Simmons Hardware & Boker razors, one having very much pocketknife like scales...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
3,989
I picked these up at this morning's local flea market. One is a Boker model "'Red Injun No 101". The other is a Simmons Hardware model "Arkansas Rattler".
I find the Simmons to be pretty cool, having a jigged bone handle and a pinned on shield, (that's what I meant in the title about pocketknife like scales).
The Boker sure does have a politically incorrect model designation, lol!



 
Last edited:
Thanks!
They were on the same table, side by side with one another. It was definitely the jigged bone and the shield that drew me in for a closer look. I was initially interested in just that one, but when I noticed how nice of condition the Boker was in, I figured making an offer for the pair would be worth a shot. It panned out pretty well, my only paying twenty bucks for the pair.
I am guessing the Boker is 1930's to 1940's vintage. As for the Simmons Hardware 'Arkansas Rattler', I can only guess it may be late 1800's to very early 1900's.
Trying to find more info on it, but it seems a pretty rare bird in this configuration.
 
Last edited:
Nice finds! The pick bone razor is uncommon, but not really that rare. It most likely dates to the 1880s or 1890s. If it was a 20th century piece, there's a much greater chance the bone would have been machine jigged rather than hand picked.
 
Shurke said:
Nice finds! The pick bone razor is uncommon, but not really that rare. It most likely dates to the 1880s or 1890s. If it was a 20th century piece, there's a much greater chance the bone would have been machine jigged rather than hand picked.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, Sir! :)
I ran across info on a couple of them online that had previously been sold in auctions, (both having been sold a while back already). Anyhow, neither of the listings had an estimation on their circa date, but, they both mentioned their having a "Made in Germany" stamp on them. Mine does not have this stamp, and likely places it's manufacturing date before that stamp was made mandatory. So, it seems that your guesstimate of vintage is likely spot on.
It seems it was being offered late 1800's, into the early 1900's, with mine likely falling into the late 1800's catagory.
I guess my paying $20 for the pair was a cheap admittance fee to own these cool yesteryear artifacts.
I don't own too many straight razors, but feel they blend in nicely with my overall traditional knife collecting hobby :)
 
Last edited:
That's a great price for that pair! I'll throw out another loose guideline for dating razors with picked/jigged bone handles: check out the spacer between the heel of the scales. If it's metal, the razor is probably older, whereas if it's celluloid or composition, it's probably newer. This doesn't always hold true, but it's true more often than it's not.
 
Shurke said:
That's a great price for that pair! I'll throw out another loose guideline for dating razors with picked/jigged bone handles: check out the spacer between the heel of the scales. If it's metal, the razor is probably older, whereas if it's celluloid or composition, it's probably newer. This doesn't always hold true, but it's true more often than it's not.
Click to expand...

Thanks again, Sir!
And, yes, sure enough, that spacer you mentioned is in fact metal on this razor :)
 
Somewhere around here I have a Cattaraugus straight razor with pick bone handles.

EDIT: IIRC, it has a metal spacer.
 
Last edited:
Shurke said:
That's a great price for that pair! I'll throw out another loose guideline for dating razors with picked/jigged bone handles: check out the spacer between the heel of the scales. If it's metal, the razor is probably older, whereas if it's celluloid or composition, it's probably newer. This doesn't always hold true, but it's true more often than it's not.
Click to expand...

After your info about the metal spacer being common on older specimen straight razors, I checked my Buffalo Horn handled Joseph Rodgers, (Sheffield), razor for that metal spacer. I do believe it looks like metal on that one as well. Not sure of it's circa, but was thinking maybe from the late 1800's catagory.

 
Last edited:
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
After your info about the metal spacer being common on older specimen straight razors, I checked my Buffalo Horn handled Joseph Rodgers, (Sheffield), razor for that metal spacer. I do believe it looks like metal on that one as well. Not sure of it's circa, but was thinking maybe from the late 1800's catagory.
Click to expand...

It's hard to date most Rogers razors with much specificity. But in the 1890s they added a crescent shaped "England" to the right side of their razor tang stamp, like so:
d4vsL9v.jpg

Your razor could have been made any time from the mid-19th century through the early 1890s. (Sorry I can't be more exact than that).

As for using metal spacers as a general guideline for age, it works best on jigged bone and horn. (Horn handled razors also frequently had spacers of made of horn or bone). But some other handle materials--ivory for instance--almost all have metal spacers regardless of date.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top