Merkur 601

[efsk]

A very nice travelset made by Merkur. It holds a non-adjustable Progress type of razor, a brush I think is non-original, a tube for a shaving stick, bladebanks and a mirror. Truly nice kit, that I bought because of two reasons. First, I have the same kit branded Busch & Sohn, that has the Walbusch B3 in it. Second, the handle of this "progress" is identical to the Walbusch B5 in silver. So basically, this links two Walbusch razors to Merkur.
Now I've found out during the last year that both the B3 patent and the patent describing the adjustment mechanism of the Progress were filed by Walbusch, so the link was a given, but it is nice to see it examplified in real life.

 

[gvw755]

So Walbusch seem to have more involvement in the design of razors other than being someone that contracted with Merkur to sell their razors like Hoffritz and Ponco did.

Anyway, my contribution to this thread is my Merkur 71, which is a simpler and more basic looking model of the 601. It has the same bakelite base plate, but nowhere as nice looking.

I also own two others, one that came to me without a handle, and only the long screw pin. The other is a DDR clone of a Brilliant design courtesy of @efsk. The Merkur 71 had a carbon fiber tube added as a handle and the DDR razor had a new cap and handle added. All are great shavers.

Finally, there was the Merkur 640 which was the all metal version with a base plate that resembled the Merkur Progress. This one is a smooth and efficient shaver, much like the Progress on a lower setting.

 

[benedetto]

@efsk anche io come te ho questo splendido modello della Merkur in una diversa confezione:

Come altre Fabbriche produttrici di rasoi anche la Merkur distingueva i vari modelli con un numero e come tu riporti questo credo sia il modello 740 o 750 (base) poi a seconda dei vari accessori (numero delle lame comprese - set da viaggio - custodia in plastica (che non era plastica ma Pollopas) o in pelle con sapone e pennello) prevedeva un numero diverso ossia mod. 640, 645, 650, 660 , 670 , 680, 690 ... Non sono riuscito a trovare Brachure dell'epoca , dettagliata ma solo questi ritagli di giornale in lingua Bosniaca:

Penso che questo modello sia stato prodotto dal 1937 al 1950 circa .. e trovare questo modello per me non è stato affatto semplice sopratutto
nelle condizioni in cui è ... il problema principale di questi modelli con pettine e nottolino in pollopas è che molto spesso si spaccava o lesionava
perchè o si batteva contro il lavello per togliere i peli o cadeva durante la pulizia.

Questo rasoio mi piace molto perchè è molto simile al' Apollo "Spezial":

Anche questo assolutamente difficile da trovare...

Grazie.

Benedetto.



PS: per chi vuole tradurre questo post può utilizzare Google traslate .

 

[efsk]

Thanks for showing yours @benedetto ! Very pretty one. One wonders why the only info available on this razor is in Bosnian, kind of weird.
The Apollo you show remonds me more of a different Merkur. As you see your Apollo has a metal part in the base, as if it's an non-adjustable Progress. I bought a Merkur just because of that feature, but have to photograph it before I can show you.

btw: If we all have to use Google Translate, maybe it's easier if you do so before posting? I would recommend deepl.com however, better translations.

 

[benedetto]

It would be nice to find the original Merkur brochures of the time and be able to translate in an understandable way what is written on the newspaper clippings that I showed in my post. The translator I used automatically recognizes the language in Bosnian, but changing to Slavic or Slovenian it would seem that the translation is more understandable .. however I was unable to translate the excerpt literally. Searching on the various shaving forums and social networks there is also the travel version.
These below are photos of a user named Henning on a well-known German forum:

As you can see the razor is the same, but there is something in this set that does not come back to me .. what is that logo that shows a red circle with a W inside? in a 1956 brachure with the set number 163 we find a set very similar to that of this user.

Benedetto.

 

[Northstonehill]

Beautiful, thanks for posting Benedetto

 

[benedetto]

Hello collector friends .. today a new Merkur travel set is added to my collection .. in excellent condition ...

I think I'm sure this set is older than the 50's..
unfortunately I'm still looking for brochures about him ...

regards

Benedetto.

 

[efsk]

Now that is one terrific looking NOS set you found there Benedetto! Truly astonishing. Will you shave with it?

 

[sɐǝɹpu∀]

Hello collector friends .. today a new Merkur travel set is added to my collection .. in excellent condition ...

I think I'm sure this set is older than the 50's..
unfortunately I'm still looking for brochures about him ...

regards

Benedetto.

My hunch, not a proof:
The image of the brush on the sheet of paper suggests pre-1941.
The font of the headline ('Merkblatt' - believe it or not) is Sütterlin.
This style of writing was popular in Germany in the 20s and 30s, but was banned by the Nazis in 1941.
It's possible it was used post-1945, but (IMHO) unlikely.

 

[benedetto]

Now that is one terrific looking NOS set you found there Benedetto! Truly astonishing. Will you shave with it?

Hi Richard, as is my custom I never shave with the NOS razors that I can find .. Anyway I have already shaved previously with another Merkur like this and I found it fantastic .. Lately these razors I can not find them more .. too many collectors ..

Hello sɐǝɹpu∀,
I also think like you that it is before 1941 ..
I think it is between 1938 and 1940 .. but I repeat that I have no certain proof .. only suppositions. Too bad I could not find brochures of the time ..

 

[efsk]

I must say I enjoy shaving with NOS razors. The only exception I make is razors still sealed in their original shiiper. I do not unpack these.

 

[benedetto]

New arrival..
I think that Merkur's model of the 600 series is older than 1956...you can see from how different the shape of the plate in pollopas is and how differently the handle is worked..

The patent number is always the same..

Saluti.
Benedetto.

 

[efsk]

Never seen one with that handle before. Another one to search for

 

[benedetto]

Mai visto uno con quella maniglia prima. Un altro da cercare

Yes absolutely Richard, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.. I've actually already seen this razor in an Emil Hermes advertisement but unfortunately I can't find it anymore... if I'm not mistaken, I saw this razor in a copy of the magazine "Messer und schaere". Anyway I found this razor in Austria.

 

[benedetto]

This should be its version with the metal base (it belongs to a user who goes by the name Mitglied )

 

[benedetto]

I write should.. because at first I thought it was an alienation of this model... (photo by Jake).