Just had this 7 day set land today. Very minor rust on the tangs, otherwise in great shape. They all have yet to ever be honed.
KOBAR was a brand belonging to Friedrich Emde (as was the trademark Kiebitz). The company changed name to Gebrüder Emde and later EMDE. They produced razors between 1902 and 1939.
Very cool. Where are you getting the history of straight razors? Is there a book I can buy?
Also, I finally found a 6/8 Puma. Not a High Class, though. Still on the hunt for one of those.
Where are you getting the history of straight razors? Is there a book I can buy?
Just from digging around on the internet. I wish had a book that had all this info. I did speak with a gentleman once that had a pretty detailed book. It might have just been for Sheffield razors, though. I’ll have to reach back out to him and find out more about it.
I finally found a 6/8 Puma
Oh fantastic! I still think about that 5/8 one from time to time. I still intend to grab another one at some point. I’ll be curious to hear how it treats you!
That 5/8 was very nice. I prefer larger razors, though, and there are 6/8 and 7/8 High Class Pumas out there. The one I just bought is a Puma 89. Cream colored scales. You’ve seen a bunch of them. It hit eBay at a good price, so I bought it. The two Erns that I bought are in better shape than I thought. The 7/8 has some nice spine work. I’m going to sharpen it (for a video), then use it for a bit, then think about what can be done. Other than knowing who Ern was, I don’t know how to date or even identify these razors.
Here’s some information I found about the ERNs:
Carl Friedrich Ern founded razor company in 1873 in Wald-Solingen and became biggest razors maker with its famous Hexe machine with permit to ground both sides of razor blade
The company was founded in 1873, registrated December, 4 1874 and first located in Solingen-Wald from 1922 and at Kanalstrasse 43 in 1939. The Ern family were razor-grinders and Carl Friedrich took over his fathers company. As many of Solingen grinders, thes honed razors for other companies to. E.g. In 1860 Nathaniel Ern only ground and honed razors for Henckels, but soon began to make their own razors. Nathaniel taught his son Carl to do the job - at that time there were 20 workers and seven masters. Singing and talking during work were forbidden, drinking never allowed. The company moved to Wald (to Wittekulle), an outlying district of Solingen, in 1876.
In 1893 they introduced the ‘Hexe’ machine (double wheel hollow grinder) to hollow-grind razors, said to be a benefit to all razor makers.
The eagle and snake was used from 1874 by C. Friedrich ERN & Co. until it was superseded in 1896 with the more familiar crown and sword
C. Friedrich Ern Solingen-Wald: Kanalstrasse 43 in 1939. Brand names: ‘America Del Sur’ (1913), ‘Army and Navy’ (1899), ‘Ator’ (1903), ‘A.V. Humboldt’ (1920s?), ‘Balance Perfecto’ (1921), ‘Bank’ (1917), ‘Bar’ (1908), ‘Barbersone’ (1928?), ‘Barbers Pet’(1898), ‘Barden’ (1909), ‘Bessimar’, ‘Borden’ (1912), ‘Bur’ (1910), ‘Crown and Sword’ (1920), ‘Cuba’ (1913), ‘Electro Taban Magnetic’ (1907), ‘Enwer’ (1908), ‘Ern’ (1896, 1917 and 1923), ‘Ern 1166’ (1922), ‘Ern A-Z’ (1910), ‘Ern-Blaauwappen’, ‘Ernette’ (1932?), ‘Ern-Goldwappen’, ‘Ern-Grünwappen’, ‘Ern Junior’ (1913), ‘Ernovo’, ‘Ern-Silberwappen’, ‘Es-Ex Razor’ (1912), ‘Farwood’ (1914), ‘Flaggen’ (1913), ‘Generale Ameglio’ (1913), ‘Gong Razor’ Extra Hollow Ground’ (1912), ‘Janissaire’ (1914), ‘Junk’, ‘Justrite’ (1907), ‘Ka Ci Be’ (1914), ‘King George’ (1910), ‘Knight Commander of the Bath’ (1914), ‘Kuroki’ (1905), ‘Laborista’, ‘Le Mondain’ (1907), ‘Lerne, Leiste…’ (1921), ‘Liliput’ (1914), ‘Little Dorrit’ (1907), ‘Master of Arts’ (1914), ‘Master of Science’ (1914), ‘Mickiewicz’ (1912), ‘Moustafa Kemal Pascha’ (1923), ‘Niazi’ (1908), ‘Nodzu’ (1905), ‘Oyama’ (1905), ‘Palmerston’ (1908), ‘Peer’, ‘Persian’ (1923), ‘Platypus’ (1899), ‘Primus’ (1903), ‘Protector’ (1897), ‘Püt’ (1913), ‘Raccoon’, ‘Roosevelt’ (1907), ‘Roosevelt Razor’ (1914), ‘Sim-Mart’, ‘Ski’ (1910), ‘Strandbad’ (1916), ‘Suneo’, ‘The Boss Reg.’ (1925), ‘The Crown and Sword Razor’ (1908), ‘The Kid’, ‘The Michaelin’ (1914), ‘The Mussel Razor’ (1913), ‘Turban’ (1923), ‘Waldern’ (1911), ‘Waldoo’ (1908), ‘Wee Macgreggor’, ‘Zeibek’ (1914), ‘Zepp.’ (1910). Open-blade razor maker.
C.R. Ern Sohn Nachf. Solingen-Weyer in 1925. Open-blade razor maker.
Friedrich Ern & Co. Solingen-Weyer: Weyerstrasse 196 in 1939. Brand names: ‘Commodus’ (1911), ‘Damokles’ (1911), ‘Doppeladler’, ‘Ern & Cie’ (1908/9), ‘Ern & Co.’ (1908), ‘Friedrich Ern & Co. Weyer-Solingen’ (1924), ‘Kobold’ (1918), ‘Newton’ (1910), ‘Ost’ (1907), ‘Sprock’ (1895), ‘The Sir Isaac Newton’ (1911), ‘Vim’ (1907), ‘Weltbrand’ (1916). Open-blade razor maker.
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