And here's the next installation of the Rotbart story. It will be included in its entirety in a book a friend is working on -- a 2-volume history of Gillette (& its subsidiaries) from the beginning through 1938. Not sure the publication schedule of the book, but you'll all be among the first to know. And now for the Rotbart history, part 2.
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The repeated expansions and relocations of the production centers of Roth's company are indications of the rapid growth of the Otto Roth A.G. Eventually, in 1925, Roth took over his main rival Büchner-Werke A. G., and through this merger, ended his main competitive rivalry. Their widely renowned and high-quality products were jointly distributed under the brand "Rotbart/Mond-Extra".
Enter Gillette
As a result of this growth of Otto Roth’s shaving products’ business, in 1926 Gillette (although they had already established a relatively strong presence in Germany) purchased a controlling interest in Roth-Büchner, one of it's most successful competitors. At this time, Roth-Büchner produced highly recognized products, and was producing over 250 private label brands of double edged razor blades and razors. Principal among these were its own Rotbart, Rothbart, Minors, and Luxuosa brands. Roth-Büchner Aktiengesellschaft was headquartered in Berlin, and had been there since the merger of Otto Roth and Hugo Büchner, in 1925.
When Gillette purchased controlling interest in Roth-Büchner, Otto Roth was named the General Director for all of Gillette's European interests, and maintained his offices in Berlin, while managing several razor and blade factories throughout Europe.
Roth-Buchner Advertisement
Circa 1926
This advertisement was printed after Gillette bought an interest in Roth-Buchner, in 1926. Note that the ad features a razor of the Gillette New Improved style, and has the Newark, New Jersey location listed.
Establishing a plant in the United States was considered a risky proposition; but, in 1926, Gillette opened a small Roth-Buchner branch at 11 - 15 East Runyon Street in Newark; New Jersey. This, the same location that was originally leased by King Gillette, in 1905, for his brother Mott, and a mechanical engineer named Leach King. Mott was in charge of razor case design, while Leach was designing and building machinery for the Boston, Canadian, and new European factories. It was to Leach, that Gillette, in 1907, desiring to offer for sale a more compact "pocket edition" razor, sent the legendary Italian bracelet, which inspired Leach's designs for the future American Button Company Pocket Edition sets.
The following year, 1927, Gillette ventured further towards gaining full control of it's competition, by purchasing Otto Roth, a subsidiary of Roth- Buchner, which had not been included in the original purchase. The Otto Roth subsidiary produced the Gentleman Otto razor, and the Royal Crown (1928), and Cosmopolitan (1929), blades. By 1927, razor blade production at Roth Buchner had achieved the volume of one million blades daily.