On another note, have you ever shaved with it? Or is it in your rotation now? I have never tried mine, but I'm thinking about it now.
Your Rarest SE Razor?
- Thread starter Rwoodreno
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- #22
Mine is cased and the case inside is marked CRU STAR STEEL. See the photo. Another reason why I presumed as I did. NO STOLL anywhere on mine. All the wrapped blades are Star Cru-Steel too per the wrapping marking.
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- #23
Used with a modern blade. Medium aggressive and quite efficient. I like to try them all at least once. This one is so simple I could not resist. The Eagle Deluxe is very similar in appearance and blade holding except it takes a shortened vertically Gem blade. I tried it with a modified modern blade and found it surprisingly mild. Different blade edge to comb relationships can make a huge difference in the shave.
Superman Adjustable
You're both right. On the Star razor it indeed stands for Star Cru Steel, Cru being short for crucible. The Cru Steel blade was the Kampfe Bros. belated entry into the spined blade world (although they still considered wedge blades to be superior).
Stoll (also Stoll & Wilbert) was a house brand for razors carried by Sears Roebuck & Co in their catalogs circa 1914-1926. Given the similarities they almost certainly were manufactured by Kampfe Bros. who didn't want their trademarked names used indiscriminately. So, with the Stoll razors the "SCS" did indeed stand for Stoll Chrome Steel, allowing them to make the Stoll razors with minimal retooling.
--Bob
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- #26
You're both right. On the Star razor it indeed stands for Star Cru Steel, Cru being short for crucible. The Cru Steel blade was the Kampfe Bros. belated entry into the spined blade world (although they still considered wedge blades to be superior).
Stoll (also Stoll & Wilbert) was a house brand for razors carried by Sears Roebuck & Co in their catalogs circa 1914-1926. Given the similarities they almost certainly were manufactured by Kampfe Bros. who didn't want their trademarked names used indiscriminately. So, with the Stoll razors the "SCS" did indeed stand for Stoll Chrome Steel, allowing them to make the Stoll razors with minimal retooling.
--Bob
Thanks! I learn something new every day. Totally makes sense too. Basically the only new tooling needed for the Sears razors was a stamping die for the Stoll information. There is a third version too, without the SCS cutout that is stamped HERO on the blade bed, which is not cut out at all. It was either a licensed copy or made by Kampfe for the Clark Blade and Razor Co. per the Razor Compendium. All apparently virtually identical and the HERO has a Kampfe patent number stamped on it.
Mine is nothing quite as well built and iconic as the ones posted above me, but my rarest is a Schick O-type injector that shaves well with vintage persona double blades.
Interesting. Thanks.You're both right. On the Star razor it indeed stands for Star Cru Steel, Cru being short for crucible. The Cru Steel blade was the Kampfe Bros. belated entry into the spined blade world (although they still considered wedge blades to be superior).
Stoll (also Stoll & Wilbert) was a house brand for razors carried by Sears Roebuck & Co in their catalogs circa 1914-1926. Given the similarities they almost certainly were manufactured by Kampfe Bros. who didn't want their trademarked names used indiscriminately. So, with the Stoll razors the "SCS" did indeed stand for Stoll Chrome Steel, allowing them to make the Stoll razors with minimal retooling.
--Bob
On the back of my razor, though, it says "Wilbert Cutlery Co., Chicago."
Is there a link between Wilbert and Kampfe? Is Wilbert just a Kampfe rebrand?
I just wanted to say you guys have some really cool looking razors. Some of them look more like torture devices than face hair removal devices but still very neat to see what people used before more contemporary designs came out like DEs and injectors and such.
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I don't think there is a link between Wilbert and Kampfe. Wilbert Cutlery was out of Chicago, and Kampfe brothers were working in the NY area. Wilbert had a line of its own razors starting in 1902, then eventually became a "house brand" for Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalog sales in the 1908-1921 period.
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- #32
See post #25. Looks to me like Wilbert was a Sears Roebuck house brand during much of it's history if the info there is correct. Also info in the Razor Compendium indicates a link between Wilbert and Sears.
Wilbert Cutlery Co. was a supplier for Sears Roebuck & Co. It contracted with several manufacturers including Kampfe Bros. to produce razors to be sold by Sears.
These carried various house brands, and some were produced with the Wilbert name - all sold by Sears. For a time Wilbert had a similar arrangement with Montgomery Ward.
As far as I can tell, Wilbert was not a manufacturer.
--Bob
These carried various house brands, and some were produced with the Wilbert name - all sold by Sears. For a time Wilbert had a similar arrangement with Montgomery Ward.
As far as I can tell, Wilbert was not a manufacturer.
--Bob
Here's mine, the original safety razor.
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- #36
That original 1880 patent date Kampfe looks like it is missing a few amenities found necessary not much later such as some means of adjusting blade height as the wedge blade was worn down by honing and stropping.
Thanks for the info.
I tried it out this morning for the second pass after completing pass one with the MMOC. It shaves fine. It seems very mild, but perhaps that's because I'm comparing it directly with the MMOC, which is the one and only SE razor I have been using. Today was my fourth consecutive daily shave with the MMOC and I still love it. This "SCS" razor is actually very easy to use. Blade loading is a cinch. It's easy to find the correct angle. It's intuitive and, as I said, quite mild.
I'll have to try it by itself one of these days. I think it might take one more pass than the MMOC, but I'm predicting it to be a serviceable shaver. Amazing, really. It's so simple. And now I get why they call these things "lather catchers." The holes pass all the lather through and it can hold a ton. You hardly have to rinse the razor at all!
Wow.
I don't know if this is the rarest razor shown in this thread, but it certainly could be. The June 15, 1880 patent contains what is generally believed to be the first use of the term, "safety razor."
From that patent:
"to provide a safety-razor which shall be simple and durable in construction, of small first cost, compact in form,
and adapted to be used without soiling the fingers... [The ]... refuse matter... will be retained within the hollow holder...
permitting the use of the device without danger of soiling the fingers of the user."
So, it may also be the first lather catcher.
As @Rwoodreno noted, this early model lacked refinements such as a way to compensate for blade shrinkage from honing. As the blade was honed, the razor would become milder.
Later models would add setscrews in the blade holders to address this, and eventually spring-loaded blade holders with blade stops.
Beautiful find.
--Bob
Spidey9 your info is correct. Rwoodreno you are also correct, this first razor is pretty primitive.
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- #40
Not too surprising for a first attempt. I have always been a bit surprised at how finished a design the first Gillette DE razor design was. Except for the handle change from double ring to single ring and the introduction of removable handle versions the head design remained unchanged for 16 years and except for minor changes the basic design has remained unchanged for 113 years. You can still buy basic copies of the original Gillette razor.
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