My most intriguing vintage blades

[coase]

One of the blades which I bought in the past decade that remain somewhat of a mystery are what I believe to be medical blades made in England.

These are listed as Platinum but the others I've seen online are either a different type from England or early carbon steel. They shave very well. Medium sharpness, high smoothness. And the 300 I bought were no more than the cost of Astra's at pre pandemic pricing. Well under a dime a blade. I like them. Not Spoilers mind you, but I wish I had more info on them and their construction.

 

[abies]

Is this the patent number on the blade?

US3071856A - Razor blade and method of making same - Google Patents

If so it was issued to Gillette, and Gillette did have blades made in England.

There are previous threads about that brand on B&B, and in those threads there's lots of speculation that they were made by Personna or Wilkinson. But people have also noted that that same packaging sometimes appears with "Made in USA" on the box, and there are listings for that same brand with Made in the USA razor blades:

Tomac Razor Blades Double Edged Blue Steel Green Package | eBay

<p>TOMAC.</p><p>RAZOR BLADES</p><p>CAT. NO. 283</p><p>Double Edged Blue Steel</p><p>MADE IN U.S.A. FOR</p><p>AMERICAN HOSPITAL SUPPLY CORPORATION</p><p>GENERAL OFFICES EVANSTON, ILLINOIS</p><p>----------- 2 -----------</p><p> </p><p>These blades are made of the finest im-</p><p>ported Swedish...

www.ebay.co.uk

Part of me is wondering if TOMAC (Tomac?) was a blade brand of American Hospital Supply, and they sometimes either sourced them from the US or England at different times or for different reasons. I don't know enough about Gillette DE blades to know when they were made in the US.

 

[coase]

The patent is 3071856 only.

 

[abies]

The patent is 3071856 only.

Yeah that's the number; the A is being added on for some reason I don't know.