Razor Blade?

shanegalang · Dec 20, 2011

I'm fairly convinced that this is a straight razor. What I need to know is, are there any civil war items experts here that can guess if this was lost during the civil war? It was found right along with mini balls and rounds where a battle was fought in Louisiana. Thanks for any input

shanegalang · Dec 20, 2011

I compared it to this picture. Hygiene Items: Example of personal items used during the era of the Civil War. Included in the picture are lye soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, combs, and a brush.

Breezie · Dec 20, 2011

Shane, first of all, I'm not a CW expert, but will try to shed some light on your find. Your razor 'could' be one from the Civil War or it could be an early or later one. Since it is so heavily rusted, reading the company name on the blade would be impossible at this point. Many items like yours fall into the 'could-could not' category, and basically you have to judge by the other items you have found in the same area. Since it was found on an Louisiana battlefield along with Mini & round balls, I would say it's a safe bet that it too is from the CW era. :icon_thumleft:

Breezie

kuger · Dec 20, 2011

Breezie said:
Shane, first of all, I'm not a CW expert, but will try to shed some light on your find. Your razor 'could' be one from the Civil War or it could be an early or later one. Since it is so heavily rusted, reading the company name on the blade would be impossible at this point. Many items like yours fall into the 'could-could not' category, and basically you have to judge by the other items you have found in the same area. Since it was found on an Louisiana battlefield along with Mini & round balls, I would say it's a safe bet that it too is from the CW era. Breezie

Very well put Breezie,aside from in what context it was found anybody that tells you %100 yes it is a C.W. artifact is just guessing.It is a straight razor :thumbsup:

shanegalang · Dec 21, 2011

Breezie said:
Shane, first of all, I'm not a CW expert, but will try to shed some light on your find. Your razor 'could' be one from the Civil War or it could be an early or later one. Since it is so heavily rusted, reading the company name on the blade would be impossible at this point. Many items like yours fall into the 'could-could not' category, and basically you have to judge by the other items you have found in the same area. Since it was found on an Louisiana battlefield along with Mini & round balls, I would say it's a safe bet that it too is from the CW era. Breezie

Thank you guys for the input. Thats pretty much the way I thought of it. No way to definitively say it is or not from that time. But it was at the same level as the bullets and finding nothing else in the way of household items in that area makes it a safe bet. Now if I could just pull some buttons out of there

Lakemonster · Dec 21, 2011

I used to restore straights as a hobby a few years back...

There are some ways you can HELP date the blade. Firstly, if the tang is around 3/16ths of an inch or a little better...the older they are...as in pre 1900. But that is not a rule...they kept making the "meat chopper" later for those who preferred a heavier blade. (they are highly sought after today by restoration guys)

From the pic it seems to have a particularly short monkey tail on it.

IF you wanted to know for sure... you would have to clean up the area just before where the blade would start. That is where they stamped the nomenclature. With the amount of oxidation... that might be gone? 9 times out of ten the stamp is placed on the opposite side of the blade the way you have it in the picture.

IF you were so inclined...the guys at straightrazorplace.com would like to see that and the guru's will probably know it on sight.

kuger · Dec 21, 2011

Lakemonster said:
I used to restore straights as a hobby a few years back...

There are some ways you can HELP date the blade. Firstly, if the tang is around 3/16ths of an inch or a little better...the older they are...as in pre 1900. But that is not a rule...they kept making the "meat chopper" later for those who preferred a heavier blade. (they are highly sought after today by restoration guys)

From the pic it seems to have a particularly short monkey tail on it.

IF you wanted to know for sure... you would have to clean up the area just before where the blade would start. That is where they stamped the nomenclature. With the amount of oxidation... that might be gone? 9 times out of ten the stamp is placed on the opposite side of the blade the way you have it in the picture.

IF you were so inclined...the guys at straightrazorplace.com would like to see that and the guru's will probably know it on sight.

Thanks for that info!I have dug quite a few myself and "meat chopper",is a great description for a couple of em!!!I will have to look into what they say