The Robeson Cutlery CompanyFrom www.robesonsrme.com
Like most American cutlery companies of the time, Robeson manufactured a wide variety of straight razors. The earliest razors were imported from Germany and are marked, "M. F. ROBESON" on the tang. These date from about 1891 to 1894. I assume that imported razors manufactured prior to 1891 do exist, but I've not seen one to date.
Due to the tariffs on imported cutlery passed by Congress in 1891, Millard Robeson sought an American manufacturer for his cutlery. As previously noted in the History section, he settled on a group of English immigrant cutlers in Camillus, New York. Razors made by them might be marked "M. F. ROBESON" or "ROBESON PREMIER". These razors are most often seen with plain smoothe black composition handles. The blades were often very nicely etched with logos such as, "OUR PET" or "ROBESON'S BEST". After Robeson moved his manufacturing to Perry, New York and his sales and distribution to Rochester, New York, in about 1900, the razors assumed a more decorative form. Fancy colored or patterned celluloid handles were used. Many of the popular embossed handles of the day were utilized. Most of the razor's blades carried a copyrighted logo, "The Razor That Fits Your Face". Others had fancy self-advertising blade etches. Some handles were embossed with the company's name and that included the Terrier brand which Robeson manufactured only from 1910 to 1916.
My Twisted Robeson Cutlery Co.
Robeson Cutlery used a 4-5 digit numbering system to describe the razor make and material used for it.
Robeson kept the The Robeson Cutlery Co. until the 1920's. After that they were known as Robeson Sure Edge.
I've had quite the experience with these lovely razors over the past few months, I still stand behind the old adage "They don't make them like they use to." Over the years I've been collecting Cutler razors after a few Geneva Cutlery blades I picked up and was amazed of the ease of honing and exceptionally pleased by the results I had.
But why should I be surprised? These cutlers made knives for a living and as we have come to realize in the wetshaving community is if Zowada and Ellis can make knives they sure hit a home run on razors. After reading up on cutlers I've come to realize that these makers were as meticulous in quality as Tim and Bill were. Back then pride in craftsmanship was still the living and breathing mechanism in business. It was said that if you sent a razor in that they would just send out a replacement.
The Robeson Cutlery Company was no exception. When Millard Robeson created the company around the 1890's he began importing cutlery from England and Germany with his name on it but due to high import fee's he looked to continue his inventive spirit with local knife makers in the U.S.. I've ran across conflicting articles of Robeson hiring the makers from England and Germany and having them immigrate to New York or that he sought after Sheffield makers in local neighborhoods to continue on with the making of knives and razors. It is said that there are over 1200 different handle style and materials that were made.
The Robeson Cutlery Co. was the stamp used on razors until the 20's then moving to the more widely known Robeson SureEdge. The former Robeson Cutlery Co. stamp is far more rare and sought after but I haven't noticed a difference in quality in either.
This was the first vintage razor maker I've ran across that didn't use coffins, rather they used suede pouches. Robeson wasn't known for it's marketing rather it was only know by word of mouth and it helped keep the company operating until the 70's. Though I did find an interesting way of determining razors for the user:
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