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Post by twhite on Sept 27, 2018 13:11:55 GMT -6
I found the below info. I found it interesting.
Gem Safety Razor advertised at the 1920 World Series at Ebbets Field.
Star Safety Razor
Frederick and Otto Kampfe were immigrants from Saxony, Germany. In 1875 they applied for a U.S. patent and introduced the Star Razor, the first safety razor made in the United States. The brothers continued to improve their design and sold their products under the Star Safety Razor name in Brooklyn, New York.[3]
Gem Cutlery Company
Jerry Reichard, after working for the Kampfe Brothers for 23 years, leaves to start his own company – the Gem Cutlery Company in 1898.[4] Its first product, the Gem Safety Razor, borrowed heavily from the Star Razor in design but soon outpaces the Star in sales.[5]
Ever-Ready
In 1903 Jerry Reichard leaves Gem Safety Razor Company to form yet another razor and blade producer, along with August Scheuber the company was briefly named 'The Reichard & Scheuber Mfc Co.' before it became 'The Yankee Company'. The Yankee Company made wedge-blade razors under the name Yankee, Mohican & Winner. The Yankee Company, is renamed Ever-Ready in 1905. Gem & Ever-Ready merge in 1906 and is incorporated as the Personna American Safety Razor Company. In 1906, abandoning the wedge-blade design, they introduced the standard single edge rib-back blade that is still used today.[6] In 1915 Ever-Ready Shaving Brushes were first introduced and continued to be produced until the early 1990s.
Safetee Soap Corporation
In December 1919 The Safetee Soap Corporation formed as a subsidiary of American Safety Razor Corporation and produced a line of shaving soaps, creams, powders, talc and aftershave lotions to compliment the safety razor business.[7] The Safetee Soap line was cross-promoted in pamphlets included in other ASR products.[8]
American Safety Razor Corporation
Gem & Ever-Ready merged with Star to become the American Safety Razor Corporation in 1919. It was chartered in Virginia, while razor and blade production remained in Brooklyn. By 1921, it had produced 1,800,000 safety razors; 110,000,000 razor blades; 1,000,000 shaving brushes; 2,000,000 cakes of shaving soap.[9] By 1942, it had introduced and popularized the phrase five o'clock shadow. In 1953, it acquired the Pal, Treet and Personna brands after purchasing the Pal Blade Company. These two product names continue to be made today. In 1954 the factory relocated to Staunton, Virginia, after the Brooklyn City Planning Commission's planned civic center encroached on the factory with plans to redevelop the industrial area into office and residential use.[10] The American Safety Razor factory building at 333 Jay Street then became the new campus for the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.
Seeking diversification Philip Morris acquires American Safety Razor in 1960. In 1963 American Safety Razor is the first maker of stainless steel blades, which were sold under the Personna brand name. In 1968, Philip Morris, purchased the Burma-Vita Company, makers of Burma-Shave. In 1970, the first blade made with tungsten steel was introduced, the Personna 74. In 1974 American Line Brand of industrial products was introduced, expanding the company into industrial blades. In 1977, executives purchased Personna American Safety Razor Company from Philip Morris in a management buyout.
Energizer bought the privately held American Safety Razor in 2011, when it filed for bankruptcy.[11] In 2015, Energizer spun off the personal care division as Edgewell Personal Care.[12] Edgewell announced the sale of its Personna Industrial Division to an investment group, which renamed it AccuTec Blades.[13]
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Post by wchnu on Sept 27, 2018 14:09:15 GMT -6
Accutec is making the CVS and RiteAid blades that are nice. Nice reading Tom thanks.
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riverrun
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Post by riverrun on Sept 27, 2018 15:30:20 GMT -6
A few corrections (I didn't check all the facts) - The Kampfe Brothers filed and received their first patent in 1880, not 1875. - The company formed by Reichard and Scheuber was the 'The Reichard & Scheuber Mfg Co.' not 'Mfc' company (btw: Scheuber was the inventor of the 1912) - I'd like to see evidence that Gem & Ever-Ready merger was called "Personna American Safety Razor Company" - One source I have seen (obituary of JB de Mesquita) claimed that Charlie Kaufman and Julius Bueno de Mesquita (the inventor of the 1924) bought the American Safety Razor company in 1902. The exact history of those companies is murky.
Where does your information come from, Tom?
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Post by twhite on Sept 27, 2018 16:08:00 GMT -6
A few corrections (I didn't check all the facts) - The Kampfe Brothers filed and received their first patent in 1880, not 1875. - The company formed by Reichard and Scheuber was the 'The Reichard & Scheuber Mfg Co.' not 'Mfc' company (btw: Scheuber was the inventor of the 1912) - I'd like to see evidence that Gem & Ever-Ready merger was called " Personna American Safety Razor Company" - One source I have seen (obituary of JB de Mesquita) claimed that Charlie Kaufman and Julius Bueno de Mesquita (the inventor of the 1924) bought the American Safety Razor company in 1902. The exact history of those companies is murky. Where does your information come from, Tom? Andreas I copy and pasted from Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Safety_Razor_Company
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herm2502
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Post by herm2502 on Sept 28, 2018 6:19:41 GMT -6
Great stuff. It's fun to see where the companies are today, or at least remnants of them.
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riverrun
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Post by riverrun on Sept 28, 2018 18:02:57 GMT -6
A few corrections (I didn't check all the facts) - The Kampfe Brothers filed and received their first patent in 1880, not 1875. - The company formed by Reichard and Scheuber was the 'The Reichard & Scheuber Mfg Co.' not 'Mfc' company (btw: Scheuber was the inventor of the 1912) - I'd like to see evidence that Gem & Ever-Ready merger was called " Personna American Safety Razor Company" - One source I have seen (obituary of JB de Mesquita) claimed that Charlie Kaufman and Julius Bueno de Mesquita (the inventor of the 1924) bought the American Safety Razor company in 1902. The exact history of those companies is murky. Where does your information come from, Tom? Andreas I copy and pasted from Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Safety_Razor_CompanyAt least the name of Reichard & Scheuber's company is fixed now. I check the patents and it was 'Reichard & Scheuber Manufacturing Company' without the 'The' and without abbreviations.
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riverrun
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Post by riverrun on Sept 28, 2018 18:12:42 GMT -6
... and I added a link to a patent on my website to substantiate that claim.
I must not get involved in editing Wikipedia.
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Post by twhite on Sept 28, 2018 21:02:02 GMT -6
... and I added a link to a patent on my website to substantiate that claim. I must not get involved in editing Wikipedia. You should. That way we can have the correct info with substantiating proof.
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Post by jmudrick on Sept 28, 2018 22:09:57 GMT -6
Personna brand was acquired only in 1953, so it certainly doesn't make sense that Personna ASR existed prior to that date. A few corrections (I didn't check all the facts) - The Kampfe Brothers filed and received their first patent in 1880, not 1875. - The company formed by Reichard and Scheuber was the 'The Reichard & Scheuber Mfg Co.' not 'Mfc' company (btw: Scheuber was the inventor of the 1912) - I'd like to see evidence that Gem & Ever-Ready merger was called " Personna American Safety Razor Company"... Where does your information come from, Tom?
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Post by birdlives on Sept 30, 2018 19:48:30 GMT -6
Very cool stuff....I loved it..
And RR...how bout posting JB deMesquita's obit? That's one obit that definitely deserves to be revered by all his fans here!
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Post by riverrun on Oct 1, 2018 7:52:29 GMT -6
Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Monday, August 30, 1954
Jules Bueno de Mesquita, 74, American Razor Corp. Chief
Jules Bueno de Mesquita, 74, chairman of the executive committee of the American Safety Razor Corporation. 380 Madison Ave., died late Saturday night in University Hospital of a kidney ailment. His home was in the Hotel Ambassador, Park Ave. and 51st St, Manhattan.
Mr. de Mesquita, who was born in London, came to this country in 1896 to join his uncle, Robert I. Cohen, a merchant of Galveston and Houston. Texas.
He came to New York in 1898 and entered the advertising business. With the Kaufman brothers he formed the Kaufman Advertising Agency, which later became the Federal Advertising Agency.
Started Firm in England
In 1902, with Joseph Kaufman, he acquired the American Safety Razor Company, which manufactured the Ever Ready safety razor and, during the early 1900s, they purchased the Star and Gem safety razor companies. In 1908 he returned to England for a year to form the Ever Ready Razor Products, Ltd., and set up a factory for foreign production.
In 1919 the companies were merged into the American Safety Razor Corporation, a publicly-held company, and Mr. de Mesquita was elected vice president and treasurer. Later he became executive vice president. In 1949 he was elected president and in 1953 chairman of the executive committee.
The American Razor Corp. plant at 315 Jay St., Brooklyn, was sold recently to Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for a reported $2,000,000. The company plans to switch operations to Staunton, Vt., in May. Approximately 1,400 workers with an annual payroll of $5,000,000 are affected by the shift.
Religious Group Leader
Mr. de Mesquita was one of the leaders of Sephardic Jewry and was a trustee of the Spanish-Portugese Synagogue. He was finance chairman of the tercentenary committee of the congregation, which, in conjunction with all other Jewish congregations throughout the U. S., has established this year as the 300th commemoration of the first arrival of the Jews in America.
He was a member of the Palestine Lodge of Masonry and a 32d Degree Mason, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
Surviving are his wife, Sophie; a son, Edward; two sisters, Mrs. Caroline Weyl and Mrs. Jessie Drukker, and four brothers, George, the Rev. David, Joshua and Fred.
A funeral service will be held tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan.
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Post by riverrun on Oct 1, 2018 12:54:23 GMT -6
For those who don't know what J.B. looked like: 1920 passport application on the left, Picture from the NYT 1954 in the right, but taken earlier, as he looked older in 1954. If you are a NYT subscriber you really want to look at this article: timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/04/11/83328415.pdfMaybe I'll transcribe it one of these days.
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riverrun
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Post by riverrun on Oct 1, 2018 16:21:54 GMT -6
By the way: I'm convinced JB de Mesquita did not actually invent the 1924. He was an owner and executive of Ever-Ready, not an inventor. He was an advertising man, a business executive. He went back to England to build a company and factory and file a patent application they gave him. I still admire him. Growing up in the slums of East London during the time of Jack the Ripper he made it BIG in the US. In 1934 he earned $52,365. That's about a million dollars in today's money. And he wasn't even at the pinnacle of his career yet. Whenever he travelled back to England (which was often) he went in first class on the most prestigious ocean liners of the day. I have researched him a bit and it's a very interesting rags-to-riches story, with the odd bits of tragedy thrown in.
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Post by birdlives on Oct 1, 2018 17:12:06 GMT -6
By the way: I'm convinced JB de Mesquita did not actually invent the 1924. He was an owner and executive of Ever-Ready, not an inventor. He was an advertising man, a business executive. He went back to England to build a company and factory and file a patent application they gave him. I still admire him. Growing up in the slums of East London during the time of Jack the Ripper he made it BIG in the US. In 1934 he earned $52,365. That's about a million dollars in today's money. And he wasn't even at the pinnacle of his career yet. Whenever he travelled back to England (which was often) he went in first class on the most prestigious ocean liners of the day. I have researched him a bit and it's a very interesting rags-to-riches story, with the odd bits of tragedy thrown in. Hmmmm, thats an interesting hypothesis...especially coming from someone with you way with patents.... What about Kaufman?....Do you thonk he actually invented the 1914?
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riverrun
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Post by riverrun on Oct 1, 2018 17:52:35 GMT -6
By the way: I'm convinced JB de Mesquita did not actually invent the 1924. He was an owner and executive of Ever-Ready, not an inventor. He was an advertising man, a business executive. He went back to England to build a company and factory and file a patent application they gave him. I still admire him. Growing up in the slums of East London during the time of Jack the Ripper he made it BIG in the US. In 1934 he earned $52,365. That's about a million dollars in today's money. And he wasn't even at the pinnacle of his career yet. Whenever he travelled back to England (which was often) he went in first class on the most prestigious ocean liners of the day. I have researched him a bit and it's a very interesting rags-to-riches story, with the odd bits of tragedy thrown in. Hmmmm, thats an interesting hypothesis...especially coming from someone with you way with patents.... What about Kaufman?....Do you thonk he actually invented the 1914? I have my doubts. He was an advertising man as well. Maybe in the olden days people were not so narrow-skilled as they are today. Maybe I don't give JBM credit where it is due. I am however convinced that the Kampfe Brothers invented the Star. Interestingly the NYT article I linked to above claims that they did so in 1876. Dammit! What patent are they all referring to? I will have to download all 1875/76 US patents and look at each and every single one of them, from toilet brush to safety razor via steam engine and mousetrap (one of which Otto Kampfe invented much later). I briefly had doubts about August Scheuber and the 1912. It is so radically different from any of his previous inventions (which were all similar to each other). Unfortunately, it was his last patent before he died. I did, however, compare the 1912 patent to his other patents and couldn't find a smoking gun in his style of writing. I think he actually hit the jackpot and then snuffed it. Among all the inventors he is my ultimate hero. August Scheuber. And Leopold Kuhnl. And Octavius Victor Rodrigues. I have researched them all, but J B de Mesquita is the most rewarding and annoying subject. Being rich and famous he left documents left and right. Scheuber is the most elusive. Kuhnl is the most boring. Lived in the same place, worked for the same company for 50 years. But what happened to his first wife? As far as I can tell one of his daughters is still alive. But a trip to New Jersey for a cup of tea seems unlikely.
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