Found in the Wild...

My first antique store find.. I had to buy it! lol Now I just need info on it, so guys, if you would be so kind to enlighten me...






Incase you can't read it, it says "C.W. Rackliffe Holyoke Mass." on the case and the same on the blade. On the flip side it says "Made in Germany". Any ideas?

It's in pretty decent condition. No cracks in the scales. Pins seems tight and secure. No chips in the blade. Hollow grind I believe. The blade is actually very sharp, though not near shaving condition I'm sure.

 

That looks like a good candidate for restoration! Nice find!

 

Very nice find.

 

That looks really nice

The front stamp could be a Hardware store/Mercantile store or even a Barber's supply the Made in Germany stamp in the back leads me to believe that

Many of this were made by ERN, Koeller, and even Boker so they are considered to by rather good shavers

 

Interesting enough there was a C.W. (Charles) Rackliffe living in Holyoke in the 20's-30's.
He owned a number of movie houses and ended up also becoming the GM of a 'Academy of Music Theatre' in 1927.

No idea if he had anything to do with that razor but how many C.W. Rackliffes could there had been in Holyoke around that time?

As another interesting tidbit. There are still Rackliffes living in Holyoke and one of them, Charlene, is active on social media sites...and....she is even pinning shaving related items on Pinterest

 

This is very well worth looking into.
That's very interesting.

 

Awesome.. maybe I'll hit her up on Pinterest. I have a shaving board there also

 

I wonder if C.W. was her grandfather and how 'rare' this razor is [to her] - I can't find any references to it online.

Then again...it may just be completely unrelated
But with just 40,000 people in Holyoke I guess there may some connection.

 

Well, if your looking for an excuse to try straight razor shaving you have a nice candidate.

 

Here's a snippet from a book scanned in on Google- Hardware Dealer's magazine talking about CW Rackliffe as being a member of the Western Massachusetts Hardware Association. The magazine is dated July 1904.

 

That's more like it!
Nice detective work.

Here he is again in a Springfield City directory that references him as to be in Holyoke and identifies the business as "Rackliffe Hardware"




And assuming that that Holyoke-Springfield connection is true, then this tidbit also references the same person:

"1913, Lucile V. Carter, and has a son,
Roger Carter Tubbs, born July 30, 1914;
Clarence Raymond Tubbs, born August
17, 1896, at Holyoke, is a graduate of
Springfield High School, class of 1914,
specialized in mechanical drawing, and
is now a draughtsman in the employ of
McClintock & Craig, architects and engi-
neers of Springfield ; also a daughter, died
in infancy. 3. Charles A., born at Gran-
ville, November, 1874, now with the
Rackliffe Hardware Company of Spring-
field ; he married Louise Swartz, of Al-
bany, New York, and has a daughter,
Edith Louise Clark, born September,
1899, now residing in Westfield. "

AND...in 1942 a city inspection of his business, came back with the following remarks:
"
B. D. Rackliffe, Hardware, Springfield
Art Shades, All Colors Poor Not satisfactory"

And what is the key take-away here?
That your life lives forever on the internet so be careful what you put out there"

 

Aw shucks, thanks pal!

 

Awesome work guys! So far, based on the evidence presented, I'm thinking this razor was made by an as yet unidentifed company FOR C.W. Rackliffe (Rackliffe Hardware) most likely in the 30s - 40s. Maybe it was a "store branded" or promo piece...

 

Very cool, and now with some history!

 

Looks like the site of the old store has been torn down and turned into a car lot. I've seen that a lot...

 

Is that someone riding a Rascal down the street? LOL

 

Those rascals...

 

It wouldn't be a promotional razor most likely just a branded razor the hardware store sold to customers.