Buddy Kit – a patented toilet kit

A few days ago a fellow shaver posted a thread on my favourite shaving forum, asking for information on something called the Buddy Kit. And since Bax included a photo with a patent number… well, you know what I had to do. So to the Internet I went, and started digging.

The patent application for the Buddy Kit was filed in mid 1941. It was almost two years before it was granted though, possible due to things getting a little hectic at the end of ’41. There was a war on, after all – which may explain an oddity I’ll get back to.

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Larkin Idea – guide to correct shaving.

The Larkin Idea a home improvement magazine and mail order sales catalogue from the late 19th and early 20th century. It helped propel the Larkin Company into gigantic mail order conglomerate in the early part of the 20th century. Today both the company and their “idea”1 is all but unknown, even if Larkin rivalled Sears at its height. While the story behind the company is intriguing, to say the least, it is not the focus today. Rather I want to show you a tutorial in four parts that was printed in the Larkin Idea in 1905. They refereed to it simply as “Correct Shaving”.

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Körzinger & Nettlich’s soap brush for shaving

Yes, it is another disposable lather device,1 and like Dr Samuel Schereschewskij’s invention this one also comes courtesy of the Kaiserlich und Königlich Patentamt2 in Austria. Patented in 1901, Herr Eugen Körzinger and Herr Otto Nettlich came up with a single use, hygienic, and cheap way to lather the beard.

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“My razor and shaving tackle!” by John Teetgen

One of the wonderful features of having access to a global information system is that a large amount of vintage depilation related publications is available that I would not otherwise be aware of. Or, in simpler terms, there is a lot of old shaving pamphlets found on the web. And today I want to share one I found on the internet archive. The full, complete and unabridged title Mr Teetgen gave his masterpiece?

My razor and shaving tackle! As it ought to be: and as it ought-n’t. How to shave without great pains and little cuts.

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