What is it? Set 498

Rob H. · 2013-06-20T08:05:58+00:00

Just posted this week's set: Rob

Jun 20, 2013 26 Replies

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j Burns 13 years ago

Match safe! I hadn't thought of that. In that case (no pun!), it might be from the 19th Century. Joshua Pusey invented book matches in 1879 because his match safe spoiled the appearance of his suit. Advertising appeared on book matches in 1897, and that greatly increased production. Lighter flints went into production in 1907. In WWI, I've read of soldiers using book matches and lighters but not stick matches. The Zippo, known for being windproof and reliable, came out in 1932.

In "The Sand Pebbles," a worker inside a steam engine was killed because a saboteur had removed the locking mechanism. The author had been an engineer on a similar vessel. If the danger was known, one would want a tamper-proof pin. Perhaps the groove described by the owner was made for a slotted plate to engage. Put the pin in, slide the plate on, and screw the plate down with tamper-proof screws. The ship's engineer would have the special screwdriver. Perhaps SE stands for Ship's Engineer. If it's solid, that's my guess!

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Stormin Mormon 13 years ago

Posting from my desk top PC as always.

Thanks, Rob. That's a lot of fun. I learn a bit, too. What's the payback? How many resharpens does it take to cover the cost of the tool?

Razor blade sharpener is correct, my link in the answer for this one shows the missing leather stropper that goes on the round piece.

Still not sure about the second item but the rest of them were all answered correctly.

formatting link

Rob

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Rob H. 13 years ago

This isn't my tool so I don't have an answer for you, I guess razor blades used to be more expensive because there were a lot of sharpeners on the market.

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j Burns 13 years ago

In 1904, a dozen Gillette blades cost $1. In terms of the cost of living, that was like $25 today. In terms of wages, it was more. Many weren't paid $1 for a day's work.

I remember Blue Blades. The first shave was likely to cause pulling and nicks and leave incomplete results. The second shave was worse. I would have bought a sharpening device.

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DoN. Nichols 13 years ago

Razor blades were scarce and rationed (like anything else needed) during WW-II, so ways to make them last longer were desirable. One trick with a double-edged blade was to drop it in a glass tumbler, and (with the blade edges vertical) slide it around inside the walls. This I learned from my uncle, who was a Navy flyer during the Korean war.

Also -- GIs were likely to be posted where the blades were even more difficult to come by -- so even if they were not too expensive, having a way to sharpen them was useful. (Or -- things to make them last longer, like the Burma Shave whose signs took over the roadside for a while.

Enjoy, DoN.

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Ed Huntress 13 years ago

One type I remember -- one of my uncles had one when I was a kid -- was a little hard Arkansas stone with a plano-concave hollow in one side. It was just a little wider than a double-edged blade and maybe twice as long.

You laid the blade in there, pushed in down in the middle with one finger to bend it a bit, and then work the blade around in a circle. Then you flipped the blade to do the other side.

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