All About Pocket Knives

My grandmother Addie Case Burrell and my grandfather Harold W. Burrell started Burrell Cutlery in 1940 after leaving Kinfolks. I closed Burrell in 2006. I was the last descendent of the Case family to manufacture a knife after 117 years. I’m going through years of accumulation of knives, razors and related stuff. I’m new on AAPK and will be opening my store platform this summer. Yesterday, while looking for something, I came across a wooden box full of rusty steel branding stamps. I brought four back to my shop and cleaned this one up. We made razors for a lot of different companies. These aren’t the best pictures but this stamp was made by Sossner in New York. The brand is Blue Steel SPECIAL. It will be interesting to see what they all say. I’ve got razors, packaging, stamps, dies and even a handle cutting die.

That’s neat John, I can’t wait to see all the of the items you will be posting and selling.

Very cool, thanks for posting and anxious to see more.

I have cleaned the rust off of three more steel branding stamps. One is WESTER BROS.,YANKEE SHAVER, another is WASHINGTON SUP. CO., WASHINGTON< PA., and the third is F.W. ENGELS, NEW YORK, REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. I have many more to clean up. I will keep posting what I find.
Regards, John

Very cool indeed!

I brought 20 more stamps home today and have six of those in process. It will be interesting to see what razors they are from. I'm sure they probably all went through the flood of 1967. They are really rusty.
Regards, John

Of the six Stamps I talked about yesterday, five of them have cleaned up well. One needs some more time. The five are: PREMIER WEDGE, LOW RIO GRANDE VALLEY SPECIAL, HEIMEDINGER'S HUMMER, dubl duck SPECIAL No. 1 and WEPORT COMPANY CHICAGO 7 ILL. More to come.
Regards, John

Do you have any of the old razors? As a straight razor shaver I know I’d love to see them.

I ran across this nice "NEW" white Burrell Cutlery Top Flight 5 today in one of my boxes. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a mint condition razor that was made 70 to 80 years ago.
Regards, John

Hi John
I am very familiar with your family's razors. They are some of the best that ever were. If indeed you plan on selling some of the razors, Please contact me. I might be interested in a stamp or two as well.
I've been shaving with straights for several years now. All of my blades are vintage. I do not, however, have any of your family's. It would be nice to remedy that.
That TOP FLIGHT is gorgeous.
Thanks,
Willie

johnburrell wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:45 pm I ran across this nice "NEW" white Burrell Cutlery Top Flight 5 today in one of my boxes. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a mint condition razor that was made 70 to 80 years ago.
Regards, John

That's fantastic! I too would like to see any you have for sale.

Okay all you straight razor enthusiasts. I thought it was time to update you on my steel branding stamp cleanup. So far I’ve cleaned up 34 stamps. I’m going to attach pictures of the list that I have so far. I just counted and I only have 60 more to go. Pop, dad and Burrell Cutlery certainly made razors for a lot of companies. I’m also attaching a picture of a Gold Bug that Burrell Cutlery manufactured for S.R. Droescher, New York, NY. Dad and Bob Droescher were really good friends. In fact when I was born Bob sent a nice gift to mom and dad. This Gold Bug to me seems as though it was never used. I believe it to have been a second. The brands both front and back are to light.

Here’s the razor. I hope.

I tried again.

That is fascinating and great information. It was always a wonder to me as who actually made several of the names listed. Now I know. Thank you for sharing your family's history.

Owd Wullie,
You're welcome Sir. By the way, nice looking "Pete".
Regards, John

johnburrell wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:55 pm Owd Wullie,
You're welcome Sir. By the way, nice looking "Pete".
Regards, John

Thanks John,
It's a 72 model. Been rode hard all her life. She's a toy now. I'm retired and I drive it for fun when I feel like getting some two stick therapy. It has 2 transmissions, the way they all ought to be in my opinion. The Skinny nose Kenworth is a 70 model. It's another toy and also has two transmissions. The Pete has a 15spd main and a 4spd auxiliary with overdrives in both boxes. That gives 60 possible forwards and 12 possible reverses. LOL It'll crawl or fly. It's geared out at around 110mph but I'll never punch it that hard.
The KW has a 5spd main and a 4spd auxiliary with a single overdrive that gives it 20 possible forwards and 4 reverses. It'll run out around 80mph, once again not with me driving it. It's comfortable at 65mph. But hey, I'm old.

A lot of gears. After I closed Burrell Cutlery, I worked for my Godsons construction company for a few years. Among other things I drove several of his dump trucks. Mostly R model Mack’s. The biggest was a “12” wheeler. I’

I’ve decided to call my AAPK Store Platform Top Flight Knives and Stuff. As you know, Top Flight was my grandfather Burrell’s brand. What most people don’t know is the design with the two wings was created by my wife’s father, William T. Lowry.

While in Europe, during WWII, Bill was getting a haircut. He said to the barber let me see that razor. He had it in his hand and told the barber “Hey that was made in my hometown and I designed that Mark”. Small world, a couple of nights ago I was cleaning up some more steel marking stamps. I was pleased to find that hidden under the rust, one was a winged Top Flight. I immediately ran into the house to show it to my wife.
Regards, John

I’m going to use this logo for my store.

WOW! Thank you for that list John!

Colonel26, you’re very welcome Sir. A lot of American Razor history in that old wooden shop box!

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here. I’m posting this picture with my phone. Then I’ll use the computer for a longer post. This beautiful razor is a Case Brothers, Springville, Tested XX from my Great Grandfather’s company.

So I've actually sold a few of my Barbers Straight Razor Collection pieces recently at auction. I've wanted to show you all my new business and thought the best way to draw attention to it was with the old Case Brothers Razor shown in my last message. Today, I spent a considerable amount of time sorting out some razors that we made at Burrell Cutlery for other companies. It was fun. Among them were: Wester Bros., dubl duck, Staffords Best, S.R. Droescher and Blue Steel. I'm happy to answer any questions anybody might have,

Regards,

John Burrell