Dating a Straight
- Thread starter Evvaa
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Evvaa said:Just a quicky
Is there any way to date a straight?
thanks in advance
I would suggest taking it out for an informal meal or drink first, being attentive and on your best behaviour, and see how it goes from there...
Seriously, apart from styles in grind, shape, tang, scales (which are only gross indicators and not that reliable) you really have to know a bit about the maker, when they first started trading and when they ceased trading. I doubt that the number on the box will help much. In your case, you have a broad window of about 1899 - 1923 to focus on. The early ones are somewhat chunkier usually, but not always, and some were ground in Germany before a grinder was found in Sheffield. The early scales tend to be more rounded, the later ones bevel-edged - again, not a great indicator, though.
Kropp, of course, were a famous english company which was spread between Manchester, Sheffield and London. The owners were Osborne, Garret & Co. Ltd, Kropp being a trademark. They marketed several brands of razor apart from the Kropp, including the Elmo, Osgar, Ogee and Cararra - all well-regarded razors. They really do deserve to be better regarded than they are - they are a match for most of the Solingen razors I have come across.
Regards,
Neil
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Neil, does that suggest that the ones stamped "Ground in Hamburg" are likely to be the earlier ones, or was there an extended period when they were getting finished in both locations?Neil Miller said:
Also, a big +1 on the quality of the Carrara, if mine is anything to go by. (The finish - English in this case - is as good as anything I've seen. It's a bellied full hollow, and usually with that type there seems to be a least a slight waver in the stabiliser, but this one doesn't show any wobbly reflections at all).
Oh yes, and SSSSHHHH!
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Point taken! Shouldn't think out loud...
Not too sure about the dates of Hamburg grinding. It seems likely that they had early razors ground abroad for reasons of quality control - I don't think that the company actually made anything themselves but bought razors from Shefield makers and had them stamped with their own details, but I could be wrong, but if I am right they would shop around for the best price they could get for all aspects of manufacturing. This doesn't preclude them from having razors ground in Hamburg as well as in Sheffield.
The razor industry in the UK was in pretty dire straits after WW1, a lot of the companies were taken over for ministry and armament works, but couldn't keep up with demand because of the antiquated methods of hand-work they grimly adhered too. It certainly sounded the detah-knell for some of them, and those that did survive got the double whammy of WW2. With Germany crying out for labour post WW1, I can see a resurgence of blades ground in Hamburg, but this is only supposition on my part.
Regards,
Neil
Not too sure about the dates of Hamburg grinding. It seems likely that they had early razors ground abroad for reasons of quality control - I don't think that the company actually made anything themselves but bought razors from Shefield makers and had them stamped with their own details, but I could be wrong, but if I am right they would shop around for the best price they could get for all aspects of manufacturing. This doesn't preclude them from having razors ground in Hamburg as well as in Sheffield.
The razor industry in the UK was in pretty dire straits after WW1, a lot of the companies were taken over for ministry and armament works, but couldn't keep up with demand because of the antiquated methods of hand-work they grimly adhered too. It certainly sounded the detah-knell for some of them, and those that did survive got the double whammy of WW2. With Germany crying out for labour post WW1, I can see a resurgence of blades ground in Hamburg, but this is only supposition on my part.
Regards,
Neil