Tag Archives: Vintage

Safety-razor-blade holder for easy stropping

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While it may seem a waste of time for us today, living – as we do – in the era of inexpensive, stainless razor blades, less than a century ago people actually stropped their razor blades in order to keep them sharper for longer. A number or razors even came with blade holders in order to make this process easier, but what if your razor didn’t come with one, or you had several different razors you wanted to strop the blades for?

Fear not, because in 1930 Mr David J Prince patented an improvement to the safety-razor-blade holder that would accept any major blade on the marked!

…a convenient, inexpensive holder for razor blades when it is desired to sharpen the same by stropping and it particularly seeks to provide a holder which will take either Valet, Christy, Gillette or Durham type blades, or those having backs such as the Gem, EverReady, Star and other well known kinds.

David J Price

For those who are not familiar with the different blades, that don’t sound too difficult.. but one have to keep in mind that this would include single and double edged blades, with and without holes and slits, with and without ears, and with and without a thick spine along the back. All told an impressive range of shapes and thicknesses that the design have to account for.

US patent 1 797 589

As can be seen from the patent drawing, the blade holder consisted of two hinged plates that clamped the blade between them. Since each plate had ‘half’ a screw on the end, tightening the handle on the blade holder locked the two plates together and clamped the blade securely. Or as the patent describes it, each plate:

…has a threaded shank 2 at one end and a hinge ear 4 at the other end, the threaded shank having a portion cut away.

David J Price

The plates had groves or cutout int he middle of them as well as a couple of holes drilled through, and for different blade styles there would be different ways for securing the blade;

  • for Durham, Gillette and Varlet blades, there was a pair of loose studs (called lugs in the patent text) that lined up with the holes cut in the blade
  • for Christy style blades, the studs were removed
  • and a GEM style blade would rest in the groves themselves

All told a simple and ingenious solution to the problem of providing clamping pressure on a variety of blades -as long as you didn’t loose the two studs that is. One improvement I can see immediately would be to give the studs threads on the part that fitted into the holes in the holder – said holes would have to be threaded too – and when stropping a blade without holes simply fasten them on the outside of the plate.

I can also see this being useful as a simple, cheerful and somewhat scary kamisori-style shavette – one that allowed a shaver to experiment with several different styles of blades, although the selection in this day and age is smaller than it was in the late 20’s and early 30’s.1

As far as I can tell, this is the only razor or shaving related patent Mr Price filed for, which is a shame, cause I would have loved to see if he could come up with a razor that fitted multiple styles of blades as well.

  1. For starters, there is to the best of my knowledge no one that manufactures Valet, Durham or Christy style blades any longer. Update: I’m informed that Feather still makes blades that fit Valet and Durham razors.

Diamond Edge razor – patent and brief history

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As I was poking around for information on a different razor, I stumbled over the abbreviated history of the Diamond Edge Razor, as made by the Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Co – later the Shapleight Hardware – in St Louis, Missouri, between 1910 and 1919. Described in Waits’ Compendium as a single edge hoe style razor with a closed comb guard, it apparently was offered in a number of different styles; the DE100 was silver plated in green lined box, the DE200 had red lining and gold plated tips, the DE300 had gold plated frame with gold and silver plated handle in an imitation pigskin case, while the top model – the DE400 – was all gold plated, came in a gold plated box with it’s own stropper.

As can be guessed by the fact that you got a stropper with the high end kit, the Diamond Edge wasn’t meant to use disposable blades – rather reusable ones. All models seems to have been delivered with a holder for the blade to make them easier to strop, so even if replacement blades were available,1 it seems the idea was to buy a razor with enough blades to last practically forever.

The patent for the Diamond Edge was filed by Carl Gustav Schimkat in the beginning of 1906 – so before Gillette had emerged as the top dog in the safety razor market. The Diamond Edge was one of several fairly successful competitors to the Gillette, in what was a fairly fluid marketplace. The patent itself isn’t too earth-shattering in hindsight, like many others it aimed to

…produce a simple and inexpensive safety razor…

From patent US866969A

Simple and inexpensive meant that one could tap into a large marked; people who would like to be clean shaven, but who couldn’t afford an expensive razor or frequent visits to the barber.

An interesting element of the razor was that the blade wasn’t held by the razor directly, but by a retainer (12) that helped give the blade the required rigidity – which make sense considering the design of the razor was very close to the Kampfe wedge razor design in concept if not in execution.

It seems like the success of the Gillette during and after the Great War killed off the Diamond edge… it is hard to compete with a razor all the doughboys got for free while in the service after all. Those who owned them probably used them while blades could be gotten, but today the Diamond Edge and other single edge hoe style razors seems to have been all but forgotten.. what little we can easily find and use today is vintage EverReady and GEM style razors.

For those interested, the whole patent can be read at Google Patents and razors.click.

1) Clark’s Blade & Razor Co, operating out of Newark, NJ, offered off-brand blades via the Sears Catalogue for a wide range of razors until at least the end of the 1920’s. Their No3 blade is advertised as fitting the Diamond Edge as well as Auto Strop, Young and other razors.

A collapsible lather brush

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The desire to improve and enhance upon things must be as old as the drive to invent in the first place, and the brush that Mr Marcus B Berhman filed a patent for in 1919 is in fact a useful improvement on the classic brush – if only for travel purposes.

…a lather brush compromising a handle and bristles, the knot of the bristles being held by suitable inner and outer ferrules and the bristles being adapted to be concealed within the handle of the brush or exposed outwardly therefrom for use, said handle being in hinged together sections adapted to be opened outwardly to receive the bristles or to permit the same to be removed from the handle, and said outer ferrule being adapted to lock the handle in closed position, both when the bristles are within the handle and when said bristles are in exposed condition.

Makes me dizzy just to read all that.. but the long and the short is that the handle is hollow, hinged, and shaped to hold the knot when in the stowed position. Luckily the drawing that accompanies the patent is clearer than the text when it comes to explaining things.

From patent US 1,353,984

Looks like a handy travel brush, and one I wouldn’t mind having. I do like the fact that when folded it takes half the space, meaning you can more easily fit a full sized brush in your dopp bag. While the original idea likely was to make it out of stamped sheet metal, there is no reason why a modern recreation of this idea can’t use different materials that stands up to the damp a bit better.

Need something to do while in corona lock-down?

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Got time to spare while being at home due to the situation in the world today? Or just want a light read in between being busy with work?

70 razor and shaving patents – available both as an paperback and for Kindle1 – is a somewhat serious, somewhat humorous meandering look at the history of shaving, as seen through patents from the last century and a half. Explore a wide range of ideas ranging from electrically heated razors to plug into the light fixtures, magnetic pseudoscience, the ever present vibrating razors, and sensible solutions for razors that were the right idea at the wrong time.

My book explores some of the roads not taken and the blind alleys explored – solutions in search of a problem as well as problems caused by the solutions – by inventors to perfect our daily shave and moment of Zen.

Get it from Amazon; this link should take you to the closest Amazon to your location.

And regardless; try to stay safe in these weird times we’re living through. We will come through the other end, together and freshly shaven.

1) If you have Kindle Unlimited, it is also available to borrow there.

A 1963 Dopp kit for Dad (and other shavers)

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While I was once told where the term “Dopp kit” came from – and promptly forgot – the important thing to keep in mind is that we all need a nice, sturdy, roomy toiletry bag from time to time when we travel… got to fit our shave gear and a few other bits and pieces too in it, after all.

So while I was browsing online today I came over this advertisement from June ’63 (just a little under sixty years ago) that features a dopp bag that seems to fit the bill perfectly:

Somehow I suspect I would have to fork over a wee bit more than $7.50 today ($63.40 today, adjusted for inflation) for a similar kit today… but if I could find one like the one in the advertisement it could be worth it.

Combination Shaving Set

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A quadruple Plate combination shaving set, none the less.. just the thing to avoid shaving in cold water ever again.

A 1896 advertisement from Pairpoint MFG Company

For most of us – close to one and a quarter century after this ad was printed – the idea of not having hot water available on command from the tap in the bathroom is an alien concept. We might choose to shave with cold water, which can be quite refreshing in summer – but it’s a choice we make, and not something we are forced to endure.

True, in the larger cities water pipes and sewers were in place, but if you lived in a rural area there was a good chance that your options were a well and an outhouse (hopefully situated well apart). The option for having hot water for your shave in just two minutes would have been a godsend, and the Combination Shave Set also helped keeping all your shave gear organised.

I’m also reminded of a patent I’ve looked at previously; US144,667 to be exact – titled “Improvement in shaving-mugs” – which covered a shaving mug with a stand and heater. It’s discussed in my book, which you can get both as a paperback or in Kindle format.

The Rally dry shaver

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A seemingly bright idea that I stumbled over as I was clicking through the Mechanix Illustrated archives; the Rally Dry Shaver was a lawn mower for your five o’clock shadow. It folded up to sit in your pocket, and worked by simply running it over your face.

According to the advertisements, the Rally was the easiest, most painless, easiest to use shaver ever invented. Reality was probably less rosy.

A quick search via Google shows that quite a few of these are still around, and looking to be in good shape too. That alone makes me think they were less useful than the advertisements claimed – if the Rally had worked properly, they would have seen a lot more use.

All in all an interesting, but pointless, gizmo.

The patent for the GEM Micromatic?

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One of my treasured vintage razors currently in my rotation is my Micromatic Clog-Pruf, which was a variation of the Open Comb Micromatic that dates back to 1930. And here I have stumbled over what very much looks to be the patent for the Micromatic, based on inventor, assignee and how the patented razor looks and works.
In late summer of 1929, Mr Godfrey Dalkowitz filed – on behalf of the American Safety Razor Corp – a patent for a razor…
…of the type wherein the blade is pressed against fixed front stops, which allows adjustment of its shaving edge to a predetermined position with respect to the razor guard, to insure a proper shaving action notwithstanding expected dimensional variations in blades employed.
In other words, a razor of the GEM and EverReady type1 using single or double edged blades. The patent also mentions in passing US patent #13739,280, which I briefly looked at a while back, to highlight what blade the razor was intended to use. To me – at least – one of the defining featueres of the Micromatic when compared to the earlier GEM and EverReady razors is the fact that it is a twist-to-open design, which is in sharp contrast to how earlier razors opened and closed the bear trap style top cap. As the patent text puts it:

It is thereafter necessary for the user merely to rotate the control member 46. This advances the pin 39 and the cam 40 upwardly against the cam surface 37 and initiates a rearward movement of the rack 35. During such rearward movement, the pinion 34 is moved in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3-8. During the initial rotation of the pinion 34, the cover is caused to swing downwardly onto the seat from the positions of Figures 3 and 6 into those of Figures 4 and 7, respectively. The bladeengaging members 44 thus enter the respective cut-outs or recesses 69 and 70 and engage the abutment shoulders 71 and 72, the members 44 passing downwardly into the cut-outs 54 and 55 of the blade seat 20 but being completely out. of engagement with the blade seat 20.
During a further adjustment of the member 46 and a consequent continuation of the rearward movement of the rack 35, the cover 15 is caused to advance along the seat 20 in a substantially edgewise manner from the positions of Figures 4 and 7 to those of Figures 5 and 8, respectively. During this edgewise movement, it is to be noted that the front edges 58 and 59 of the links 30 and 31 move away from the ridges 56 and 57, respectively; or, rather, the ridges move forwardly away from the edges 58 and 59.
This edgewise advancement of the cover along the seat causes a similar advancement of the blade 66 and forces the operative cutting edge 67 against the abutments or blade stops 23.

Clear as mud – but it boils down to that a clockwise rotation of the knob (46) pushes the plunger (39) up, which forces the cam (37) backwards. This operates the rack and pinion gear (53 & 34), which closes the lid (50) and at the same time pushes the blade (66) forward against the blade stops (23). Piece of cake!
And to open it up again… well, unsurprisingly all you have to do is to rotate the knob in the opposite direction.

Unlike so many of the patent I dig up and snark at, this patent for the Micromatic has stood the test of time; while the razors may not still be in production, there is a great many shavers out there who still enjoys the smooth shave of a GEM Micromatic.

1) Both brands owned by the American Safety Razor Corp, after their merger in 1906.

“70 razor and shaving patents” now available

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My book – “70 razor and shaving patents” – is now finally available for both Kindle and paperback!

 
Order the Kindle edition at http://getbook.at/70razor_shavingpatents 

A somewhat serious, somewhat humourus meandering rump through patents from the last century and a half, the book explores some of the roads not taken and the blind alleys explored – solutions in search of a problem as well as problems caused by the solutions – by inventors to perfect our daily shave and moment of Zen.

To those of you who preordered the Kindle version; thank you, each and every one of you.
For all those in the online wet shaving community who encouraged me to get into the hobby, to stay with it, to learn about the history of traditional wetshaving, and for the welcoming friendship you all have shown; thank you, thank you, thank you – without you this book would never have seen the light of day.

 
Order the Kindle edition at http://getbook.at/70razor_shavingpatents 

A simple and inexpensive sheet metal razor

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The key to making a profit is – broadly speaking – to spend as little as possible on manufacture, while selling for as much as the market will pay. Thus the race for an inexpensive safety razor was on quite early, as can be seen in this patent, filed by Percy R Greist and Emanuel J Boyler in 1913, on behalf of the Greist Manufacturing Company.
As the inventors stated in the patent text, the whole idea was to make it cheap and convenient:

This invention relates to safety razors, and has for its object to provide a razor of this class which may be made at little cost, in that the parts thereof may be stamped from sheet metal, which is efficient in use, and the parts of which may be quickly and conveniently assembled and may be readily taken apart for cleaning.

The two main parts of the razor is stamped and folded in a press, and the springiness of the sheet metal act to hold the parts together. The top cap – for lack of a better term – is integral to the handle, and the base plate doubles as a blade holder and take down button. As far as the actual blade goes, there is no drawing of it by itself in the patent, but it looks to be much like a EverReady blade without a spine. It was inserted into the blade holder from the back when the razor was disassembled.

It is interesting to note, by the way, that this is one of the patents cited by Oneblade Inc1 – that is; Tod Barrett, Porter Stansberry, and Mark Prommel  – for their reasonable successful OneBlade razor.

1) See US20160288349A1 and US10538005B2, both filed in 2016