Victorian Shaving, Part 2

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In Victorian Shaving, Part 1, I covered straight blade (non-safety) razors. Plus the available styles and method of use. Including fascinating Victorian details like sharpening straight-blade razors with a strop. Commercially available shaving soaps. And fees for a barber’s shave v. a man doing so himself.

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An 1880 Ad: Men Who Shave Themselves

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Safety Razor advertised in Reading Times of Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1880. "Gentlemen who shave themselves who will do well to get a SAFETY RAZOR at McCurdy and Durham's. You cannot cut yourself with them."

An early mention (1880) of SAFETY RAZOR published in Reading Times of Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1880.

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Safety Razors: A Victorian Invention

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The first attested use of the term “safety razor” is in a patent application for “new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors”, filed in May 1880 by Fredrik and Otto Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York, and issued the following month.

This differed from the Henson design in distancing the blade from the handle by interposing, “a hollow metallic blade-holder having a preferably removable handle and a flat plate in front, to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch. Said plate having bars or teeth at its lower edge, and the lower plate having an opening, for the purpose set forth.” Which is, to “insure a smooth bearing for the plate upon the skin, while the teeth or bars will yield sufficiently to allow the razor to sever the hair without danger of cutting the skin.”

The Kampfe Brothers produced razors under their own name following the 1880 patent and improved the design in a series of subsequent patents. These models were manufactured under the “Star Safety Razor” brand. [source]

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Vintage Image: Gilette Safety Razor.US_Patent_775134

Image: Public Domain, Gilette Safety Razor, US_Patent_775134.

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The Star Safety Razor

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Star Safety Razor advertisement. "No Danger of Cutting Yourself While Shaving." The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware on December 23, 1885.

“No Danger of Cutting Yourself While Shaving.” Star Safety Razor advertised in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware on December 23, 1885.

Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. A.J. Jordan. Testimonials, Part 1, for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, MIssouri, on September 11, 1886

1 of 4). Testimonials for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri, on September 11, 1886.

A.J. Jordan. Testimonials, Part 2, for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, MIssouri, on September 11, 1886

2 of 4). Testimonials for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri, on September 11, 1886.

A.J. Jordan. Testimonials, Part 3, for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, MIssouri, on September 11, 1886

3 of 4). Testimonials for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri, on September 11, 1886.

A.J. Jordan. Testimonials, Part 4, for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, MIssouri, on September 11, 1886

4 of 4). Testimonials for Star Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri, on September 11, 1886.

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Advertisement for Star Safety Razor. Every Man His Own Barber. St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri on June 5, 1886

Star Safety Razor advertisement: “Every Man His Own Barber.” Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri on June 5, 1886.

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Kristin Holt | Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Advertisement for Star Safety Razor. $2 and saves delays in barber shops. The Topeka State Journal of Topeka, Kansas, on September 20, 1888.

An advertisement for the Star Safety Razor. Published in The Topeka State Journal of Topeka, Kansas, on September 20, 1888.

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Star Safety Razor and Strop Machine for Safety Razor. Advertiseed in the 1895 Montgomery Ward Spring and Summer Catalog. "Patented April 1887."

“Patented April 1887”: Star Safety Razor and Strop Machine for Safety Razor. Offered for sale in the 1895 Montgomery Ward Spring and Summer Catalog.

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. Advertised in the 1895 Montgomery Ward Spring and Summer Catalog. "The Star Safety Razor Gem Case, Favorite Case, and Traveling Case."

Three types of cases for The Star Safety Razor. From the 1895 Montgomery Ward Catalogue Spring and Summer.

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Competing Brands of Safety Razors

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Ideal Brand Safety Razor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri, on September 15, 1886.

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Shaving, Part 2. The Ideal claims to be the only safety razor on the market. St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri on October 6, 1886.

The Ideal claims to be the only safety razor IN the market (Whose market? A.S. Aloe & Co.? or “the market”?), published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, Missouri on October 6, 1886.

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