Rolls Razor

Rolls Razor Limited was a British company known first for its manufacture of a sophisticated safety-razor and later, under new ownership, an "affordable" twin-tub washing machine.

The eponymous product was a sophisticated safety-razor which promoted with the slogan "The razor that is stropped and honed in its case".

The case was a rigid rectangular frame enclosed by two detachable lids, one lid carried a stone and the other a leather. The lids could not be interchanged. With a lid removed, oscillating a handle drove a shaft along the frame. In both directions pinions on the shaft engaged with racks on the case to rotate the shaft to either push the blade forward against the stone or drag it against the strop. It was easy to use, fast and safe. It was noisy as each change of direction rotated the blade to slap against stone or leather.

The blade was about the size of a conventional disposable blade but was solid, hollow ground and not disposable, it incorporated a safety guard.

The company's principal market was a twenty-first birthday present for a young man. Sales declined with the rise of electric shaving.

The Rolls trademark, "The Whetter," was registered in the US in 1950; the claimed first use was 1922. The US patent for the method of attaching the blade to the handle was filed in 1925 and issued in 1930. The name "Rolls Razor (1927) Ltd." was used in advertising. The razor was still manufactured and sold until 1958 when the company was purchased by entrepreneur/corporate raider John Bloom who decided to focus on washing machines rather than the razor.

Though not made by the Rolls-Royce company, the name was chosen to evoke the "Rolls" image of luxury and quality. The factory address was 255 Cricklewood Broadway, London, NW2, with showrooms located at 197a, Regent St., London, W1. A US importer was Lee & Schiffer, East 44th St., New York City. By 1937 the US distributor was Rolls Razor, Inc., 305 East 45th St., New York.

Rolls Razors, Ltd, made several models with variations based solely on casing material, finish and shape. The earliest models have a pebble-finish metal case. The nickel-plated Imperial No. 2 is the most common along with the silver-plated Imperial which was packaged with a hard leatherette storage box. During World War II, the case was made all aluminium. Older razors, pre-1930, do not have a Greek key pattern on the case. A gold-plated case was made before 1930, but is very rare. The two main shape variations were the "standard" Imperial which had a flat boxy shape with rounded corners and the Viscount which had a softer profile with shaped sides and rounded corners.

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