MEM Diagonal

[efsk]

Mr M.E. Mayer had an export-company on the Lokowitzplatz in Vienna. For some reason he branched out into shaving. He patented a parallelogram-shaped head/blade and was granted that patent 10-12-1923. This is European notation, so probably means 10 December 1923.
The same head was also used on RAS-razors, and recently I found out there's also an Elysium-razor with this head. Elysium was a different Vienna producer, so that was probably licensed. The RAS claims an original patent. What that means with regards to this MEM razor/patent I don't know.
Mayer at one point also started producing DE's, after which the company was bought by Gillette, which marked the end of the MEM Diagonals.
The head is parallelogram-shaped, has a closed comb with eight holes, and the centerscrew stands at an angle: this positions the head tilted on the handle, thus causing a diagonal cut. Variations in handles exist.
The first I show you is a model with a twisted metal handle, rather long. Reminiscent of handles used by some lathercatchers. The exact same model also exists branded RAS.

 

[efsk]

Second, the same model as above, but in a travelversion. The handle is two-piece. This, too, exists as RAS.

 

[efsk]

Apart from the metal handles (more metal models exist, but I haven't found these yet) these razors came with rather nice white bakelite (I think), rather heavy handles. These gave a rather luxurious feel. I have so far found three different types, in two different boxes. Differences will be shown later.
First an unboxed razor, my first MEM.

 

[efsk]

I then found a MEM that was cased and had a blade, so figured I'd upgrade my razor. When it arrived, the handle was different, so I did upgrade, but not the way I expected
This came with a used and an unused blade.

 

[efsk]

And then, there exist apparently a different case:

 

[efsk]

Comparison. First, the five heads. These are identical, except one topcap does not fit tight. I don't think that's on purpose.

The handles. Top to bottom same order as posted above. The longest one has different knurling from the other two. The short ones, the shortest one has a rounded end, the other a flat.

Cases. Both are "matchbox"type.

 

[gvw755]

Is this such a great shaver that they felt it was important to come up with all the different versions, and spawn a clone?

I still cannot figure out why they would make a double edge blade for a single edge head.

 

[efsk]

Good question. Maybe they just changed over time.
Doublesided blades for single edge razors were used more often. There's a Golf, my Eversharp is another, and in a way the Kabrand as well: in its tilted position, you can use only one side. In this case, it is probably to prolong the life of the blade, or because they figured: we have that real estate, do something useful with it.