Thread: Found early 20th century straight razors! What are these??

Hello Straight Razor Place Community!

I'm new to the forum, but amazed at the plethora of helpful information I've already found! What a great site!

For Christmas this year, my wife gave me a set of great new shaving cream and brush. I'm a little ashed to admit that until now, I never considered shaving with anything other than a disposable or electric razor. But, after receiving such a nice gift, I was inspired to research about better shaving. And, of course, I found this site!

Anyway, my father emailed me last night, explaining that he has, in his possession, two razors that belonged to my great-grandfather! They haven't been used in decades, but I figured I'd throw them up here to see what you guys think of them.



They look in worse shape than they really are. And, there is paint on the handles that comes off pretty easy. The blades have some surface rust on them that should polish off.

The top one says "Crown Razor Co Boston Mass" "Extra Hollow Ground" "Fully Warranted".

The bottom one says "NEPTUNE", and says "Made in Germany for ???PES Barber Supply Co, Topeka Kans"

The handles seem to be of wood with an enamel coating. Also both appear to have possible ivory separators at the base of the handles.

So... What do you all think? Are either of these worth restoring? I think it would be so cool to learn how to use a straight razor with a piece of family history!

Most definitely! Both look pretty workable to me. Why don't you try a comprehensive rub down with some metal polish - I bet they will be fantastic after that (mind the edges they may still bite). Then add another photo with a closer shot of the blades and we can tell you if there is anything obvious that would prevent them from taking an edge. If not send them to a pro for honing and you will be away! Enjoy!

Great advice! Thanks EisenFaust!

Welcome to SRP. Assuming no unseen cracks in the blade the top one would make a great shaver. The bottom razor is a bit too small for my preference and looks a bit worn but it would probably be fine if you like smaller shavers. Being great grandfather's razors they are heirlooms anyhow and you're lucky to have them.

Yep Jimmy got it covered there. The smaller razor could make a nice trim razor for hard to get places. The upper razor is nice.

The look like they've been used as paint scrapers lol, but should clean up with some TLC

Great idea about using the smaller one for hard to reach places bigspendur. I'll let you guys know how the polishing goes. And thanks so much for the help!

You could also just shave your whole face with the smaller one. You just have to remove lather from the blade more often. I have plenty razors that size that shave just as well as any big razor does. I used a super small Keen Kutter the other day, with incredible results. I liked it so much, that I'm now searching for one for myself. lol.