Is this information correct?

[r0ckrat]

I was doing a little research regarding a blade I picked up today, and I'd like to know if this information is accurate...

What I picked up is a "Henry Sears & Son" straight, with an 1865 date and "Germany" stamped on the tang. On the revers side of the tang is stamped "274". The coffin it came with matches.

I found a website that lists the dates that razor manufacturers were in operation, and I don't know if the information is accurate, but if it is, then this razor was manufactured sometime before 1897.

The progression of the Sears name is listed as follows:

HENRY SEARS & CO
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1865 - 1879
H. SEARS MFG
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1879 - 1883
HENRY SEARS & SON
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1883 - 1897
SEARS, ROEBUCK
Chicago, Illinois
1893 - present

Can anyone else very that this might be true? Pictures of the razor in the Score forum for this week, here.)

 

[mparker762]

The uniclectica database is reasonably correct. The 1865 date on the shank probably refers to the date of the company's founding, not the year the razor was made - it's quite unusual for a razor company to put the year of manufacture on the blade, since they weren't expecting these to become collectibles a century and a half later. Looking at the shape I would estimate that this razor was made in the 1890s. The earlier H. Sears razors are better than the later ones; the razors from the 1860's and early 1870's are really lovely shavers with sheffield lines but better steel.

I don't know if this is your first foray into straight razors but it sounded like you were skeptical of the razor's age, though if you were just curious about the apparent contradiction between the date on the shank and the uniclectica dates I apologize. But I would guess that most of the non-pakistani razors on ebay were made in the 1800's and certainly before WWI; really old (by modern standards) razors are actually the norm, though ones from the 1700's are somewhat less common because they hadn't quite reached mass-production then.

 

[r0ckrat]

The uniclectica database is reasonably correct. The 1865 date on the shank probably refers to the date of the company's founding, not the year the razor was made - it's quite unusual for a razor company to put the year of manufacture on the blade, since they weren't expecting these to become collectibles a century and a half later. Looking at the shape I would estimate that this razor was made in the 1890s. The earlier H. Sears razors are better than the later ones; the razors from the 1860's and early 1870's are really lovely shavers with sheffield lines but better steel.

Thanks for the info!

I don't know if this is your first foray into straight razors but it sounded like you were skeptical of the razor's age, though if you were just curious about the apparent contradiction between the date on the shank and the uniclectica dates I apologize. But I would guess that most of the non-pakistani razors on ebay were made in the 1800's and certainly before WWI; really old (by modern standards) razors are actually the norm, though ones from the 1700's are somewhat less common because they hadn't quite reached mass-production then.

It's not that I'm that skeptical - just had no idea that they were all SO old. Yes, this is kind of my first foray into straight razors. Thanks for all the details.

 

[mparker762]

They're not all that old but straight razor production tapered off pretty quickly within a few years of WWI in the US and England, though Germany kept it up for a few more decades (their economy sucked, relatively speaking, until the late mid-late-60's).

 

[mdunn]

id date that razor 1920s-1930s...ish

they didnt grind that hollow and use the double stabilisers until later than 1800s, and they didnt stamp the country until about 1890

 

[mparker762]

What I picked up is a "Henry Sears & Son" straight.

...

HENRY SEARS & CO
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1865 - 1879
H. SEARS MFG
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1879 - 1883
HENRY SEARS & SON
Chicago, Illinois
ca. 1883 - 1897

Looking at the shape I would estimate that this razor was made in the 1890s.

id date that razor 1920s-1930s...ish

they didnt grind that hollow and use the double stabilisers until later than 1800s, and they didnt stamp the country until about 1890

Since Henry Sears went out of business in the late 1800's (along with many/most other english and american razor manufacturers), the razor is most likely from the 1890's. The Sears & Roebucks entry in Uniclectica is a red herring. Henry may well have been related to the Department Store family, and they well may have sold his razors at some point, but they were different companies altogether.