the razor may in fact be closer to the mid-1880s, as the variance between the Wostys styling becomes less distinct than it was closer to the mid-century mark. It is pre-tariff act of 1890 so we can at least place it safely there!
As appealing as that low price seems, do a dollar value comparison and wage earnings of the late Victorian era to today and the razor was not small investment for those folks, especially the average working joe.
Remember Br'er Rabbit tricking Br'er Bear that he had a job paying "a dolla a day!"? In the late 19'th, that was good pay. Sweet razor. I would have bought it too. It has clearly been gone over to make it shinier, but it looks like there's still plenty to get a good edge off of.
My $30 IXL Wostenholm arrieved this past weekend. I really like the look of it and it seems to be in pretty decent shape. I don't know if the scales are original though - they seem to be plastic but not 100% sure. One thing I noticed - and when looking at other IXL branded razors is that the logo on this blade almost doesn't fit on the blade. I wonder if the blade has been reground and lost a bit of steel on the edge - or, if this is just how the stamps sometimes were applied?
When forged, the blade was originally a 5/8" inch wide (or a hair over) and the engraved oval was centered on the blade face. There is evident hone wear on the spine (see how it broadens in the middle). The more the razor was honed, the more the wear and blade edge will encroach upon the oval. I ve seen examples of severe hone wear that made that emblem near unrecognizable.
Thanks. Just based on photos showing the wear would you say this is still a razor that could/should be honed and be put back to use?
It will still take a edge and thus provide a good shave. The existing hone wear makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the edge properly if it is not slowed as it can get progressively worse if not addressed. Taping the spine when honing is one solution
Without looking at it in person, I can't be sure, but those scales look a lot like the hard rubber scales I have on my Wosty, which are original. I've seen some of their literature that identified black hard rubber as one of the numerous types of scales they offered, but I don't know the dates they used it. Black hard rubber was used for a lot of things that would later be made of plastic back in the days before they had decent plastics.
