1907 Lather Catcher - An Amazing Razor

[Samjax]

I've just become the owner of a 1907ish Ever Ready Lather Catcher. It has a short black wooden handle and uses my current PTFE blades...and I must say; I believe that it is a better shaver than my OCMM, 1912, 1914, Featherlight, Clog Pruf or my G-Bar. Now granted, I like all of my SE razors, particularly my Open Comb Micromatics...which are outstanding for ease of use and their aggressiveness - but I was pleasantly surprised just how good the old wooden handled lather catcher performed. I daresay it's as aggressive or more so, than the OCMM and as easy to shave with as the 1912 - and considerably more "fun" to use than either.

I thought they were more of a novelty than a useful tool - I was obviously mistaken.

Anyone else have experience with the "old" lather catchers?

 

[alex2363]

I've just become the owner of a 1907ish Ever Ready Lather Catcher. It has a short black wooden handle and uses my current PTFE blades...and I must say; I believe that it is a better shaver than my OCMM, 1912, 1914, Featherlight, Clog Pruf or my G-Bar. Now granted, I like all of my SE razors, particularly my Open Comb Micromatics...which are outstanding for ease of use and their aggressiveness - but I was pleasantly surprised just how good the old wooden handled lather catcher performed. I daresay it's as aggressive or more so, than the OCMM and as easy to shave with as the 1912 - and considerably more "fun" to use than either.

I thought they were more of a novelty than a useful tool - I was obviously mistaken.

Anyone else have experience with the "old" lather catchers?

I had a few, very efficient razors. I like that old style look.....now join the LOSER'S club

 

[MacDaddy]

Anyone else have experience with the "old" lather catchers?

Perfect timing! Lather catchers are the Safety Razor of the Month this month, and we're just getting started. Come on over and post some photos of yours. My own favorite of all my SE razors is my Star Bar lather catcher.

 

[jforrest]

I just got a Star lather catcher and I agree---I was amazed at the
close, comfortable shave. I'm looking to buy a wooden handle for
it. If anyone has a lead, please let me know.
Thanks,
John

 

[Samjax]

There is no question whatsoever for me...the 1907 Lather Catcher is more aggressive than my beloved Gem OCMM. I really like them both - but the lather catcher is a real "catch" for those of use who prefer aggressive, high feedback shaving experiences. I just purchased a 1900ish Kampfe Lather Catcher which comes with its own special blades (that can be honed...). I'm anxious to see how it stacks up.

 

[fmlondon]

I have a couple of them, and I agree with you about the shaves. However, every time I used it, black would bleed out of the handle. I did not want for that to continue, so I stopped using it.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Glad to hear they are as functional as they are stylish/beautiful.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

I just bought an ER lather catcher recently on eBay. It has ER in scrollwork on the razor. Is there a way to date these? Just curious.

 

[BillC]

I think I was bidding against you :-\

Glad someone here got it, sorry if I ran the price up

 

[beisler]

I am guilty too--I was bidding on it

I think I was bidding against you :-\

Glad someone here got it, sorry if I ran the price up

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

No, you were bidding against someone else. This one was listed as BiN for $75.00 and I negotiated with the seller down to $25-$30, (I forget exactly). I was in on the one you are talking about, but once it went above a certain amount, I was out of it..hoping another would come along. This one was in a lesser grade condition, but has the case and blade banks and looked nice to me. I am a huge fan of EverReady brushes and razors. Seeing the ER in fancy scrollwork on this just made me drool.

 

[MacDaddy]

I just bought an ER lather catcher recently on eBay. It has ER in scrollwork on the razor. Is there a way to date these? Just curious.

I wouldn't put myself forward as an expert on Ever-Ready's chronology, but from the ones I have and the investigating I've done here's what I can tell you:

• As late as the first half of 1906 the model that's illustrated in most Ever-Ready ads is still the hinged-front model that snaps closed in the back. See an example here from the May 1906 issue of American Magazine. This model just has decorative scrollwork in the blade bed.
• Starting in the middle of 1906 they switched over to the short-lived reverse lather catcher. Here's their ad from the very next issue of American Magazine in June of 1906. Notice that the inset illustration in that ad they're reusing the older artwork that shows the hinged model, while the man in the main illustration is holding the new one. By the following month they'd redone the inset to also show the new model.
• By the middle of 1907 they had switched to the open-front lather catcher. Here's an ad from the June 1907 issue of Business that shows it.

Now, this is where things get a little fuzzy. There are at least a couple of different versions of the open-front model. All of the ones I can find pictured in ads appear to have scrollwork in the blade bed that's similar to the hinged-front model but slightly different. I haven't yet found any print examples of the "ER" version anywhere. I think that the scrollwork version is the older one, but I don't really know for sure. Here are main differences in the frames of the two that I can see:

• The body of the "ER" frame is slightly narrower so that the scallops at the very top reach outward to meet the width of the blade bed, whereas the scrollwork version curves inward there.
• There are single-quotes around the brand name "Ever-Ready" on the scrollwork version that don't appear on the "ER" version.
• The company name is listed as "American Safety Razor Co. Inc." on the scrollwork version, where the "ER" version doesn't include the "Inc."
• The scrollwork version lists locations in New York, London, and Berlin; and the "ER" version adds Montreal to that list.

That last one is probably the most interesting and potentially useful change; however, I haven't yet worked out what those locations signify -- whether they're locations of ASR factories or just their distribution centers.

The open-front lather catcher continued to be the standard Ever-Ready model in their print ads up until the release of their 1914-style razor. So even without working about the particulars you're really only looking at about a 7-year period.

 

[Haiku]

I was lucky enough to find one a while back. Yes, a wonderful razor. Mine has just a bit of brassing, but the wooden handle actually looks new. Beautiful little thing and a great shaver.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Great information! Thank you! I can't wait to get it! I just love antique shaving items. The older the better.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Here are a few pics of the razor I am awaiting delivery on. They are from the ebay page. I will try to get better pictures when it arrives.

If I overpaid at $30 for this set, (It was originally listed at $75), I am ok with it. That ER scroll-work just looked amazing to me and I had to have it.

 

[MacDaddy]

Oh, cool. I was going to mention that there was also a variant where they'd dropped the "shaving face" image from the stamping on the rear of the frame, but I couldn't find an example of one and figured it'd just muddy the waters unnecessarily. But that's exactly what you've got there.

I believe it to be the latest of this particular model. Here is an illustration from an ad that was in Munsey's Magazine sometime between October 1911 and March 1912 (probably closer to the end of that range just judging from the ad's position in the advertising appendix of the bound volume -- can I mention how much I hate the fact that it seems to have been pretty common practice to take the ads out of their original context when publishers bound up volumes of their magazines' issues?):



It's not exactly the same as your set since, as you can see, the blades are packed in smaller band-like sleeves. I can't remember ever seeing sleeves like those, so I don't know if that's ever how they came or if it was some amount of artistic license in doing the illustration so that it would show off the included blades better. But this smaller illustration from an ad in the Saturday Evening Post from April 5, 1913 is pretty much exactly your set:



You can click through either image to see them in their original context.

Also, $30 is definitely a good price for that set. Considering that for less than the price of a modern Edwin Jagger you have a 100-year-old piece of usable history there.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Many many thanks for all your research and help! I am quite satisfied with what I paid, as I feel I bought a piece of American shaving history with this set. It's not mint, but it is a very nice looking set. I absolutely love having a "100 yr old piece of usable history". It is the one thing that I love about wet shaving. I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I feel like I have a museum piece on the way, that I can actually try out.

 

[cpool222]

Many many thanks for all your research and help! I am quite satisfied with what I paid, as I feel I bought a piece of American shaving history with this set. It's not mint, but it is a very nice looking set. I absolutely love having a "100 yr old piece of usable history". It is the one thing that I love about wet shaving. I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I feel like I have a museum piece on the way, that I can actually try out.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[Sled Dog]

Thats a nice set...it looks like it has the stropper handle (the end should pull out and have a stropper attachment)
Looking forward to your posts when you get it, congrats!!

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Thanks! I can't wait for it to arrive.