View attachment 188267
View attachment 188268
One of a cased pair of Touron-Parisot 11/16+, about 1/4 hollow. They date from between 1850 and 1860, and the address, 24 Rue de la Pais (now Paix) is stamped on the box. Usually you can’t date old razors this precisely, but before 1850 they were just Parisot, and after 1860 they were out of business. They were a seller of high end cutlery and their knives appear on eBay now and again.
Acquiring them has its own story, they were listed by an antiques dealer on eBay a few years ago as faux tortoise, but I knew that could not be true. And of course you also cannot overtly sell tortoise or ivory on eBay. I believed the scales to be original and the ‘ironing board’ shape and bull’s eye washers are right for the period. Why can’t they be faux tortoise? Most plastics weren’t invented until later and did not come into widespread use until almost the turn of the last century. George Eastman began using nitrocellulose film bases around 1865, but still later than these razors could be. So there really wasn’t any ‘faux tortoise’ when these were made!
And thanks to the wonders of the internet and Google Maps, you can see where they came from. 24 Rue de la Paix now houses Tartine et Chocolat, a very upscale children’s shop, and you can see the ‘24’ on the light pole. It’s apparently a short distance from the Place Vendome, a pretty ritzy neighborhood.
Dior cream and balm made this a very Parisian shave!
Cheers, Steve
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