Remarkable Early Boker King Cutter Straight Razor w/ Box

This is a gorgeous razor, no doubt, with crystal clear engraving and a complete and sound handle, but the history behind this razor and the incredible company that built it are even more impressive.

When we look at truly antique razors, the companies responsible for their design and production were usually started in the mid-1800s. In those times of almost unbridled industrial expansion, it was common that companies began and enjoyed explosive growth, only to be gobbled up by the main players to bolster their already-impressive market share. In the case of Boker, however, these companies were merely mewling infants, in comparison.
Boker is a German company of great renown, having produced some of the most memorable and collectible blades in the world, but their beginnings did not stem from the industrial boom of the 19th century - they're a great deal older than that. Boker was actually started in the 1670s! In Remscheid, Germany was a small hand-tooling company, run by the Boker family. In front of their workshop was a great big chestnut tree that had been there since times immemorial and it was adopted as their logo. The first registered record of that tree being used as Boker's logo was in 1674. Their tools were of impeccable quality and over the next century, they grew into a major tool manufacturer, becoming one of the leading companies in Germany and surrounding regions.
We fast-forward to the beginning of the 19th century, where political strife was rampant and war was wide-spread. The need for blades and bladed weapons was such that Boker started producing blank weapons. Ledgers from 1830 already showed the production of 2000 pieces per week, made by 64 smiths, 47 grinders and a large number of unskilled workers. Their explosive growth and the demand for their ever-swelling product line necessitated expansion. The family got together and decided to expand, internationally. Hermann Boker, an elder son, immigrated to the US and founded H. Boker & Co. At the same time, the youngest, Robert, grew his company in Canada and even established a Mexican branch in 1865. The further details of their growth is undoubtedly impressive, to the point that the Boker name became known the world-over - from Brazil to Asia, the company spread and grew. Their cousin, Heinrich, who was running the Remscheid factory decided to move his operation to nearby Solingen, which was fast becoming the number one steel blade manufacturing city in the world. Whenever we see 'Solingen' on an antique blade, we know it comes from the best stock available. War-time in the 20th century, however, was not a good period for Boker. With communications between Boker's German arm and the rest of the company coming to a complete halt during the second World War, business staggered with trade becoming impossible between the various arms of the company. On top of that, the Solingen factory was still responsible for about half of US-sold stock, so revenue suffered, as well. Finally, the war truly took its final toll - the Solingen factory was completely destroyed - tooling, machinery and even pamphlets of information were all lost (subsequent investigations by Boker found privately held copies and purchased them back, so they would have their history intact). However, due to the truly remarkable relationship between family members and the comradeship Boker fostered, it was only a few years before the Solingen factory was back in production. Workers had come back, after the war, and built up their old factory, BY HAND, to bring production back to the forefront. It's a remarkable example of how a company can foster loyalty from its employees. The company remains one of the most impressive examples of multi-generational success with regards to production and quality. Even today, Boker are considered some of the best straight razors in the world and continue to be sold, all over the world.

Our example is truly remarkable. You can look the world over and find several of these razors - their quality is such that unless purposely destroyed, they would last for generations. However, the engravings on the blade and the handle structure (made of turn-of-the-century cellulose/Bakelite) are rarely complete or legible. In our case, I can scarcely believe the condition of the blade and the handle. The blade is basically perfect… I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a few King Cutter razors in my day, and this piece is in, by far, the best condition I’ve ever come across. Sure, there is some very slight surface pitting near the hinge, and some minor scuffs to the handle, but the condition of this piece is staggering. The engraving on the blade is basically flawless and the Boker Chestnut tree and logo are clearly visible. The box is not completely perfect, but it is complete and solid, with no appreciable tears, whatsoever. In fact, I have never seen a straight razor box in such remarkable condition.
The year of manufacture is still up for debate, however. The only way to truly date these pieces is by matching up the logo with their time-period (as with many early logos, they changed and differed through the decades and in this case, centuries). The logo between 1900 and 1924 when compared to the logo from 1924 to 1935 are very similar, but with some subtle differences. These seemed to be the most common options, with regards to the King Cutter, so I opted to look through those examples to settle on the date of our piece. Normally, after careful observation and research, (and some significant time with a loupe), I’m able to settle on a logo and thus, a time period. In this case though, I was left in a bit of a quandary… It just didn’t match either adequately enough for me to settle on a date. However, I was able to dig a little further and find a catalog of Boker’s Oak tree designs and found that our piece actually pre-dates my chosen date range! The 20th century logos all have lengthy branches. I assumed that over the years, our example had simply worn down to dim the details of these extensions. However, in 1869, the first tree logo of this design was introduced, and that original example contains far more in common with our logo than 20th century examples. The lack of branch extension and importantly, there’s a tell-tale ‘nub’ of a branch that juts out, near the base of the branches, just aren’t found together in post-1900 logos. The material of the handle is an early plastic, referred to as cellulose and is lacking the detailed lines visible in later, light-coloured handles. Given the age of the piece, it is one of the earliest examples of industrial plastics I have ever come across. The King Cutter razor was introduced in the late 1880s, so it is my belief that this piece is from the late 1880s to the mid-1890s. It's a simply marvelous bit of Boker history. The fact that it is approximately 140 years old and still unbelievably sharp makes this the most admirably preserved straight razor I’ve ever seen!
This is a truly exceptional example of one of the most sought-after antique blades in the world, in simply marvelous condition.

As always, should you have any questions or comments, I'm always happy to answer messages almost immediately.

Thank you for visiting C&K!