If I ever decide to shave my beard - Stories for my grandchildren

I have 3 items that belonged to my father, and to his father before him, and perhaps his father's father.

All three are intended for tonsorial purposes [adjective | ton·so·ri·al | from the Latin verb tondēre, meaning "to shear, clip or crop].

 The provenance of these items is a bit vague; my faulty memory promotes the idea that they originally belonged to my father's grandfather, James William Anderson, who lived his life (of 97 years) in Bedford County, Kentucky. However a look at William's picture suggests that he had no use for instruments of this type.

His son, Jessie Virgil - my grandfather - however, was a clean-shaven man.

It is much more likely that these barber tools belonged to him.

The actual implements themselves beg for a little background research, and while I can find many similar items listed on eBay, the actual history is thin. The Crown Razor Hone was a product offered by the Crown Razor Company of Boston, a company that existed only from 1900-1930.

The Western States Cutlery and Manufacturing Company has a slightly richer history, in that it was started by H. K Platt, formerly of the Platts and Case company, a renowned knife manufacturer. H. K. moved west for his health and started making knives and razors in Boulder in 1911. He moved the company to Denver in 1920, so we can establish the age of the razor with some certainty.

I regularly use the hone to sharpen my kitchen cutlery. It works great. I have no intention of using the razor. It. Is. Sharp. How sharp is it? I could probably cut myself standing a foot away from the blade! It stays in the box, where it has been for about a hundred years.