Why did people engrave their names on razors?

[cotedupy]

I don't have many razors compared to a lot of people here, but a number have scales where a previous owner has scratched their onto them.

This pair of ivory stub tails belonged to Bill, for instance:

And a horn scaled razor I received today was owned by his friend Bell (who had to change name to avoid confusion):

So why did people do that? Was it just a random tradition and that's what people did? Or might there have been some kind of institutionalised setting where one's razor might get lost or pinched? Barracks perhaps, or a school or university dormitory...

Any other straights out there belonging to Bill / Bell / somebody else...?

 

[taffy]

I have a fair few, ok let's be honest, too many straights and I have a couple with names on the scales. One I bought from this old antique place and the seller told me, can't say its true, that they may have come from a barbers shop and the barbers used to put a name to show it was his, or the services etc. I suppose that's one reason.

 

[cotedupy]

I have a fair few, ok let's be honest, too many straights and I have a couple with names on the scales. One I bought from this old antique place and the seller told me, can't say its true, that they may have come from a barbers shop and the barbers used to put a name to show it was his, or the services etc. I suppose that's one reason.

Ah yeah, I can see that kind of setting might necessitate it as well.

 

[luvmysuper]

Military Service or Barbershop makes sense, but don't discount the simple inherent need of some humans to mark their territory.
No doubt some might have attempted to make the retrieval process easier if it was accidentally left on a sink or counter.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

Ive heard of the cup named in a barbershop but not a razor. Could be. Ive always figured it was military or large groups of men living in close quarters somehow. I have seen a few marked too in my collection. Some Ive sanded out. Some I left alone.

 

[Possum092]

Military and convicts mark everything because living in close quarters things tend to get co-mingled. Often times military folks all shop at the same base store so everything looks exactly alike, makes sense to mark your property.

 

[taffy]

Military and convicts mark everything because living in close quarters things tend to get co-mingled. Often times military folks all shop at the same base store so everything looks exactly alike, makes sense to mark your property.

Would not like to share a cell with a convict who has a straight razor

 

[silverlifter]

Not just military. There were lots of itinerant workers in the early and mid-nineteenth century, living in boarding houses were they would have shared a bathroom or rooms.

 

[aussie]

I believe it was once common to buy a razor and leave it with a barber. He would maintain it for you.

 

[cotedupy]

I believe it was once common to buy a razor and leave it with a barber. He would maintain it for you.

I wondered if that might be a possibility too after what @taffy said above.

Perhaps coincidence but those three above were all pretty nearly shave ready when I got, despite not coming from 'razor people'. Well looked after, set bevels, and requiring only a short touch up on a stone or two to get them going again.

 

[Tomo]

I think it was more common to send your razors out for honing back in the day. Writing your name on them may have been a way for people to insure that they were getting the same one back.

The same concept as a shirt with a monogram.

 

[Tanuki]

A bunch of good explanations in this thread. Then there is this:

Was this an option if a guy ordered directly from Union Cutlery back in the day? Arranged by the barbershop that was next to the cafe that had personalized coffee mugs? Or done by the local jeweler?

If my name was Bob Taylor this would have made it to the front of the restoration queue by now.

 

[SparkyLB]

That's all fine and good, but who the heck is 725? He's missing his Carl Schaap.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Going back to the original question - weird, right? Like carving your initials into your Ferrari Testarossa. I wouldn't do it.

 

[FarmerTan]

Going back to the original question - weird, right? Like carving your initials into your Ferrari Testarossa. I wouldn't do it.

LoL, if I could afford one, and was about 21 years old, I'd have probably had a few too many beers and I'd have definitely done it. Brave water made me even shtoopider than I am in real life!