"Improved Eagle" Question

I just got a Lyon Bros "Improved Eagle" Straight to add to my collection, but after about a week of research I simply cannot find anything that would point me in the direction of what "Improved Eagle" means. I don't think I have seen two razors with this etching on them that are made by the same manufacturer either so it leads me to believe that it may have been somewhat of a Gimmick or possibly something significant to a particular time period in history. Any clarification on this would be greatly appreciated as it is very intriguing that so many different makers made razors with this etching on them.

Here are some photos of it a very nice looking razor for sure, although I do have some cleanup to do on it still:
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Sincerely;
Nate

A picture is worth a thousand words ...

jlindy said:

A picture is worth a thousand words ...

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LOL Good point, edited the OP to add the photos

That is a nice razor... Improved could mean a gazillion things however minor, from the formulation of the steel to the shape of the scales, and like many of today's products "Improved" could be more marketing strategy than any real improvement. I personally wouldn't do any more clean up to it. get'er honed up and tak'er for a ride.

Most of the improved eagle razors I've seen were made by the imperial razor co from Solingen or one of its brands. Imperial sold razors under many of their own names and many more "hardware store" brands as well. The scales and grind in this one look very similar to one I used to have marked as "imperial".

jlindy said:

That is a nice razor... Improved could mean a gazillion things however minor, from the formulation of the steel to the shape of the scales, and like many of today's products "Improved" could be more marketing strategy than any real improvement. I personally wouldn't do any more clean up to it. get'er honed up and tak'er for a ride.

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LMAO You think as I do, just got finished honing it up as a matter of fact. I did have to clean some kind of black tar-like looking goo off of it but other than that I just left a large majority of the patina and aging spots on it because this razor has a lot of character and it honed up VERY nicely. Plinks hairs off with no effort at all so I intend to shave with this one tonight

Chaloney said:

Most of the improved eagle razors I've seen were made by the imperial razor co from Solingen or one of its brands. Imperial sold razors under many of their own names and many more "hardware store" brands as well. The scales and grind in this one look very similar to one I used to have marked as "imperial".

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That may very well be who made it. All I can find about Lyon Bros is either the new show "Empire" or a mid 1700's company that sold leather products and such. So I am assuming it is the later of the two and very well may have been made for that company by Imperial Razors.

Here she is all Honed Up and ready to go with the majority of the aging left on it with the exception of the goo stuff that was all over it and the areas on the spine and blade where the honing polished it up.

Etched Side Photos:

And the Opposite Side:

Reviving this ancient post because I picked one on the bay today simply because

- I wanted to have one in my collection as it apparently was so common, the stamp itself makes it historically interesting

- it's a 6/8 imperial, so it'll give a great shave as a rule

I get that imperial did make for various brands, as they were Kastor brand, but there's GenCo ones and I think they aren't Kastor, and I've seen Sheffields too.

I feel like this "the improved eagle razor" thing must have been some type of particular time specific marketing or meaning or something, because the same stamp design was made under so very many brands

Curious if anyone knows?

I don't think anyone would know 'for sure' because i doubt that info was ever written down. I have always considered the "Improved Eagle" mark to be marketing like the "Celebrated" etch or the very not hollow 'Hollow Ground' blades. I have always liked that Improved Eagle etch, makes for a nice visual, it's an enjoyable bit of razor art i think.

Gamma said:

I don't think anyone would know 'for sure' because i doubt that info was ever written down. I have always considered the "Improved Eagle" mark to be marketing like the "Celebrated" etch or the very not hollow 'Hollow Ground' blades. I have always liked that Improved Eagle etch, makes for a nice visual, it's an enjoyable bit of razor art i think.

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Sounds about right to me. The celebrated and the hollow etches all of course land in the same vein.

They're all so common and redone, I have wanted an improved eagle etch for a while, so I'm excited to get it.

Perhaps when I get it I'll post a new thread to see if I can't get everyone with an eagle or celebrated or other repeated etch to post their variable-branx-repeat-etches.

What other etches do you see like this? The Chicago fair etch is on imperials, Bokers, Genevas, probably others. Improved eagle, The Celebrated, is double concave on a lot, or is that just Torrey? Our own? Our very best? Would be neat for a post with everyone sharing these all from different brands with characteristics. Sure hope my improved eagle is nice and hollow, no fan of wedges myself.

The maker, Lyon Bros. was a German maker. Other than that, I could find nothing.

Doc Dan said:

The maker, Lyon Bros. was a German maker. Other than that, I could find nothing.

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That's one of many makers who made improved eagle etched razors which is why it's interesting

ERN

They loved to use marketing like this back in the day. "Electric steel", "Magnetic steel", "Silver steel", "Special steel", "Best quality", "Doble temple" (double tempered), etc. Everyone tried to convince the customer that their product is somehow better than the other guys razor. I don't think improved eagle was any different from these.

TSENG said:

ERN
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I noticed the similarity too.