Valet Wall Kit

Lately I’ve been on a Autostrop jag. I’ve talked about a film that features how to look after the Valet, an early animated store display, a 1920’s two page ad, and a 1944 non-advertisement on how to look after your strop. Today I stumbled over another piece of Valet / AutoStrop history; the Wall Kit.

The wall kit came with everything you needed. A razor, some blades, a strop, and a wall mount.

Vintage Advertising For The Valet Auto Strop Wall-Kit Safety Razor Set In A Sun Ray Drug Company Store Ad In The Red Bank New Jersey Daily Register Newspaper, December 17, 1942. Photo by Joe Haupt.
A 1942 advertisement for the Valet Wall Kit. Photo by Joe Haupt, CC BY-SA 2.0

Seems like a neat and inexpensive shaving solution. A mere 0.98 US dollars in 1942 is roughly the equivalent to 17.80 US dollars today. About what I would pay for a modern plastic horror with one spare blade at my local supermarket. Less than I would pay to have pizza delivered. Cheap, I think, at twice the price. Quite literally half what the cheapest Valet Wall Kit are sold for on fleaBay.

Vintage Auto Strop Wall-Kit Single-Edge Safety Razor Set, Made In USA, Circa 1942. Photo by Joe Haupt
A 1942ish Valet Wall Kit. Photo by Joe Haupt, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Art Deco style Wall Kit would look good on any bathroom wall. The strop folds up when not in use and has a little pocket to sit in. Gravity – which keeps us all down – holds the razor in place, and the handle helps secure the strop. Under the holder for the razor is a small hook, which I assume was to hook the strop onto when it was used.

I have been wanting a Valet AutoStrop razor for some time. But now I know which kit I would like if I can’t get an AutoStrop Khaki Kit. The 1942 kit would look grat on my bathroom wall, and wouldn’t take up a slot on the already packed razor shelf. It also seems to have come in several colours, so with a bit of luck I can find one that don’t clash too badly with the rest of the décor.

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