Hoffritz N.Y. Germany

[EclipseRedRing]

I have two Hoffritz razors, a regular slant, and a non slanted travel razor as shown below. Does anyone know of a way to definitively establish the year of production of these razors, even to within a few years?

 

[profusion]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't Merkur just a brand name used by Dovo for its DE razors? I assume that Hoffritz, Coles, etc. were just U.S. market brand names originally used by Dovo under the assumption that "Merkur" wouldn't be as good a marketing name in the USA. Dovo goes back to the 19th Century with straight razors.

 

[Old Hippie]

I have two Hoffritz razors, a regular slant, and a non slanted travel razor as shown below. Does anyone know of a way to definitively establish the year of production of these razors, even to within a few years?

On the (rather weak) evidence of your chromed case, and on the memory of asking just this question to one of the engineers at Merkur, I will say "pre-1970" which is the answer I got from him.

More detail than that will await the attention of @efsk

O.H.

 

[efsk]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't Merkur just a brand name used by Dovo for its DE razors? I assume that Hoffritz, Coles, etc. were just U.S. market brand names originally used by Dovo under the assumption that "Merkur" wouldn't be as good a marketing name in the USA. Dovo goes back to the 19th Century with straight razors.

How long Dovo and Merkur were one, if at all (except for sharing building and staff for quite some time), is unclear to me. They no longer are, Dovo was sold so the two are no longer sharing diddly.
What is known is that Merkur produced razors for a number of other brands. Hoffritz, Coles, Pomco, Brumml, they all were autonomous entities, selling cutlery and shaving gear coming from Solingen. Shaving gear came from Merkur, cutlery I've no idea.
Merkur also produced razors for other Solingen-brands: I own two Lunawerk slants with Merkur heads

 

[efsk]

I have two Hoffritz razors, a regular slant, and a non slanted travel razor as shown below. Does anyone know of a way to definitively establish the year of production of these razors, even to within a few years?

View attachment 1913805

View attachment 1913806

Slant based on case probably 50s/60s. Cap and silverplated handle definately say early 70s at the latest, Regular could be anywhere in that timeframe.

 

[Tanuki]

I have two Hoffritz razors, a regular slant, and a non slanted travel razor as shown below. Does anyone know of a way to definitively establish the year of production of these razors, even to within a few years?

Thanks, @efsk for the dating.

With no branding, my travel slant was clearly a Merkur but I did not know it was a Hoffritz special. Here are some photos.

 

[efsk]

I've the same razor, same case. With mine, the case, on the rear below the hinge, is branded Hoffritz. Does yours have branding there?

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Here is my branding, otherwise the case is identical.

 

[mozartman]

@mozartman:
As has been discussed in the past few days in other threads, Merkur had to retool and come out with a new version of the 34C. This reportedly is slightly more aggressive than the original, and no longer has exposed blade tabs. It is already available.

Hey, that’s interesting! I’ll check out those threads.


Years ago, I stopped using my 34C because I always had stubble left after three passes. If it's more efficient now, that’s definitely an improvement!

Yes, the new one may well be a better shaver, especially for those with heavy beards. To me, the sad thing is, Merkur finally had to retool, and the original plans and specifications for the 34 are long gone, so what you'll have now is similar, but not the same razor. The razor I started my DE journey with, that has roots reaching back to the 1920s, is gone for good. Sniff.

 

[Ingolfur]

@mozartman ,
I haven’t gone through all the threads on the new version yet, but while browsing their webpage and looking at the 650-year edition, I couldn’t help but think: is that really all they can do—just laser-print 'SG/650'? So we can’t expect more from the company, to be honest.

For instance, I’d love to see something like a silver-plated 34C.

In today’s world, if Merkur wanted to replicate their 1920s model, they could easily do so by studying an original specimen.

 

[mozartman]

@mozartman ,
I haven’t gone through all the threads on the new version yet, but while browsing their webpage and looking at the 650-year edition, I couldn’t help but think: is that really all they can do—just laser-print 'SG/650'? So we can’t expect more from the company, to be honest.

For instance, I’d love to see something like a silver-plated 34C.

In today’s world, if Merkur wanted to replicate their 1920s model, they could easily do so by studying an original specimen.

Yes, they can come pretty close just by studying an original specimen but I doubt it would be easy to get an exact match. Didn't Blackland reproduce a razor that way recently? That was anything but easy judging from the narrative of Blackland's owner here. Don't get me wrong, the new 34C may be a lot better than the old one. I miss the old 34C for nostalgia reasons.

 

[Trollky]

I would love to see Merkur add some panache to their lineup by offering different plating options. I for one would bite your hand off for a gold plated 37C...!

 

[efsk]

I would love to see Merkur add some panache to their lineup by offering different plating options. I for one would bite your hand off for a gold plated 37C...!

I've two. And the Hoffritz, Coles, Pomco variants.
Just rubbing it in ;-)

 

[Trollky]

I've two. And the Hoffritz, Coles, Pomco variants.
Just rubbing it in ;-)

Outrageous...

 

[DE Steve]

I would love to see Merkur add some panache to their lineup by offering different plating options. I for one would bite your hand off for a gold plated 37C...!

The Merkur 34C in gold plate is the 34G.

Merkur 34G

 

[Trollky]

The Merkur 34C in gold plate is the 34G.

Merkur 34G

I've got one of those (and a gold plated Futur) but would love to see a few more of their razors made available in gold, nickel etc.

 

[nemo]

I'd read Merkur stopped producing the 37G and I got some supplier's last one.
Must have been 15 years ago.

I do love my gold Hoffritz, though.