The Vintage Shaving Shoppe Joins The Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths

It is important, as collectors, to recognize the contributions of the artisans of the past whose skills and dedication produced the beautiful creations we love to own.  But we should not forget  that there are men and women in the present day, who devote years of study and practice to the art of fine metalwork.  In our area, these people are admirably represented by the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths.  We have chosen to become members not only to support the art, but also to increase our in-house knowledge of technique.  I find personally that the more I learn, the more I respect the work involved in creating fine blades - particularly "early" blades and those with special features such a fancy "worked" spines.

If you have such an organization near you, I strongly encourage you to join and become involved.

The Wade And Butcher "El Magnifico" Pressed Horn Straight Razor

Those of you who know me and who have read my postings know I have a special place in my heart reserved for Wade & Butcher straight razors.  Wade & Butcher, in its various incarnations, was one of the oldest, longest lived and best producers of shaving steel in all the history of the "modern" straight razor shave. But shaving blades were but a part of the Wade & Butcher product line.  The company was heavily involved in making all sorts of edged steel items.  A nice encapsulated history of the company and pictures of some of its extensive product line may be found here.

But I digress.  I wanted to take a moment to show you one of the "crown jewels" of the Vintage Shaving Shoppe.  This is a 7/8 "Patented Frameback" in the original box made by Wade & Butcher.  While the entire razor is a work of art, the highlight is the scales.  These are polished pressed horn with 100% of the gold lettering intact.  This is certainly a scarce straight razor in any condition, but you can spend a lifetime looking and never find one like this.  Try to keep the drooling to a minimum ;-)