Safety Razor of the Month, June 2012 - Lather Catchers

[MacDaddy]

We're taking it old school this month and going back to the very beginning of the safety razor. While the idea of a razor with a guard goes back further, the Kampfe brothers' patent issued on June 15, 1880 is the earliest recorded use of the term "safety razor" that I've seen.



What exactly is a lather catcher? It's a single-edged safety razor where the blade is held over a cupped recess originally designed to literally catch the lather as you shaved. Here's a passage from that 1880 patent:

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 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.

As time progressed, the "catcher" portion of the razor became more and more of a stylized element until we reached the 1914-style "Little Lather Catcher" where it's hardly more than a vestigial shadow of its former self -- a pogonotomical appendix, if you will -- before it ultimately disappeared entirely.

So, if you've got lather catchers we want to see 'em. If you've got questions ask away, and let's see if we can find answers for them. Anything and everything about lather catchers of any variety is fair game.

I'll start by sharing a couple of photos of my personal favorite of all my SEs: my Star Bar lather catcher. For all intents and purposes it's identical to the Gem Junior Bar, but was made under the Star brand. I would guess that it's from about 1910-1911, and it really is one amazing little shaver.

[gearchow]

Here is one of my Star's










Weights:
Wedge blade : 10gm
Razor: 52.5gm
Stropping handle: 5.5gm

Anybody got adverts for this one?

-jim

[MacDaddy]

Anybody got adverts for this one?

That's a beautiful No.1 set that you've got there, Jim. The closest I can some is this one from the December 1912 issue of the Luther League Review. The case styling is different, but the razor and set layout look the same.

[poonjaji]

I no longer own any of these razors. Once in a while I feel a pang of regret for selling them - particularly some of the pristine sets and the custom handles Bob (Robert Smith) turned for me - but I rest peacefully knowing they are still within the B&B community.

[Antique Hoosier]

Superb!!!!!

[Haggises]

[drocu]

Beautiful razors! I wish I had one.

[MacDaddy]

I needed a good excuse to take some pictures of my Eagle Premier set, anyway.

I love the little clockwork-mouse-style "key" on the back of the razor that works the clip to hold the blade forward against the stops. It's just too bad that these take shorter than standard blades, though I'm sure I could modify a standard blade to work with it...

[brianw]

That' a beautiful razor. !!!!!!

[gearchow]

Can I please borrow your time machine Porter? That is an awesome bit of kit! Can you take a pic showing the key mechanism better?

-jim

[MacDaddy]

Can I please borrow your time machine Porter? That is an awesome bit of kit! Can you take a pic showing the key mechanism better?

Thanks, Jim. Here's a shot on a bit more of an angle so you can see the key and the spring arm that pivots up behind the blade to hold it in place:



I have a different model Eagle Improved that is identical to this one except it uses a flip-up thumb tab similar to the Gem/Ever-Ready/Star lather catchers. I don't know whether that's an earlier model, and perhaps Eagle got in trouble with ASR and developed the key as a response, or if the twist key was the earlier design and they later switched to the thumb tab as a simplification. I'll have to see what I can find there...

[Azarius]

I love this thread, although it has increased my SERAD very bad.

[brianw]

The pictures of these shaving instruments is astounding.

[Azarius]

How many if any of these can use regular SE blades? That is what has stopped me from buying one.

[Azarius]

I no longer own any of these razors. Once in a while I feel a pang of regret for selling them - particularly some of the pristine sets and the custom handles Bob (Robert Smith) turned for me - but I rest peacefully knowing they are still within the B&B community.

I am sure everyone has their favorites, but those above are mine. Just beautiful. Bob's craftsman will sorely be missed.

[gearchow]

One thing I don't understand is why does my Star have a hinge?



It's not like it's hard to clean if the hinge wasn't there.

-jim

[MacDaddy]

How many if any of these can use regular SE blades? That is what has stopped me from buying one.

Nearly all the ones in this thread so far will take modern blades. The very earliest lather catchers didn't have blade stops and instead used the wedge shape of the blades to hold them properly in the frame. Blade stops aren't a foolproof indicator that modern blades will work -- my Eagle Improved, for example, has stops but uses thin blades that are significantly shorter than standard blades -- but if you're looking at one from any of the ASR brands it's a decent indicator.

One thing I don't understand is why does my Star have a hinge?

It's not like it's hard to clean if the hinge wasn't there.

I believe the very earliest Stars didn't open at all. You just had to clean them out from the sides. The next iteration of models were still closed in the front but had a blade bed that flipped up to be able to wipe out the inside. (I've got a couple of those that I can photograph when I get home tomorrow.) That evolved into the models like the one you've got there that are open in the front and hinged in the back. I would assume that it was about making it easier to clean, even though it would be possible without the hinge.

[MacDaddy]

The next iteration of models were still closed in the front but had a blade bed that flipped up to be able to wipe out the inside. (I've got a couple of those that I can photograph when I get home tomorrow.) That evolved into the models like the one you've got there that are open in the front and hinged in the back. I would assume that it was about making it easier to clean, even though it would be possible without the hinge.

One more thing that I neglected to mention here is that there was probably some competitive pressure in this space, since you can also see that the early GEM and Ever-Ready lather catchers were also built in two pieces, hinged in the front with a catch in the back. Here's the front and back of an old GEM of mine that shows the button catch and the hinges in the front. I'll take some pictures of one of my early Ever-Readys, too, when I get home tomorrow.

[gearchow]

Here is one that I got basically because the tin was in good shape. Unfortunately, there is only the razor head.



Different hinge type:





-jim

[MacDaddy]

Here is one that I got basically because the tin was in good shape. Unfortunately, there is only the razor head.

Awesome, Jim. That's the second-generation type I was talking about earlier. That saves me having to get one of mine out.

I went and pulled up the patent docs on that generation -- interestingly, the Nov 21, 1899 date that's shown on the back of the razor doesn't go with the patent number that's mentioned there. US554823 was issued on Feb 18, 1896; it was US637511 that was issued on Nov 21, 1899. At any rate, both patents mention ease of cleaning as the reason for the blade bed opening up.

From the 1896 patent:



From the 1899 patent:



One really cool thing I discovered while looking through these patents that I can't believe I'd missed until now is that the slot that's in the rounded end of the handle extension was designed to function as a wrench for the little adjustment screws that are on these earlier models. I have no idea how I'd overlooked that!