9 straights for $30 score!!

So last Sunday I was at a friends house for a barbecue, and his neighbor joined us for dinner. His neighbor is a collector of antique toys, and antique bikes. My friend says he has a awesome basement/ man cave, and I have to see it.

He also tells me I should tell his neighbor about my antique shaving gear obsession. The neighbor's eyes light up big, and he asks if I have any money.

We proceed to the basement, and he shows me a Twinplex Blade Stropper, which I instantly identify. He is impressed.

He gives me an entire box of 9 straights!! I start drooling over a straight that has a mother of pearl covered tang. He asks how much I would offer him for all nine straights; I ask how much he wants, and he says $30!!

It would seem that all but one should be candidates for restoration.

Apparently in his travels to find antique toys/ bikes (he once owned a store selling those items in Michigan) he also found quite a few straight razors!!

Here are picts of this awesome score!!

In this first pict (top to bottom) are:

Geneva Cutlery
Unknown Razor (case said King Razor, but could be mismatched; no markings on the blade.)
Columbia Trading Company


The unknown razor is in great shape having a mother of pearl covered tang, and tortoise colored scales! A gentle cleaning with some soap, and a new honing, and it should be all set to go!!



Here is a close up of mother of pearl razor, she's a beauty:




In this second photo, we have (left to right)

-Gold Bug (John Vonier. Detroit, MI) (which shows signs of brassing?? didn't know straights were made of brass). The blade is also super narrow.
-Golden Crescent (F. Westpfal, New York)
-Worcester Razor



Next up I have (top to bottom)

-Unidentified razor. No markings on the blade anywhere.
-Onliwon/ E. Wasserman



Here is the most damaged of the lot, a Critic/ Detroit BS Company. The blade is pretty well rusted/ pitted throughout.





Last is a wood box, that holds two straights inside of their crates. I could imagine it belonging to a traveling barber:



Any comments, or further information on any of the straights is greatly appreciated!!

P.S. I was taking a break from straights, but I don't see that lasting too long.

Wow, you stole those razors. Congrats.

how lucky are you . I wish find that lucky in my life in special find some Plisson brush for $10 thats will be the best deal of my life
enjoy it

9-30 is a great buy!

I think it's the remnants of gold wash, as opposed to brassing like on DE's. I am pretty sure a brass razor would dull on the first WTG pass and tweeze the hair on the ATG pass.

Excellent pick up.

Kentos said:

I think it's the remnants of gold wash, as opposed to brassing like on DE's. I am pretty sure a brass razor would dull on the first WTG pass and tweeze the hair on the ATG pass.

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Ok, that makes a lot of sense. A gold washed razor might be called a Gold Bug!! Noticed just now the back of the razor says "John Vonier. Detroit, MI".

The Golden Cresent may of had the gold wash for that manner too as there seems to be a similar brass colored substance on the tang. The razor also says "F. Westpfal, New York" on the back.

The only problem is... didn't you stop using straight razors?

danjared said:

The only problem is... didn't you stop using straight razors?

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Yes, I took a break from straights (and sold off everything) as I got mad at myself for constantly causing damage to my face.

Hence my P.S. on the original posting above:

michiganlover said:

P.S. I was taking a break from straights, but I don't see that lasting too long.

Click to expand...

The tortoise scaled/ mother of pearl tanged razor is begging to be cleaned, and rehoned!!

Even if I was taking a much longer break from straights, I couldn't possibly pass up such a score for $30! If nothing else some of it might end up back in the hands of the B and B community, which is better than sitting forgotten about in a basement.

michiganlover said:

Yes, I took a break from straights (and sold off everything) as I got mad at myself for constantly causing damage to my face.

Hence my P.S. on the original posting above:



The tortoise scaled/ mother of pearl tanged razor is begging to be cleaned, and rehoned!!

Click to expand...

Oh, I managed to miss that. If you want any help getting a razor or two honed, let me know. I'd like to help you get back into the swing of things.

Congrats!

Perhaps, you are destined to use straights.

Ah, so a 30.00 score is going to lead to 300.00 hone purchases and 100.00 strop acquistions?

Welcome back into the fold...

Your MOP covered tang razor could well be a King razor. I've picked up a couple with the same shape and sized blade and scales. Neither one had any markings on the tang but both had a light inscription on the scales. Look closely at the scales to see if there's a worn King Razor inscription.
I can't identify the other unmarked one.
Gold Bug was a trademark of the A. Witte Co. who probably made it for John Vonier.
E. Wasserman was the manufacturer and Onliwon the model.
They're all American manufacturers/distributors and all are probably made of american steel except for the F. Westpfal who imported and rebadged german blades.

Congratulations on a great score. Now, get back to straight shaving. You'll probably find it easier now that you've taken a break from it and don't stress about getting it perfect.

Wow that is a sweet score. The one you said had a crappy blade sure has good looking scales on it. You should be able to salvage them for another razor.

Holy cow! What a score! They all look great!

michiganlover said:

The tortoise scaled/ mother of pearl tanged razor is begging to be cleaned, and rehoned!!

Click to expand...

Yes, that is a sexy razor. I love tortoise scales.

Awesome!

Real nice haul - wow, that's incredible. What a score!

I am so jealous! I will deff. be spending a decent amount of time in antique stores upon my return from this deployment.
The Mrs. just got into Tea-sets, so she can do her hunting...and i'll do mine.