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Post by broadsword on Jan 3, 2014 9:34:51 GMT -6
During my acquisition rich months I managed to pick these two items up... one is an Ever Ready Stropping machine, the other an Ever Ready razor, of which I know very little. It is the only brass / gold coloured ER that I own. If anyone knows anything about it, I would love to learn of your information. StropperRazorAll the best, folks Jon
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Post by birdlives on Jan 3, 2014 11:54:39 GMT -6
I'd need to see more pics...but it looks to me like the razor designed by JB deMesquita, and patent applied for in 1909, and was manufactured in 1909 as the 1909 Yankee and also in 1909 as the "New Ever Ready" Shortly before the 1914 Little Lather Catcher made the scene it appears that the production of this razor was moved to Britain...But I have no idea how long they continued production in England....Is this it? The first 2 pics are from "Ronnie H" and RocketMan is another lucky owner of one of these beauties...I haven't had the pleasure myself, but I'm a huge fan of deMesquita's final version of this, the EverReady 1924. Is yours made in the U.S. or England ? and how do you like the shave? How do you think it stacks up to deMesquita's fine-tuned version they released 10 years later, the 1924 Ever Ready ? BTW, many have a stropping device inside the handle as in the final attachment... Attachments:
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Post by PJGH on Jan 3, 2014 13:16:02 GMT -6
Very interesting. I immediately thought 1924, but then saw the handle, so thanks to birdlives for the insight.
I have a stropper just like that. Pick up a nice chain like 1912 to match, eh? I do like the chain link handles.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Jan 4, 2014 2:21:30 GMT -6
Birdlives is certainly the keeper of knowledge on this one! Good job!
I too am curious on country of manufacture on this one. The case is interesting. It seems pretty much no earlier than 1911 or 12. The leather case we've seen in the other thread on these seems earlier, more 08/09? Looks like same razor but a bit apart in years.
Where dat from?
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Post by birdlives on Jan 4, 2014 9:24:24 GMT -6
Here is an advertisement from a British newspaper in 1914 showing the "New Ever Ready" :
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Post by RocketMan on Jan 5, 2014 1:39:35 GMT -6
Great find on the advert! It's seems so odd for it to be referred to as a 'New' razor. It definitely is from the Mesquita patent in 1909. This is turning into quite the story! I think we should just start calling this thing a '1909 New Ever Ready' and see if it sticks. Here are some shots of mine. I really like the roughness of the tooling on this thing. It feels very handmade and finished. Wonderful varnished ( or some sort of clear coat) over the unusually brownish brass(?).
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Post by RocketMan on Jan 5, 2014 2:02:48 GMT -6
So is this then the first of the hooded razors to be made? That might suggest why we never see this Mesquita fella much. He designs this radical new shaver concept which gets snapped up by the big players. SE razors never looked back from this fundamentally different design change. Anything else able to claim shotgun on this design?
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Post by birdlives on Jan 5, 2014 5:15:07 GMT -6
Yo Rocket-Dood...Thanks for the fantastic pics...what a gorgeous razor, slice of history and example of functional art...you are a lucky Rocket-cat... Well deMesquita was the 1st Treasurer for ASR...later Vice Pres. under Joe Kaufman and in 1949 he became President...He's the one who acquired Personna for ASR...In 1954 I think he retired and I read something about a JB deMesquita inventor from NYC passing away later that same year.... So this guy invented this radical New design in '09....Was on the Board and involved with running ASR from the start til practically his death and continued to tinker with his 1909 design most of his life....Interesting cat....I like him and love his razor... I think calling it an ER 1909 is not out of line....I mean the only ER shovelheads with a pat. date on the razor is /09...and ASR released a nickel plate version of the same razor in 1909 under the Yankee Banner and manf. it in England aswell...The /09 is right after the pat.no. on your razor...so calling it an '09 sounds good to me... You know thats the same year Scheuber applied for the Damaskeene patent... Actually, I now think of the ER 1924 as an ER 1909/24... I don't see anymore changes between the 1909 and the 1924 ER's than I do between the Damaskeenes and the later 1912s maybe less....
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Post by broadsword on Jan 5, 2014 11:58:13 GMT -6
Yep that is mine - just far, far better pictures. I am pretty pleased to have it and glad to have stimulated some razor debate.
All the best guys,
Jon
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Post by birdlives on Jan 5, 2014 13:02:51 GMT -6
Yep that is mine - just far, far better pictures. I am pretty pleased to have it and glad to have stimulated some razor debate. All the best guys, Jon So Jon, how would you compare the shave to the ER'24s and '14's ??
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Post by broadsword on Jan 8, 2014 6:35:51 GMT -6
Yep that is mine - just far, far better pictures. I am pretty pleased to have it and glad to have stimulated some razor debate. All the best guys, Jon So Jon, how would you compare the shave to the ER'24s and '14's ?? Well difficult to say. I shaved with 1924 for the first time this morning and was impressed. Looking forward to tomorrow which I think will be even better. Comparison is impossible as I have yet to shave with the 1914. However I will rectify that over the next week or so (I am making a concerted effort to shave with some razors that I have not used since I acquired them), so it will have to wait for now. But I'll be back (or maybe I will get impatient and get the 1914 out this evening for tomorrow...). Bye for now, Jon
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Post by RocketMan on Jan 9, 2014 13:39:17 GMT -6
I have yet to shave with the one I picked up. The spring tabs in the frame need to be bent back to a springy position. They are pressed up against the back of the hood and are not holding the blade in place properly. I need to find some time to do this so I can be careful. I would hate to break a spring.
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Post by broadsword on Jan 10, 2014 5:15:34 GMT -6
I have yet to shave with the one I picked up. The spring tabs in the frame need to be bent back to a springy position. They are pressed up against the back of the hood and are not holding the blade in place properly. I need to find some time to do this so I can be careful. I would hate to break a spring. Interesting comment.. I got mine "New" Ever Ready out earlier in readiness for using it next week and found I couldn't get a blade to sit firmly in it... so maybe this is a common issue. I am not sure exactly why it won't stay in place, and I didn't have time to investigate. Interested to see how you tackle your issue, RocketMan.. Jon
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Post by birdlives on Jan 10, 2014 12:11:25 GMT -6
I have yet to shave with the one I picked up. The spring tabs in the frame need to be bent back to a springy position. They are pressed up against the back of the hood and are not holding the blade in place properly. I need to find some time to do this so I can be careful. I would hate to break a spring. I think you're right...Being careful is a very high priority....breaking a spring should not be an option... But besure to hold the center of the spring firmly against the back while you bend the sides forward a little at a time, so that spring doesn't pop loose....I bet you'll have her up a running in no time...let us know...She sure is a beauty RM...
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Post by Ronnie H on Jan 21, 2014 6:41:49 GMT -6
I've shaved with my 1909 once. Like you say I kept having to check that the blade hadn't slipped and it was seated properly. It was a fairly good shave from what I remember, like shaving with a lighter 1924.
I now have two and I've noticed a difference in the design of the heads, one has 2 "rivet dimples" on the hinged part of the head and the other doesn't.
I'll have to take some pictures..
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