oTTO ROTH?

I have in my possession of a otto roth razor made in the USA
any info about the razor?

I haven't found any yet!

The Otto Roth company made safety razors early in the last century and was in Germany (I'm not sure but I think in Berlin).

One famous razor they made was the Rotbart Mond. They were in competition with Gillette then and Gillette decided to buy this factory in the 1920ies.

After Gillette bought this factory they made rebranded Gillette safety razors with the Rotbart writing on them.

They made safety razors until the seventies and the latest famous razor from Rotbart looks exactly like the Gillette Slim twist.

Here is a sample of an early Rotbart Mond:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Blechdose-alter-Nass-RASIERER-Rotbart-Mond-Extra_W0QQitemZ350291275222QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAlte_Berufe?hash=item518efcadd6

But I must say I've never heard about a Otto Roth made in USA, maybe a former owner combined some parts of an US. Gillette with a german Rotbart?

BTW, Rotbart blades are still in production (see the blade reviews), good blades but at least simply rebranded Gillette blades from Procter & Gamble.

Thank you for the information, I had a wonderful shave tonight.

Please post a pic, is it the slim handled New?

same handle in the bottom picture. Has the same numbers and head in this post...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1656929

Ellsworthcj5 said:

same handle in the bottom picture. Has the same numbers and head in this post...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1656929

Click to expand...

I have exactly the same looking Gold Gillette New-Long toothed-When i purchased it on Ebay it was represented as a Bostonian-came in Gillette black case with blue velvet interior-On the lower plate it has all the standard pat.#'s reissue 17567 with pat #'s 1815745 and 1858316.Also on the lower plate above these numbers on the other side is the Gillette Logo with Diamond;also MADE IN USA. Looking at the Gillette Diamond Logo and to it's left are the words OTTO ROTH INC. stamped on top of a criss cross diamond pattern. It is obvious that OTTO ROTH INC. was stamped with different machinery onto the plate.Hope i didn't confuse anyone! What's up with this razor? Anyone know. I thought it was maybe stamped and given to Otto Roth employees.Plus is this razor possibly a Bostonian with the extra checkering on the handle as was stated to me when purchased.It doesn't matter that much because i am still happy with the purchase.

I just puchased a strange razor today. It has the old style big ball handle but the head is the long tooth. The head has the the same pat numbers and reissue number as found on Original Kingpins. But It also has made in USA on one said and Otto Roth on the other. The Otto Roth name has been stamped out and between that name and the made in USA logo is the Gillette Diamond logo right in the center in between them. Any help at all with this razor would be wonderful.

P.S. I do understand the history of Otto Roth Inc. But what I'm really wondering about is the large ball handle and the fact that the otto roth name is struck out and the gillette name is stamped in the center of the head. Is this something common to find? Is the handle original to the head? They both seem to have the same patina to them. Kind of a redish color almost.

Looks just like this one below, I'm guessing. When these appear under the Otto Roth brand it's most common to see them with the thin bar handle though I believe we've also seen them with Probak-style handles. My best guess on the "crossed out" ones like the below is that Gillette stopped making razors under the Otto Roth brand at some point while the NEW was still being sold, and repurposed heads that had already been made for standard Gillette sets. In that case, finding it on a ball-end handle wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.

yes indeed mine looks exactly like that. I picked the razor up at a flea market today for $5. Just thought it was neat and different. Thank you so much for the feedback!!

It's definitely a cool find, and not terribly common. When I said, "wouldn't be out of the ordinary," above I probably should have said, "wouldn't be unexpected," instead.

MacDaddy said:

Looks just like this one below, I'm guessing. When these appear under the Otto Roth brand it's most common to see them with the thin bar handle though I believe we've also seen them with Probak-style handles. My best guess on the "crossed out" ones like the below is that Gillette stopped making razors under the Otto Roth brand at some point while the NEW was still being sold, and repurposed heads that had already been made for standard Gillette sets. In that case, finding it on a ball-end handle wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.

Click to expand...

I have an Otto Roth head like this one but the brand isn't crossed out. I like them better than the Gillette version because, as you can see from this excellent photo, the pad that the handle seats on is much wider than on the Gillette, which allows you to use any modern handle.

i have this same head on one of my razors and thought it was just some local guy with his name etched into it. was i ever wrong!

Here is my side by side comparison.



With caps.

thanks for showing the comparison. i'll have to pull mine out of the shoebox for a closer look

crfcom said:

I have an Otto Roth head like this one but the brand isn't crossed out. I like them better than the Gillette version because, as you can see from this excellent photo, the pad that the handle seats on is much wider than on the Gillette, which allows you to use any modern handle.

Click to expand...

I have Long comb Gillettes with both small and large handle pads. The small ones seem to commonly be early heads without the patent numbers information stamped on them.