Civil War era cased razor strop dated 1810, as in museums and books

This is another nice item being offered – it is a Civil War era cased razor strop, used for sharpening straight-edge razors. The overall measurement is 13 ¾” x 1 ¾”. It has the original cardboard case along with the paper labels on each side. One side has the complete paper label with a patriotic eagle motif with “E Pluribus Unum” beneath it, along with directions on how to use it. There are dates of “1810” and “1835”. The other side has a label telling of the superiority of the product and both sides have the manufacturers name “Charles Emerson”.

An example of an Emerson razor strop is in The Civil War Collectors Encyclopedia, by Francis Lord (see pictures). He talks about how this type of strop was commonly used during the Civil War. Period photographs show many of the older soldiers sporting full beards, but the majority were younger men and shaved whenever possible, particularly in the more permanent areas, such as forts and winter camps (see period photograph).

I have one of these strops in my private collection and used it in my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items” (see pictures). This unique piece remains in nice condition, only showing typical signs of its age. In the Civil War Medical Museum in Frederick, Maryland, there is another example of this strop (see pictures). It goes great with a display of a soldier's personal effects.