Hi everyone,
A few days ago I posted a thread on another knife-related forum showing two razors I just got from my great-aunt. A member directed me towards this website, where knowledge about straight razors seems to be far more concentrated.
I already introduced myself somewhat in the Hall of Fame, so I thought it would be appropriate to post the same pics and explanation I posted on that other forum to see what you guys can tell me about it. So here it goes:
I'll commence with a bit of a backstory. My great-aunt is currently aged 86, but her health conditions have been worsening. Doctors said she couldn't live in her house anymore by herself (she's a widow) and since she lives far away from the rest of the family, she will move into a retirement home nearby. She said herself that she can't live on her own anymore and that she needs help. The retirement home where's she's going now is only a few blocks away from where she was born and lived until she was 19, so she's happy to come back to a known environment close to her relatives.
Of course, she can't take everything with her and together with her we're sorting through her stuff. What can she take with her and what does she want to take with her? Among her personal possessions were two straight razors that belonged to her husband. He was a barber until 1979, when he retired. He died back in 1996 or 1995, can't remember since I was 5 or 6 years old then.
Long story short: she didn't really care for the razors anymore and she seems to be more fond of pictures and the like to take with her. I could have them.
So here they are!
First up is the one that's been used the most. There were even little hairs left in the pivot and all that. It's stamped 89 Fram, Solingen on one side and Mandler, Solingen-wald on the other. What I found on the web was that -among other brands- it was made by C. Friedrich Kratz & Co. That's all I know. I don't know anything about the quality of the products by this maker, year of production or anything. This one does need some cleaning up. It has red rust all over it.
Next up is a straight razor made in Belgium. The stampings say J.J. Maes, Bruxelles, and on the other side: World-Master reg, 165. World-Master Trademark is stamped on the box. I've found no info at all on this one...
Some side by side pics...
First, thickness compared. The one by J.J.Maes is a lot thicker:
Full front blade shots... Fram:
JJ.Maes:
And together... Notice the wider blade of the J.J. Maes.
So, I hope you guys enjoyed these two razors! Any input is very welcome.
----------------------------------------
I also posted another thread there a while ago, here's that story for those who are interested
----------------------------------------
A good friend of the family gave me this old razor yesterday. He gave it to me because he knew I was into knives (although I know absolutely nothing about razors, that's why I'm posting here). He still had two others (one of them was very nice, also from Solingen, like this one) but he wanted to hold on to them a bit longer. They originated from the father of his uncle, who was a barber back in the day. His uncle is at the moment in his nineties, so I guess all of them do have some age to them. All of them were rusted, and so was this one. I took most of the orange rust off, cleaned and oiled this razor. Ready for some pics! (extensive cleaning to get the orange rust out of the letters that are stamped on the blade will be for later on). I hope I can convince him to atleast let me clean the other razors he still has so that they wont start falling apart from the red rust...
First, the details:
On the handle it says Tuckmar or Tückmar. One side of the blade states "Bartputzer Modell - 1930" while the other side states "Welt Schutz Solingen", "Dreistern" and "Ruf Marke Germany".
From a little of googleing, I found out that they were actually produced in between 1930 and 1940 (please correct this if it's wrong!).
I don't know many other things about it, so I'd like some additional information on it.
Pics:
The handle is a bit bent, sadly.
Nice hollow grind:
Thanks for looking, info would be appreciated!
----------------------------------------------
So, those were the two stories. I hoped you guys liked the read. I apologize for the long post (it's two threads combined in fact). Any thoughts, comments or info is very welcome indeed. Thanks for looking,
Jerry
A few days ago I posted a thread on another knife-related forum showing two razors I just got from my great-aunt. A member directed me towards this website, where knowledge about straight razors seems to be far more concentrated.
I already introduced myself somewhat in the Hall of Fame, so I thought it would be appropriate to post the same pics and explanation I posted on that other forum to see what you guys can tell me about it. So here it goes:
I'll commence with a bit of a backstory. My great-aunt is currently aged 86, but her health conditions have been worsening. Doctors said she couldn't live in her house anymore by herself (she's a widow) and since she lives far away from the rest of the family, she will move into a retirement home nearby. She said herself that she can't live on her own anymore and that she needs help. The retirement home where's she's going now is only a few blocks away from where she was born and lived until she was 19, so she's happy to come back to a known environment close to her relatives.
Of course, she can't take everything with her and together with her we're sorting through her stuff. What can she take with her and what does she want to take with her? Among her personal possessions were two straight razors that belonged to her husband. He was a barber until 1979, when he retired. He died back in 1996 or 1995, can't remember since I was 5 or 6 years old then.
Long story short: she didn't really care for the razors anymore and she seems to be more fond of pictures and the like to take with her. I could have them.
So here they are!
First up is the one that's been used the most. There were even little hairs left in the pivot and all that. It's stamped 89 Fram, Solingen on one side and Mandler, Solingen-wald on the other. What I found on the web was that -among other brands- it was made by C. Friedrich Kratz & Co. That's all I know. I don't know anything about the quality of the products by this maker, year of production or anything. This one does need some cleaning up. It has red rust all over it.
Next up is a straight razor made in Belgium. The stampings say J.J. Maes, Bruxelles, and on the other side: World-Master reg, 165. World-Master Trademark is stamped on the box. I've found no info at all on this one...
Some side by side pics...
First, thickness compared. The one by J.J.Maes is a lot thicker:
Full front blade shots... Fram:
JJ.Maes:
And together... Notice the wider blade of the J.J. Maes.
So, I hope you guys enjoyed these two razors! Any input is very welcome.
----------------------------------------
I also posted another thread there a while ago, here's that story for those who are interested
----------------------------------------
A good friend of the family gave me this old razor yesterday. He gave it to me because he knew I was into knives (although I know absolutely nothing about razors, that's why I'm posting here). He still had two others (one of them was very nice, also from Solingen, like this one) but he wanted to hold on to them a bit longer. They originated from the father of his uncle, who was a barber back in the day. His uncle is at the moment in his nineties, so I guess all of them do have some age to them. All of them were rusted, and so was this one. I took most of the orange rust off, cleaned and oiled this razor. Ready for some pics! (extensive cleaning to get the orange rust out of the letters that are stamped on the blade will be for later on). I hope I can convince him to atleast let me clean the other razors he still has so that they wont start falling apart from the red rust...
First, the details:
On the handle it says Tuckmar or Tückmar. One side of the blade states "Bartputzer Modell - 1930" while the other side states "Welt Schutz Solingen", "Dreistern" and "Ruf Marke Germany".
From a little of googleing, I found out that they were actually produced in between 1930 and 1940 (please correct this if it's wrong!).
I don't know many other things about it, so I'd like some additional information on it.
Pics:
The handle is a bit bent, sadly.
Nice hollow grind:
Thanks for looking, info would be appreciated!
----------------------------------------------
So, those were the two stories. I hoped you guys liked the read. I apologize for the long post (it's two threads combined in fact). Any thoughts, comments or info is very welcome indeed. Thanks for looking,
Jerry
. Hope you guys enjoyed!
