I have been restoring old straight razors for the last year or so and I have bought a couple of 19th century razors that have "damascus" etched or engraved on the blade face. I'm holding a Joseph Elliott right now that says "Best Silver Steel" on the tang and "Damascus Hollow" on the blade. I have a suspicion that it means nothing, but I don't understand what the intention was. These blades do not show a damascus-like pattern. I even tried immersing one in hydrochloric acid but it simply changed color slightly, and uniformly, and got a bit cleaner (I have zero experience etching damascus steel so this test was not scientific...perhaps the acid would have been too undiluted to differentially darken it). Do you think they'd have used the word "damascus" in the late 19th century as a generic way of saying "super, supremo, excellent steel"?