Before the safety razor as we recognise it today was invented, there was a rich history of “almost-safety-razors” that were invented, patented and sold. One of the more interesting ideas was patented in 1874 by John Monks from Gloucester in England.1 What we have here today is the US patant on his invention that he was granted in 1878 – three years after the Kampfer Bros had likely started manufacturing the first Star razors.
Sometimes referred to as the “pig scraper”, for reasons that should be clear reading the patent:
One of the earliest recognisable safety razors – as the term is commonly understood today – was Frederick and Otto F. Kampfe’s 1880 patent. There is some indications that the first razors were made as early as 1875, but the Star trademark seems to have been in use since 1880. The patent1 for the Star razor is also one of the earliest – but not the first2 – use of the term “safety razor”.
Be it known that we, FREDERIC KAMPFE and OTTO F. KAMPFE, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Razors; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same…
US patent 228,904
The Star razor used wedge blades, which were replaceable but not disposable per see. The shaver was expected to have the skill and knowledge to sharpen and hone the blade as needed. In addition to the removable blade, the patent claimed the comb guard as a novel invention, as well as the ability to store the handle in the blade holder. The blade holder was – as can be seen from the patent drawing – was much larger than the head of a Gillette style razor.
US patent 228,904
The size of the head is also – I do believe – why the early Kampfe razors sometimes are called lather catchers. As it is described in the patent text itself:
The sharp edge of the razor rests against the grated or toothed edge of the front plate, and as the hair and soap are removed in the operation of shaving such refuse matter will be forced through the opening G in the bottom plate, and be retained within the hollow holder, thereby permitting of the use of the device without danger of soiling the fingers of the user.
US patent 228,904
In other words; it was designed from the start to retain the lather in the head, thus keeping the shavers hand free of soap and whiskers. The fact that this also allowed for the handle to be stored in the head seems to mostly have been a happy coincidence – good design often allows any one piece of a device to do multiple functions.
Kampfe’s Star razor was remarkable successful for being such an early design, and variations was for sale until after Gillette and others had popularised the idea of replaceable and disposable blades. During the production run several alterations and refinements were made to the razor, and Kampfe got at least twenty three more razor related patents. The handle was made slimmer and longer, and gained the familiar stars. The blade retention mechanism was refined and improved. The head shrunk some in size, and gained the word STAR on the guard plate.
Advertisement was aggressive, even more so after Gillette hit the market. Some of the advertisements were direct attacks on Gillette’s claim that the disposable blade made stropping and honing a thing of the past. Others advocated the superiority of the convex blade over the flat. In 1911 an advertisement claimed the Star razor had five million users, and other ads claimed that the many imitators proved it’s success.
1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog
Despite the claims of success, it was clear that the day of the wedge blade was over. In 1913 Kampfe introduced the Star Cru Steel3 rib backed blade – a a single edge thin rigid blade having a folded reinforcing rib clamped to the blade opposite the cutting edge. The broadly similar Stoll blade they introduced around 1915 was advertised as being suitable for “Stoll, Superior, Ever Ready, Gem, Gem Junior, Star and other safety razors”.4
It’s also worth nothing, I believe, that one of the founders of Gem Cutlery Co – who would go on to make the GEM razors – was a former employee of Kampfe. In addition the Kampfe Brothers became a subsidiary of American Safety Razor Corp., which was formed when GEM and EverReady merged. So the history of the GEM and the Kampfe is intertwined and most likely complex.
As far as my sources tells me, the Star razor was last offered for sale in the 19204 Sears Roebuck catalogue. The wedge shaped blades were last listed in the same catalogue six years later before that too disappeared. Not a bad run for a razor that was first introduced in 1875 as the very first safety razor.
For those wanting to learn more about the history of Kampfe Brothers, I would recommend Robert K Waits’ “Safety Razor Compendium”.
Cru Steel is most likely an abbreviation for crucible steel, a form of steel that were considered superior to others when it came to making machine tools and cutting edges.
EverReady offered a single edge rib backed blade suitable for “Yankee, Star and Gem frames” as early as 1906 – 50 cents for seven, while the Star wedge replacement blade cost 1 dollar each.
1920 was also the year when Gillette sold two million razors and a whooping 19 million blades.
In the commonly used type of safety razor, the axis of the handle extends at right angle to the longitudinal direction of extension of the blade. The natural and most convenient mode of operating such a razor is to pull it across the surface of the face in a user experiences more or less discomfort.
Otto Spahr in US patent 1,639,441
Reading the introductory paragraph of Otto Spahr’s patent, I get the feeling he could be a bit snarky at times. But he has a point – the common safety razor isn’t the most ergonomic design. And if you’re using the “Gillette Slide” – which some sources indicate was a common technique – it was even less good. Possible solutions includes the slant, an offset handle, or having the head at an angle to the handle.
Mr Spahr picked the later approach, and seems to have gotten the idea that no set angle suits everyone. So he came up with a design that allowed for near infinite adjustment of the handle. In the words of the inventor:
Another object of the invention is to so hinge the razor-carrying frame to the handle that the handle may be adjusted to any desired angle to the blade, so that the axis of the handle will not only extend at an oblique angle to the longitudinal direction of extension of the bla e, but maybe within the plane of the longitudinal centerline .of the blade or at an angle to such plane, as the user may prefer.
Otto Spahr in US patent 1,639,441
A spring loaded ball joint meant that there were no screw threads that can seize up. The spring pressure must be calibrated, to stop the handle from either being beeing too stiff or too loose.
US patent 1,639,441
While not an adjustable razor per see, Spahr’s razor offers opportunity for a lot of adjustment. I can certainly see it being of interest for people with less than full use of their hands, for one reason or other.
