The auctioneer was eager to show me one of the small items in the glass case. He had already shown me several others, including a grouping of turtles, and was especially excited about this particular piece.
It’s a razor, he said, removing it from a tray. I don’t know what this part is for, he added, pointing to a metal extension on the bottom tip with a series of holes on one side and an opening on the other.
The brass antique safety razor was indeed a nice piece, intricately designed and incised. Its head resembled a cage – wide and open with a flat bottom, unlike most of the vintage razors I’ve seen at auction that opened on top or on the side. Inside, I could see tiny letters and numbers of patent dates. I didn’t look closely enough at the top of the razor to catch the name or the manufacturer because I, too, was curious about those series of holes.
When another auction-goer walked up beside me at the counter, the auctioneer showed the razor to him, perhaps hoping that he had an answer or a guess. He did not.
Later, I decided to find out on my own what the extension was used for. It wasn’t easy. I finally located a similar razor on a retail site that identified it as a lather catcher. I assume that the flat “floor” of the razor head caught the lather as a man shaved.
I also learned that the first safety razor was patented by two brothers with the last name Kampfe, and they became famous for their Star Safety Razor. They apparently were not the first to try to find a way for a man to shave without cutting himself. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many had patented their own devices, not only in the United States but other countries. A Frenchman named Jean Jacques Perret had designed the first safe razor a century earlier.
Frederick and Otto Kampfe, immigrants from Germany, patented their “safety razor” in 1880, although the two cutlery entrepreneurs may have been making the razors since 1875. The razor was an instant hit, and was widely copied by other manufacturers. (I did not see the Kampfe name on the razor at auction, so it may have been one of the copies.) Here’s photo of a complete set of Star razor and attachments that sold at auction in 2009 for $180.
The razor used a wedge-shaped blade sharpened on one side; several companies made blades for it. The name that is forever associated with shaving and blades made its debut at the turn of the 20th century. King Camp Gillette invented the disposable razor blade, and with partner William Nickerson created a safety razor in 1904 with an opening at the top to insert one of the replaceable steel blades. Gillette has been cited as the inventor of the safety razor, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case.
This history of safety razors still didn’t answer the question about the extension with the holes. Googling still, I could find no authoritative information about it. I did find that the razor could be unscrewed in the middle, leaving you with a top and bottom. One eBay seller said in a description that the extension was used for holding a straight razor. I couldn’t picture how you would attach a straight razor to it.
Another site noted that it was an attachment used for trimming. That made much more sense. A single-sided blade could be placed in the opening on the side of the piece. The next time I’m at the auction house I’ll inform the auctioneer about what I found.
