While a razor that can fit in a pocket – a pocket razor, if you like – is all well and good, there have to be compromises made when you want to have a razor the size of a fountain pen. The pen style shavette, the pen with a razor, and Bowlin’s patent all shared one drawback; they used proprietary, narrow blades. The compact razor we looked at a little while back avoids that issue, by being chunkier. But what if you want to retain that pen like sleekness, yet still use a full sized razor blade? Then you end up with C J Garritson’s all-flex pocket razor.

We can all agree that hygiene is important, even when we are not at home. And it was for those times that Raymond J. Gotto filed a patent for a hygiene implement in 1982. A vaguely pen-like implement that contained a tooth brush, and a razor, the device would been easy to bring along. Or buy from a vending machine, for that matter.

The form factor and overall compactness puts Mr Gotto’s invention in the same class as the pen style shavette from 1921, the compact razor from 1927, the combination writing instrument and shaver’s kit from 1936, and of course Bowlin’s shaving kit from 1947.

King Gillette originally considered his blades to be reusable. You could ship them back to his company and get a new blade for every two you sent in. Devices for reconditioning the edge at home also cropped up early, and kept popping up again and again.¹ But with all that honing and sharpening, the blades would wear. The edge would creep slowly but surely closer to the middle of the blade. This would, naturally, change the geometry of the head – likely resulting in suboptimal shaves. Enter left; Abraham Zilbersher and his safety razor for worn down blades.

I can see nothing stopping a shaver from using Mr Zilbersher’s razor with new blades. It does look like a nice razor, and one that would give you the option to use either a comb guard or what is – in essence – a safety bar.

Compact is a funny word, when you think about it. It can mean something dense, or densely packed. It can mean exerting a force on something to make it more, well, compact. Or it can be used to describe something that is a small and conveniently shaped example of its kind, such as a compact camera. I have seen it used to describe make up kits that fit in a purse. Or, in the case of Victor R Payton’s 1926 patent filing, a compact razor that fits in a pocket.

A little over two years ago I self-published – via Amazon – a book on shaving and razor patents. Now I have committed a second book, which is again available on Amazon.

Much like a criminal returns to the scene of the crime, I guess… but then again, I did warn you that I was going to.