A presentation of the Electric Shaver Page.
ACTION SHAVE--This battery-powered electric shaver was produced in South Elgin, Illinois, USA, probably in the 1940s. Little is known about the product or the firm, although E.C. Alft, Elgin historian, feels the Action Shave was made up of imported Swiss mechanisms and distributed by mail from an Elgin address. It is believed that the same shaver was assembled and distributed from other locations as well.
AMBASSADOR--an electric dry shaver made by Pudark & Thompson
AMERICAN CLIPPER--an electric dry shaver made by Singer Shaver Corp. in the late 1930s.
BREVETE--This windup shaver of the 1950s was unique in that it featured a clear plastic case so you could see "the works". It was made in Monaco and had a large windup key and a single Philishave/Norelco-type shaving head. Brevete made 'Monaco Shavers' which was sold by Sharper Image in the late 1970s.
CLIP-SHAVE--electric razor produced in Port Chester, New York, USA, circa 1936. It sold for $10 US, and came with a five-foot cord and artificial leather case.
COLLMAN--Formerly Bliley Mfg. Co., the Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, firm split in 1946 to form Bliley Electric Co. and Collman Mfg. Co. Company officers at that time were Charles C. Collman, President; Wilbur Mong, Vice-President; Paul Berner, Vice-President Sales; Quentin Horsman, Secretary-Treasurer, Alvin Lodge, Chief Engineer, James F. Riecleman, Purchasing Agent. Emil Berg, inventor and Design Engineer, began work on his electric shaver in 1934 and perfected the design of the 58, named thus because of the 58 combing teeth, 58 double cutting teeth and 58 cutting slots. In 1947, the Collman 58 sold for $17.75 US. The 9-watt shaver featured a '"sickle-bar" cutting head and a gray plastic case. Although the workmanship was quite good, the shaver suffered from the reputation of not giving a close shave.
DISTLER--The German-made Distler Battery Shaver was distributed in the USA by the Daro Co., Salem, Massachusetts, USA. It was manufactured for outdoor use such as camping trips. The razor accepted three D-cell flashlight batteries and weighed a total of 18 ounces; the battery container was connected by a cord to the motor and shaving head. In 1959, the little shaver sold for $8.95 US.
DUCHESS--A Remington Rand brand from the past for women's shavers.
FOURSOME--Another Remington Rand brand from the past.
GILLETTE--Yes, the razor company once sold electric dry shavers under the Gillette name. Phil Krumholz found a circa 1940 Gillette Dry Shaver which represented Gillette's earliest entry into 'non-blade' shaving. It didn't go too well, obviously, since they were out of this business within a couple of years. Mr. Krumholz believes that perhaps the razor was so 'heavy-duty' (it was heavy to hold), this may have turned off some potential customers. Gillette returned to the electric shaver business in 1967 when it bought Braun A.G. of Germany. Braun has proven to be a successful acquisition for Gillette.
GOLDEN GLIDE--A Sunbeam Shavemaster model.
K-M--An electric shaver made by the Knapp-Monarch Co.
MAJESTIC--A brand of electric shaver made by Elgin Razor Corp. Majestics sold for $7.50 US in 1937.
MICROTINES--A brand of electric shaver made by the American Safety Razor Corp.
MONARCH--A brand of electric shaver made by Elgin Razor Corp.
NICHOLL--Nicholl, Inc. was a Los Angeles, California, USA manufacturer of the Velvet electric dry shaver, circa 1937. That year the Velvet sold for $17.50 US. Also that year, Schick filed a patent suit against Nicholl, which the company didn't win. Velvet shavers are scarce.
ONE STROKE--A Remington Rand brand from the past.
PACKARD--A brand of electric shavers made by Lektro Products, Inc. of Milford, Connecticut USA. The firm was founded in 1934 by Archie Moulton Andrews, a Schick employee who broke away to start his own business. Andrews was also head of the Hupp Motor Car Co. (Huppmobile), and for a time, Dictograph. Originally, the firm was known as Dictograph Products, Inc. The firm's first effort in the shaving line (1935) was the Packard Lifetime Lektro Shaver, and it was a hit. Also produced within a short time was the three-headed electric dry shaver Model T, which featured a black bakelite case and a vibrator motor. It sold for $14.75 US in 1937. The popularity of the product can be judged by the fact that, of 1,200,000 electric shavers in use in 1936, 400,000 were the "upstart" Lektro shavers. The Packard Twin-Dual was an offering that featured two cutting heads, one cylindrical, one rectangular, that were of the "sickle-bar" type. Another brand was the Dictograph. During its heyday, Lektro had as its President Howard McGuire, W.F. Fitzgerald as Vice-President, and Henry C. Landsiedel as Secretary/Treasurer. (Landsiedel was later the President.) The firm remained in operation until 1953.
RACINE--Not an electric shaver in the classic sense, but an electric oscillating blade razor. It used a double edge blade in the Gillette-manufactured shaving head. The blade vibrated in a perpendicular stroke to the blade's edge to create a chopping motion. Blade replacement was considered difficult but shaving results good. Racine Universal Motor Co. of Racine, Wisconsin USA manufactured the razor. The company was established about 1941. Mary Van Brie was listed as President, Arthur Olson as Vice-President, and Arleen Frace as Secretary/Treasurer.
RAND--A 1930s Remington sister brand made by Remington Rand.
RONSON--Ronson Products, Inc. was formerly Art Metal Works. It made both safety razors and electric shavers. The electric shaver operation in the USA was taken over by the small appliance maker Windmere which still markets electric shavers under the Windmere name. The Ronson name is alive and well in Australia, though. Ronson Australia, based in Melbourne, makes and markets shavers under the Ronson name in Australia.
ROTO-SHAVER--Roto-Shaver, Inc., of New York City, firm sold an electric dry shaver of the same name from 1939 until at least 1953. This may have been the market agent for Lektro. I found a 1941 ad for the Roto-Shaver which indicated that it was a subsidiary of shaving products maker J.B. Williams Company which introduced the electric shaver pre-shave lotion Williams Lectric Shave.
SCHICK--Schick deserves its own page. CLICK HERE FOR THE SCHICK STORY.
SHAVEMASTER--A brand from the past, by a former shaver maker, which is still in business, Sunbeam.
SPEEDAK--A Remington Rand brand from the past.
SUNBEAM--Now known as Sunbeam Products, Inc., a subsidiary of American Household, Inc., this former shaver maker was founded in 1893 as the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. by John K. Stewart and Thomas J. Clark. In 1895, the company moved from Chicago to Dundee, Illinois, USA, and two years later, the company incorporated. Products sold were hand crank shaft-driven clippers for use on animals. A factory was opened at the corner of LaSalle and Ontario in Chicago in 1900 as a heat treating facility for clipper cutting blades. This Stewart Industrial Division diversified into manufacturing other products for the metal-working industry. Another offshoot of the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. was the 1904 carriage heater line. Motorized vehicles were becoming popular, and this product did not last long. Due to the seasonal nature of the animal-clipping business, Chicago Flexible continued to diversify, next by introducing an electric clothes iron in 1910. More electrical appliances followed this beginning, and in 1921 the brand name Sunbeam was used in national advertising to emphasize the reliability of these electrically powered products. A main factory was built in 1917 at 5600 Roosevelt Road in Chicago. Sunbeam introduced its Shavemaster electric shaver in 1936. In 1946, the name of the corporation was changed to Sunbeam. A controlling interest was acquired in the John Oster firm in 1960. The Roosevelt Road plant has been closed for several years now, but the Sunbeam name is seen at subsidiary plants worldwide. Unfortunately, not on new electric shavers as Sunbeam-Oster dropped out of the electric shaver business in the late 1970s. Sunbeam in Australia and New Zealand is no longer connected to Sunbeam in the USA. Sunbeam of Australia still markets electric shavers.
UNIVERSAL--A brand name for household appliances made
by Landers, Frary & Clark of New Britain, Connecticut, USA. They
were in business from 1862 until the company was taken over in 1965 by General
Electric's household products division. That subsidiary was sold to Black
& Decker which was later sold to Applica which still makes Black &
Decker household appliances under license from power tool maker Black &
Decker. They briefly marketed a battery operated travel shaver bearing
the Universal name in 1959.
VORNADO--Unrelated to the electric fan maker of the same name, they gave the following info to me: There was a company in New Jersey, during the late 60's early 70's called "The Two Guys Company" that used the Vornado name on many, many appliances, including razors, yard tools and even sewing machines, but mainly kitchen items. This company went bankrupt in the early 70's, as they understand it. They have absolutely no connection with Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc. They believe that one of the 2-guys was a distant cousin to Mr. O.A. Sutton, one of the founders of the O.A. Sutton Corp which made to Original Vornado Fans from 1945 through 1959. Mr. Sutton retired the company at that time. How or IF they gained license to use the Vornado name is not known to us.
Thanks to Phillip L. Krumholz. Mr. Krumholz is the author of the books "A History Of Shaving and Razors" ©1987, and "Value Guide For Barberiana & Shaving Collectibles" ©1988. These two books were sources for nearly all of the above material. These two books are out of print.
Phillip Krumholz' Shaving and Barberiana web site is found at http://www.heart.net/~krumholz