Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-11
.HAVETHE FAD
TWO CONNECTICUT MEN OWN
SOME CURIOUS AND INTER.
EsTlNG BLADES.
They Have Made Speciality Of Col
Letting Them and Now Have Knives
That Helped Make History, Accord
Ing to the Stories Told About Them.

500 3uSlc diS lWO ulSll III
Conn, who have the razor fad. There
is a good deal of rivalry between them,
though it has not yet come to a clash
of weapons. The reason is that the
two men have become adopts not so
I, much in welding razors as in collect
ing them, studying their material, tell
ing their age, as a farmer does that of
q horse by its teeth. and relating stor-
les Of who used them, or how they
were obtained from some distant coun.
. try Or strange civilization.
The two Southport razor connois-
seurs, relates the New York Tribune,
are H. H. Perry and Francis p Sher-
wood The first prides himself on be-
+ ing the Father of Razor Collectors"
while the. second, although confessing
he first obtained the idea from Mr.. Per-
ry, nevertheless believes that he has a
superior collection. Mr.. Perry now has
over 400 Srazors, while Mr.. Sherwood
= can fall back on $50, including some
extremely rare blades.
Razors With Histories.
I The members of the Perry family
were not only good shavers when
young, but when grown men as we'll.
So many razors lay about his house
that, eight years ago, Mr. Perry cut
J himself with the idea of making a
collection of razors. Accordingly, he
asked all his relatives to send him old
razors and soon he had obtained a
I large number. Many of these razors
, have a family history. One shaved his
grandfather, and another scraped off
the first down from his fathers chin.
But the family collection only sharp
ened Mr.. perry's ambition. Every razor
he got seemed to whet his desire for
more. Mr.. Perry then began visiting
pawn shops in this city, Boston, New
Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport, and
whenever he saw a razor in window
within the shadow of the emblem of St.
Nicholas, he would ask to examine it,
and would, in most instances, buy 1t for
few cents. When Mr.. Perry and his
wife went abroad last fall he continued
his hunt for razors and drove many a
sharp bargain with European cutlery
dealers and curio merchants. Mrs.
Perry also began to take keen inter
est in razors, although acknowledging
that she had seen things more beauti
full. She sometimes worried over her
ors, and feared he might get into a
scrape, but as yet, she says, he has al
ways come off without a scratch.
Shaved Napoleon.
K Some of the Perry razors have
stories and traditions twined about
them which heighten their value in
their owners eyes. One is said to
have shaved the chin of Napoleon,
having been picked up on the field
Of battle at Waterloo, where is was
found in the deserted baggage of the
French emperor 1t was made by
Shepherd and was discovered by the
collector in New York pawnshop.
For certain reasons, however, Mr..
Perry has never believed in the
truthfulness of the Gotham broker.
"Napoleon had such close shave
at Waterloo" says Mr.. Perry, that
he didn't need a razor"
Another razor in the collection, ac-
cording to the story told by friend
of Mr.. Perry, who gave 1t to him, was
used by Lafayette. The French officer
is said to have stopped at a Connecti-
cut boarding house for the night, and
not wishing to appear before the
maidens of the community with an
unshaVen face he used the razor which
his host kindly lent him. There is
nothing in the old blade now, how.
ever, which could be used to prove
the story
From. Many Lands.
At the present time the Perry col
lection includes representatives from
the United States, England, Germany,
Ireland, Sweden Denmark, Syria, Italy,
France and China. Many Of them are
of goodly age, and though it is hard
even for a connoisseur to tell how old
a razor is, Mr.. Perry prides himself
on always hitting it right, within a
year or a few months. The razor
which he regards as his Oldest is one
made by Simon Butcher, the predeces-
sor of the famous firm of Wade &
Butcher. According to Mr.. Perry, it
I was made about 1850. Like all ra-
zors of that period, it is hand wrought
and shows the mark Of the hammer on
Its steel. 1t is twice as heavy as the
1903 razor, and one would hardly
think now of using it for its original
purpose. There is a Tally Ho razor
In Mr.. Perry's collection, which its
owner regards as almost as old as the
ancient Butcher. At any rate, it is
far more valuable. There are not
more than three or four Of its kind
in this country, and Mr.. Perry says
1t is worth about SIS.
The Sherwood Collection.
Mr.. Sherwood, the rival razor col
1actor, only began his collection of
razors two years ago, but he has given