Compact cassette sanitary kit – an 80’s patent

Remember compact cassettes? Those little plastic rectangles that ended up as spaghetti in your car stereo? To me at least they are sooo 80’s… as are the little fold up boxes they came in (and which for the most part promptly got lost and were never seen again).

Very much a part of the 80’s were also the idea to pack other stuff in cassette tape boxes – personally I recall having a stationary set in one of those.

Someone came up with the idea of packing a whole toiletry bag into one, to quote the patent abstract:

A cassette sanitary kit is described. The kit includes a cassette comprising a base with locations for the placement of a toothbrush and a handle between stop plates on the base, and locations for a soapsuds container and a shaving cream container between a stop and a division plate on the base, for attachment of a razor holder to a protruding block on the base, for the placement of nail clippers in a trough, for the arrangement of a cologne water container in a round hole on the base, for receiving a set of razor connecting elements in a track, and for the insertion of a comb in a cavity on the underside of the base.

The gear look rather flimsy in the patent drawings – in particularity the razor which is made up of four separate parts. Still, for a back up piece of kit to keep in the car or for handing out as swag it would probably been good enough.

The patent goes into a lot of details, and it’s amazing how much the inventor managed to pack into a tiny package.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the present invention is composed of a base 1 mounting a handle bar 2, a tooth brush 3, a razor holder 4, two razor connecting elements 5, a cologne water container 6, soap-suds container 7, a shaving cream container 8, nail clippers 9, a comb 20 in a cassette 30. Said base 1 comprises a plurality of stop plates 11, 12, 13. Said stop plate 11 has a nose 111 and stop plates 12 and 13 each have a curved face 121 and 131, respectively, on the inner side thereof. Stop plates 11 and 12 receive tooth brush 3, and stop plates 12 and 13 receive handle bar 2. Said base 1 further comprises a receiving trough 15 for receiving nail clippers 9. Said receiving trough 15 has a curved face 151 at one side from which a round hole 17 extends and receives said cologne water container 6. Division plate 152 also extends from said receiving trough 15. Said base 1 has a stop 14 for soap-suds container 7 and shaving cream container 8 which are placed between the stop 14 and plate 152 and between stop block 13 and the razor 4. Said base 1 has two protruding plates 16 to form a locating track 161 for the razor connection elements 5 by means of the vertical ends 51 fit in locating track 161. Said base 1 has a cavity 18 at the bottom for mounting comb 18 by means of depending axles 181 matching with the notches 201 of the comb 20.
Said handle bar 2 has a plurality of notches 21 at one side to reduce the contact face and an indentation 22 to receive the tooth brush 3 or razor connecting elements 5. Indentation 22 in the handle bar 2 is for connection with the connecting plate 31 of the tooth brush 3 or the vertical ends 51 of the two razor connecting elements 5. The mounting of tooth brush 3 by plate 31 in indentation 22 of the handle bar 2, is shown in FIG. 3. The razor holder 4 has tracks 41 for receiving tabs 52 of the connecting elements 5. Said two razor connecting elements 5 are symmetrically identical and can be respectively connected with razor holder 4 and handle bar 2, tabs 52 mounting the razor holder 4 and the vertical ends 51 of each connecting elements 5 received in indentation 22 of the handle bar 2 as shown in FIG. 4.
The cologne water container 6, soap-suds container 7 and shaving cream container 8 can be refilled whenever required, and can be interchangeable. Said nail clippers 9 are directly placed in the receiving trough 15 and can be picked up for ready use when required. Said comb 20 is placed at the bottom of the base 1, and can be easily picked up by simply pulling the notches 201 away from the protruding axles 181. Said cassette case 30 is composed of an upper cover 301 and a lower cover 302 connected by a hinge and receives said base 1 and all the accessories contained in the base 1 to complete an assembly of the present cassette sanitary kit.
The tooth brush 3 when located between stop plates 11, 12 is firmly retained therebetween by means of a nose 111 to keep it from breaking away. The handle bar 2 when placed between the stop plates 12, 13 is firmly retained by means of the respective curved face 121, 131 therebetween. Division plate 152 has a protruding block 10 with a trough 19 for the attachment of the razor holder 4 by means of its track 41 as shown in FIG. 2.
As the assembly is completed and all the accessories are well allocated, they are orderly arranged and firmly secured to provide a compact and complete cassette sanitary kit.

Shave of the day 9th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: LEA shave stick
Brush: Omega #50014 Boar Bristle Travel Brush
Razor: Gillette “Khaki” Old Type with a fresh Lord Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and LEA after-shave balsam

Disposable shaving brush made from paper

A while back I wrote about a disposable sanitary shaving brush made from fibrous material (horsehair or suchlike seems reasonable given the design of the brush) with a patent filed in 1917.

Mr  Edward L Corbett decided to go one better a few years later, and filed a patent for a disposable brush made out of paper… in the inventors own words:

… nor will it be possible to subsequently use the brush, even if a barber were inclined so to do.

The actual invention is simple enough according to the patent description:

… a small individual sanitary shaving brush which comprises a plurality of paper strips that are first slotted, or cut, so that a plurality of narrow strips of paper are formed to simulate bristles, the strips of paper being so arranged that the paper like bristles are bunched in brush like form, after which these bristles are placed in a soap solution and dried in an oven about 100° Fahrenheit.

After these paper brushes are so dipped and impregnated with the soap, they may be packed in small sanitary cartons and sold to the trade. To use one of these brushes, it is simply necessary to place the same ‘for a second or two in hot water, or under a hot water faucet, the water dissolving the soap and softening the paper bristles, after which the brush may be rubbed on the face to form a fine lather. ‘There will be enough soap on each brush to `furnish a sufficient lather for the heaviest beard’, and after the brush has been so used, Inasmuch as the brush is made of paper, the water will not only soften the soap, but will soften the paper, so that there will `be no scratching of the face… 

It’s hard to imagine a brush made out of paper being as good as a modern brush, but it sure makes it disposable.

Fig, 1 is a view in elevation of two strips of paper pasted together at their one end, and showing a means of slotting the paper to form the paper like bristles.
Fig, 2 is a similar View with the upper edges being turned showing the development of the brush.
Fig. 3 shows the start of the curling of the paper and the still further development of the brush.
Fig. 4 shows a completed brush and a portion of a finger inserted in the same.
Fig. 5 is a similar view, but showing a small wooden handle inserted in the brush.
Fig. 6 is a slightly modified form showing a plurality of strips of paper having their upper edges slotted to form bristles, the paper strips being in their fiat state before being curled and Fig. 7 is a completed brush showing the development of the brush started in Fig; 6.

Shave of the day 7th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: LEA shave stick
Brush: Omega #50014 Boar Bristle Travel Brush
Razor: Gillette “Khaki” Old Type with a fresh Lord Super Stainless
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and LEA after-shave balsam

Shave of the day 5th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Eucalyptus Soap
Lather: Mike’s Mixed
Brush: Omega #10048 Boar Bristle
Razor: Phillips Philite with a Shark
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 2nd December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: LEA shave stick
Brush: Omega #50014 Boar Bristle Travel Brush
Razor: Merkur 985CL open comb travel razor with a Lord Platinum
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and LEA after-shave balsam
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Wear indicator for a disposable razor

Once in a while a solution to a problem I wasn’t aware of is so brilliant I can’t understand why no one has done it already… like Doroodian-Shoja Siamak’s idea of putting a wear indicator on a disposable razor (although I can see no reason why one couldn’t put in on a cart as well).

I use a disposable once every blue moon or so – basically when I’m flying with just hand-luggage – so I have no recollection of how many times a particular disposable have been used.

In the inventors own words:

A wear indicator is located on the head or frame of a disposable razor or razor cartridge, in close proximity to the shaving edge of the blade. The wear indicator comprises a mass of material that gradually wears away as the disposable razor or cartridge is used in shaving, the amount of material wearing away being correlated with the amount of wear on the blade edge to provide a visual indication of the relative wear on the blade. Preferably, the wear indicator comprises two strips of material, one atop the other, the upper strip wearing away to reveal the contrastingly-colored lower strip. Alternatively, the material may wear away to reveal indicia or lettering on the lower strip.

Considering how many carts already have a “lubricating strip” (which, by the way, has not been shown to work as promised), this invention may be combined with it – or replacing it.

Unlike most other patents I dig up and blog about, this one is still on the books.

Shave of the day 30th November

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: the last of my Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B natural white pure horse
Razor: Phillips Philite with a fresh Shark
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest 80 Below
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 27th November

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Proraso Eucalyptus & Menthol Soap
Brush: Turkish No6 ‘horse hair’
Razor: GEM Micromatic Clug Pruf with a GEM SE
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb