot that made it look that way?
Give us the luxuries, and we will forgo the necessities.
Give a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be toasty for the rest of his life.
Dominic
ichabod wrote:By the way - is that a frameback, or was it just dirt in the before shot that made it look that way?
It's apparently a "double concave". Like someone took a wedge and ground a big groove down the middle of the blade. So, the top is like a frameback, the bottom is like a wedge.
I'm surprised at my success, actually...and yeah, this kind of does make the razor somehow more "real" to me. Definitely a keeper...
