Bessegg razor – made in Norway during the War

A lot of Norwegian Museums is part of what they call “The Digital Museum”, where you can search and browse the collections without having to actually go to a museum you didn’t even know existed in the first place.

As – for instance – the museum at Tana, located in one of the few buildings in Finnmark that wasn’t burn down by the retreating Nazis in 1944… I had never ever heard about the place until I was poking around trying to find more images of Norwegian razor blades and found this instead:
Click to make bigger – it’s worth a closer look.
It’s an advertisement for a razor manufactured in Norway! While I cannot make out any date printed on it, it’s most likely from the War. The text translates as:
On top:

The first Norwegian!

In the little box to the right of the drawing:

A new (torn word – perhaps ‘product’?)
The Besegg razor have a smooth protecting edge instead of the normal teeth.
The protective edge provides a perfectly efficient safety.

Under the drawing:

BESEGG RAZOR
A BETTER SHAVE

Left side of the table:

ADVANTAGES
1. Better, easier, more comfortable shaves
2. Greater safety
3. Easier cleaning
4. Solid, exact and beautiful construction
5. Made in Norway

Right side of the table:

PRICES
Sports model – 5 kroner
Standard model – 6 kroner
Gift model #1 – 10 kroner
Gift model #2 – 12 kroner
For the normal style of razor blades

Bottom:

THE RAZOR WITHOUT TEETH

The very small print:

Printed at Fabritius, Oslo / Besegg Manufacture Inc., Oslo

I’m fairly convinced the actual razor was a knock off or a near copy of a foreign design, or a chimera of different design elements from foreign razors.

5 kroner back in ’44 would be the equivalent of about 112 kroner today, or about 13.25 USD. However; the average yearly income was – according to my sources – 4260 kroner, so the cheapest model would cost 0.12% of your yearly income… not a small amount when you do the math.

Sidebar / fun factoid: Fabritius was a long established printer in Oslo, operating from 1844 to 1991.

2 thoughts on “Bessegg razor – made in Norway during the War

  1. Pingback: The Norwegian Bessegg, again... - Wegian WetshavingWegian Wetshaving

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