The Otto Roth razor and Shawmut razor blade package
- Thread starter elmerwood
- Start date
Looks like a Gillette New if im right (might be wrong)
Looks good
Looks good
Yep, that looks like a clone of a long comb New.
I've got a nickel plated Otto Roth long comb on a BRW mastiff that Bob did. Love it, identical to the New long comb in every way. Otto was absorbed by Gillette I believe.
nice find! From this time it gives some mixing of Gillette- and Rotbart- razors.
- Thread starter
- #6
I did some reading on it before I bought it, but couldn't find much. Its a cool piece in the case though.
Darn! I sold one a few months ago!
Nice find! It's a keeper for sure!
Nice find! It's a keeper for sure!
Gillette purchased Otto Roth in 1927. The Roth NEW, produced a few years later, was a co-branded from the Otto Roth subsidiary.
Rotbart razors made by Otto Roth, Berlin, a subsidiary of Roth-Buchner, became a subsidiary of Gillette around 1927-1928. Rotbart means redbeard. Other names were Robart-Mond Extra. I razor has a comb guard it was made prior to WWII.
Yes, Gillette acquired the German company Roth-Büchner in 1926, according to articles in the American Cutler and Iron Age magazines from that time, as well as McKibben in Cutting Edge. Several years after the acquisition Roth-Büchner opened a big new factory that is still Gillette Germany, today.
Gillette used some of Roth-Büchner's brand names in the American market as sort of a second tier to be able to offer cheaper products without diluting the Gillette name. I have read, for example, that Gillette blades that didn't pass their full QC checks but were still good enough to sell got sold under the Rubie label.
I could be wrong, but as far as I know these Otto Roth razors were made by Gillette in their Boston plant and were just sold under the Otto Roth name. So they're not really so much "clones" as "white labels." I've never actually seen any of their original packaging, though, so that's a really nice find.
Gillette used some of Roth-Büchner's brand names in the American market as sort of a second tier to be able to offer cheaper products without diluting the Gillette name. I have read, for example, that Gillette blades that didn't pass their full QC checks but were still good enough to sell got sold under the Rubie label.
I could be wrong, but as far as I know these Otto Roth razors were made by Gillette in their Boston plant and were just sold under the Otto Roth name. So they're not really so much "clones" as "white labels." I've never actually seen any of their original packaging, though, so that's a really nice find.
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Very good information as always porter. I always anxiously await your insight and extra tidbits . I do agree that its not a clone and a very exquisite find indeed. (bookmarked this post a a reference)
- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge.
Anyone have one of these that can give me some insight as to how it shaves? Thanks!
I have a couple and they are the same head as a Gillette Long Comb New. For me they shave exactly the same as the LC New.
Here is a comparison shot.
From left: US Long Comb New, Canadian Long Comb New, US style British Long Comb New, and Otto Roth.
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Thank you Xillion. I suspected it would be similar, good to get confirmation from someone that's shaved with one. Appreciated.
Nice example. Enjoy!
Sorry for resurrecting the dead
But i have 2 questions for your theory ( which is viable) but why wouldn't Gillette change the NJ based Co. Otto Roth to Gillette if it was trying to eliminate lower quality competition by buying them. And why did they keep the Otto name on the razor if it was made better by Gillette, wouldn't Gillette want the world to know that the better made Otto Roth razor was really a Gillette razor?Sorry for resurrecting the dead
For much the same reason that only 10 companies account for the the vast majority of brands you see in the grocery store today. In many cases brands that you would think are overlapping, like Ruffles and Lays or Breyers and Ben & Jerry's, are controlled by the same parent corporation. Or you can look at the different tiers of car makes that trace back to the same parent company, like Toyota/Lexus/Scion. Heck, even keeping it to safety razor history you can look at the way that ASR kept the Gem, Ever-Ready, and Star brands all running side by side.
Companies don't like leaving money on the table. Having multiple brands in the same marketplace allows a company to target different niches separately, particularly where going after one niche would damage a single brand's ability to go after another. For example, if you want your product to be seen as a higher-end luxury item you're probably going to price it accordingly and cut out a large market of people who either can't afford that price or don't see the value in spending that much on your product. But if you modify your marketing message or pricing to reach them you risk damaging your position with your core market. So you can either leave those people to go buy from your competitors or you can spin up a "different" product that you can market to them specifically without damaging your original brand.
There's another aspect here as well: When Gillette acquired Roth-Büchner they weren't just buying their production capabilities or removing a competitor, they were buying their brands and everything that had been done prior to the acquisition to create a market around those brands. Simply shuttering those brands overnight would have essentially been throwing out a chunk of the value that they'd purchased.
Thanks as always for your time and information, i can see the marketing strategy by Gillette to keep the brand and not rename or get rid of it now.
I am owning a NEW head replated by BRW which is labeled both Gillette and Otto Roth. Interesting to read that information of all of you, because a Google search didn't harvest much facts about the connection of Gillette and Roth.
