Pomco Ladies Razor help

[DeaconKC]

My Mom found this and gave it to me today. Anybody know any links or info on Pomco Lady's razors. Yup one side is curved and the other has a slight slant.

[cooncatbob]

One side for underarms the other side for legs.
Clever, must be hard on the blade arcing it in both directions.

[tom myers]

It was made in Germany for Otto Pomper Cutlery in Chicago and was referred to as the Lady Pomco. There is a picture of one in the L-W price guide. Waits states that it was circa 1946, but gives little additional information about it beyond what is in the L-W guide.

Since the "regular" Pomco Diagonal razor was made for them by Murkur, my first reaction would be that, perhaps, this one was too, but that is strictly my conjecture, not supported by anything I've found in the references I've cited.

The "regular" Pomco Diagonal that I refer to was simply a Merkur Slant Bar rebranded with the Pomco name. Does anyone know if Merkur ever made a ladies razor under their own name and, if so, what it might have looked like?

Regards,
Tom

[AsylumGuido]

Manufactured by Pomco Inc., Chicago, Illinois starting 1946. American patent Nos. 2073713 & 2073714 16 Mar 1937 filed 18 Oct 1932 and 2 Aug 1935. Edward Siegel, New York, NY

[tom myers]

Manufactured by Pomco Inc., Chicago, Illinois starting 1946. American patent Nos. 2073713 & 2073714 16 Mar 1937 filed 18 Oct 1932 and 2 Aug 1935. Edward Siegel, New York, NY

Guido, that Siegal reference is interesting. My information that it was made in Germany came from Waits. The L-W guide does say it was made in Chicago, but I know from experience that they often just go by the address of the company who's name is on it when, in many cases, that company was actually just a distributor.

Does your source have any other information, such as who Siegel may have worked for or who he may have assigned the patent rights to? My first thought when you said "Siegel" was the Segal razor, but that is spelled quite differently, so there is likely no connection there.

Regards,
Tom

[AsylumGuido]

Guido, that Siegal reference is interesting. My information that it was made in Germany came from Waits. The L-W guide does say it was made in Chicago, but I know from experience that they often just go by the address of the company who's name is on it when, in many cases, that company was actually just a distributor.

Does your source have any other information, such as who Siegel may have worked for or who he may have assigned the patent rights to? My first thought when you said "Siegel" was the Segal razor, but that is spelled quite differently, so there is likely no connection there.

Regards,
Tom

Here's the patent drawings from Siegal.




Here's another of his from 20 years later.

[tom myers]

DeaconKC, In your picture, it appears there is something printed on the bottom of the razor's head. Can you tell us what shows up there and anything else that may be printed elsewhere on the razor? It appears that we have conflicting information about where it was made. Does it happen to happen to have a "made in . . . . " anywhere on the razor itself?

You've given us an interesting puzzle here, but anything that is on the razor that might help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Tom

[DeaconKC]

POMCO, INC. PAT.

U. S. A. PEND.

Nothing else printed any where else either.

[tom myers]

The Waits compendium concurs with the information on the Siegel patents, but lists Pomco as the distributor and indicates the razor was made in Germany. It also shows the same picture of it in a case as the one that Guido shows in his post above.

I have no personal knowledge of the Lady Pomco, but the above information about Pomco, Inc. or Otto Pomper Cutlery as it was also known, is pretty consistant with what seems to be known about the Pomco Diagonal razor that I have. On the Pomco Diagonal, it says "Pomco Chicago, Ill" and it also states "Made in Germany". So, at least on that razor, which appears to be the same as the earlier Mercur Slants, it does indicate that Pomco was the distributor and that the razor was made in Germany.

Hopefully, someone will come along with some further information to clarify a little more specifically about the Lady Pomco.

Regards,
Tom

[AsylumGuido]

The Waits compendium concurs with the information on the Siegel patents, but lists Pomco as the distributor and indicates the razor was made in Germany. It also shows the same picture of it in a case as the one that Guido shows in his post above.

I have no personal knowledge of the Lady Pomco, but the above information about Pomco, Inc. or Otto Pomper Cutlery as it was also known, is pretty consistant with what seems to be known about the Pomco Diagonal razor that I have. On the Pomco Diagonal, it says "Pomco Chicago, Ill" and it also states "Made in Germany". So, at least on that razor, which appears to be the same as the earlier Mercur Slants, it does indicate that Pomco was the distributor and that the razor was made in Germany.

Hopefully, someone will come along with some further information to clarify a little more specifically about the Lady Pomco.

Regards,
Tom

Tom, my source agrees with the Pomco slants being made in Germany about ten years earlier. It is quite probable that they opened a plant in Chicago to manufacture the Lady Pomco.

[tom myers]

Guido, I just noted an interesting thing about the patent information . . . According to what we find, the patent was issued in 1937. According to what both our sources say, the razor was ca. 1946. Deacon says that his razor says "U.S.A. patent pending".

When you look at those patent drawings, they don't seem to address the feature of the curved side of the Lady Pomco at all. They just seem to be related to a slant type razor with an open comb. The 1957 drawings seem to relate to another version of a slant, but with a solid safety bar.

It appears to me that these patents were not really done with the Lady Pomco in mind. The Lady Pomco may have utilized some of the Siegel slant design technology, but there were apparently further patent disclosures relating to other features of that razor at the time that Deacon's speciman was produced.

Oh well . . . does anybody really care?? I guess I just can't leave loose ends alone.

Regards,
Tom

[AsylumGuido]

Don't worry, Tom. I didn't become a business analyst by accident. I also enjoy mysteries and am a bit "anal" in them myself. Okay, very anal.

Now, back to the mystery ... perhaps the Lady Pomco design was never patented. That would not stop production and distribution.