The Compax, according to Waits

As regulars might know, the Robert K Waits Razor Compendium is a good resource – even if it is getting a little long in tooth by now. But it does have an entry for the Compax, with the collapsible handle we looked at a couple of days ago.

To quote Waits in full:

What I find interesting is that Waits says nothing at all about the collapsible handle. The list of British patents shown in one of the photos is… intriguing.

Hexagonal collapsible safety razor handle

A travel razor usually either have a very tiny handle – like my, admittedly tiny all over, Laurel Ladies Boudoir Razor – or a handle in two parts – like my Merkur 985CL. But James Alex Denby Watt had a different idea. He patented a collapsible, hexagonal razor handle in 1930 – and it worked well enough to be part of a production razor.

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A 1929 Schick Repeater advertisment

“The best shave you ever had seems poor beside a Schick shave…”

Big words, but now that I own one, I can testify that the Schick Type B – as is shown in this 1929 advertisement, makes for a damn good shave.

And while I can get two weeks worth of shaves with a modern blade, Schick didn’t go overboard and overpromise on the 1929 blades – instead promising a mere four to ten shaves per blade. But with 20 blades in each clip, that was still a lot of shaves for just 75 cents.