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If you want to say nutty things, I'm an ally.
On occasion I have produced nutty things on request. Often at the request of an editor, which means I get paid to do so. But hey; we're all friends here...
Is the super slant the coproduct of an emerging manufacturing process or was it precisely the aim of a manufacturing process?
Let me restate the question so you can understand where my answer arises: "Was the 'Super Slant' produced as a test of a manufacturing process, or was it produced as a part of the product line?"
I'll go with the latter. If it was a test to see how far a particular process could be carried and what the economic consequences of that might be then I wouldn't expect the razor to have been marketed. If that were the case I can't even see them actually putting the razor parts together, as I assume that part of the process does not significantly vary from the process of assembling any other non-adjustable razor in the line.
No, the razor was meant to be a razor and be sold as such. Documentary evidence is, as has been noted, essentially nonexistent. As far as the current operators of Merkur are concerned they walked into an old factory with some machines in it for making razors, so that's what they make. Apparently some razors were made there before they took over, but aside from finding them here and there the company has no official idea what, where, why or how many.
Several elements support this contention. There are examples known of all four major iterations of the "Super Slant" -- two-piece and three-piece razors in both OC and SB formats. There are, additionally, examples of re-badged "Super Slants" under marques like Hoffritz, Coles, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bartali and others. The rebadged razors are also aimed at different demographics, so clearly there was attention paid to market analysis.
Further, there are suggestive observations of razors we tend to think of as "non-Merkur" that seem to indicate Merkur may have had a hand in their manufacture. Two cases in point are the Walbusch B5 adjustable tilted slant and the later version of the Fasan Double Slant. The adjusting knob on the B5 looks identical to the adjusting knob on the Merkur Progress. Direct lineage or parallel evolution? I'll go with direct lineage. Walter Busch Sohne seems to have been an early "lifestyle company" in that they sold razors but had broader interests in textiles and clothing. (Still do; I hear they sell shirts now.)
The evidence for a linkage between Fasan and Merkur is at third-hand for me, at least. However, some parts are interchangeable, and it appears Merkur picked up Fasan in its later years. It's not a far stretch of the imagination to envision a company that made a lot of razors that were sold under other names to also have picked up a struggling competitor and relaunched some of their product line.
So, close the loop. There's a lot of information that has disappeared into private holding and likely will never see the light of day. But we have the physical result in our hands, even though not in very many hands. I can imagine the forces in an early-global marketplace. To me the "Super Slant" feels like a gamble. A well-planned and executed gamble, but still a brave hope in the face of uncertainty. The overall shave market changed dramatically in those years, and I think it just didn't find enough traction in any market demographic.
O.H.