The safety razor of John R Gilda

Continuing on the theme of razors with stuff in the handle, we have an early patent for a razor with a pair of tweezers. And those may be the least interesting detail on this safety razor. Filed in 1908 and granted the year after, John R Gilda came up with a simple, single edged safety razor. While no blade is shown separate on the drawings, it probably would take blades similar to the Christy razors. After all, a lot of razors did in the early part of last century.

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Electric safety razor

There have been no lack of patents for shocking, vibrating, oscillating, buzzing, and bulky safety razors over the years. Some were meant to be plugged into the electrical grid, and some were powered externally. But this patent for an electric safety razor, filed in 1937, were powered by an replaceable battery.

It was filed by Alexander Schaaf and Rudolf Schunermann, from Berlin-Charlottenburg and Nowawes1 respectively. The US patent office granted the patent in 1942, which is interesting since this was after Germany declared war on the US.

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An experiment, take three

There is an idiom in Norwegian, stating that “alle gode ting er tre”. The closest I know of in English is the phrase “third time is the charm”, which has a similar enough meaning.

So keep that in mind. This is, at this stage, a step by step process.

This follows up from an experiment I did earlier, and the second experiment too. I have tried to take into account the feedback y’all have been kind enough to give. And it is because I wanted to try something several of you mentioned, that this is coming a couple of weeks after the last try.

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Shave of the day 27th May 2022

Razor: “Normal”

Blade: Wilkinson Sword

Brush: Vie-Long #14033

Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream

Lather: B&M Latha Oceana

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara

Additional Care: Alum Block

Shaving aid stored in the razor handle

Several of the patents we’ve looked at lately took the form of pen-shapedmore or lessshaving and hygiene kits, some with additional functions. Most of them stored some form of shaving aid in the handle – a tiny brush, soap powder or pellets. But what if I told you there was a patent for doing just that? One that covered just having a shaving aid stored in the razor handle?

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Shave of the day 25th May 2022

Razor: “Normal”

Blade: Wilkinson Sword

Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger

Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream

Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara

Additional Care: Alum Block

Great British Patent 1902-28763

1902-28763. Or, for those who can’t quite recall the patent numbers of the top of their heads, one of King Gillette’s earliest patents for the classic three piece Old Type Razor.

It wasn’t King Gillette’s earliest patent, nor his last. It is, as far as I am aware, the earliest of his patents showing the classic Old Style razor with the bottom knob. Both his early US patents – US 775,134 and US 775,135 – required the user to either unscrew the handle or use the whole handle as a knob.

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Shave of the day 20th May 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim

Blade: Wilkinson Sword

Brush: Omega #10048

Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream

Lather: Asylum Shave Works Colonia

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara Additional

Care: Alum Block

Letters to Gillette Blade from the Gillette Boys

Gillette used to – back in the olden days – to have an internal magazine called the Gillette Blade. As far as I can tell, the Gillette Blade was aimed at Gillette’s employees, sales people, and share holders. Today one would have a company website, but this was a wee bit before the modern internet came along.

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Shave of the day 18th May 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim

Blade: Wilkinson Sword

Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012

Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream

Lather: Cold River Soap Works Olfactory Hue

Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara

Additional Care: Alum Block

SOTD 2022-05-18
SOTD 2022-05-18