Safety Razor of the Month, August 2012 - GEM Micromatics

[MacDaddy]

From the sometimes grumpy OCMM down to the much more mild-mannered Flying Wing, August is all about the GEM's Micromatics. Arguable as the first mainstream one-piece TTO safety razors (although the Segal's patent was filed literally days earlier), the Micromatics are still making new fans today.

Got photos? We want to see 'em. Cool tidbits? Share the wealth! Any questions? Fire away.

Since you guys all know how much I love old paperwork, I'll kick things off with one of the Micromatic patents. As far as I know, US1739280 filed on Feb 2, 1929 is the earliest one covering the Micromatic line, but my favorite is actually US1773614 filed on Aug 27, 1929, which shows some really nicely detailed cutaways of the Micromatic mechanics:

 

[Henrik]

..No action on this sticky after a few days?? Well- it´s up to a fresh SE shaver to step up. I got exactly ONE SE razor. Got it a few weeks ago from cpool222- thanks mate! It´s a open comb micromatic and I love it. The only blades I got is the coated GEMs and I like them I suppose. ATG is somewhat harsh though.. The shaves lasts way longer than the DEs I got. Smoother than a DE..? Neeh.. Not at the moment. Got to give the razor more time though.

Here is one question:
I got two patent numbers on mine (both US1739280 and US1773614. From what I have read so far I have an early specimen of the open comb micromatic.
- How long were BOTH of these patent numbers on the open comb micromatics? Or put in another way- were there later OCMMs and if so when did they started to hit the market?
If my memory serves me I think I read somewhere that the OCMMs had a total life span of 15-20 years beginning early 30´s right up to the late 40´s.

Lastly- Porter let me say that I appreciate your posts here on B&B tremendously. Very through and clever. It´s great having you here!

 

[Axebreaker]

I really like the typeface on those "Fig. #"s, it looks like the font FaTip uses. It just so happens that I got a Micromatic at the end of July. I haven't tried it yet, I wanted to try my push button first, but I will give it a try in the next few days because I never get in on these things!. I have a sample of Arko for Arko August too, but I'm less enthusiastic about that.

 

[MacDaddy]

Here is one question:
I got two patent numbers on mine (both US1739280 and US1773614. From what I have read so far I have an early specimen of the open comb micromatic.
- How long were BOTH of these patent numbers on the open comb micromatics? Or put in another way- were there later OCMMs and if so when did they started to hit the market?
If my memory serves me I think I read somewhere that the OCMMs had a total life span of 15-20 years beginning early 30´s right up to the late 40´s.

From what I've been able to glean from Google Books searches of magazines from the time, the OCMM was released nationally in 1931 after having been test marketed in 1930. The Clog-Pruf looks to have been released in 1940. It's harder to say when the OCMM stopped appearing completely -- I would assume that there was at least a period where stock was turning over even if they didn't manufacture both simultaneously -- but certainly after WWII (and possibly even earlier) the Clog-Pruf appears to have replaced the OCMM in ads like this one from the April 1, 1946 issue of LIFE where it's simply referred to as the "Gem Micromatic."

The Flying Wing seems to have come out in the late '40s first with the Guiding Eye, and then later without. Here's an ad from the May 5, 1947 issue of LIFE that's the earliest clear reference I've found for it yet, and here's a later one from Oct 24, 1949 that shows the razor without the Guiding Eye as do other similar later ads.

Unfortunately, most of the results from this era are only available in "Snippet view" so I haven't been able to read the full ads or articles. There's enough in the snippets, though, that I'm reasonably comfortable that the above is all at least close. Here are searches that show the results I was looking at for the earlier things that I couldn't link to directly for anyone who wants to check them out. Or, better yet, if we've got someone near enough to any of the libraries that hold copies of any of these maybe we could even get some full scans of some of the pages.

• Test marketing and national release of the OCMM (search for gem micromatic between dates 1/1/1928 and 12/31/1931)
• Release of the Clog-Pruf (search for gem clog "pruf" between dates 1/1/1930 and 12/31/1940)

Now, as for your specific question about the patent numbers, I don't have any really hard information on that. The patents themselves would have only been valid for at most 20 years from their issue dates, so beyond 1949 to 1950 they wouldn't have been allowed to appear. Just looking through a few of each type that I have here, though, all of my OCMMs and Clog-Prufs have both numbers on them and none of my Flying Wings have any patent numbers. Have you seen any OCMMs that didn't have both numbers?

Lastly- Porter let me say that I appreciate your posts here on B&B tremendously. Very through and clever. It´s great having you here!

Thanks, Henrik. I enjoy digging into stuff like this.

I really like the typeface on those "Fig. #"s, it looks like the font FaTip uses. It just so happens that I got a Micromatic at the end of July. I haven't tried it yet, I wanted to try my push button first, but I will give it a try in the next few days because I never get in on these things!. I have a sample of Arko for Arko August too, but I'm less enthusiastic about that.

Which Micromatic model do you have? You'll notice a big difference between any of them and the Push-button, but there'd be a huge difference between that and the OCMM or Clog-Pruf.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Some great info Porter, as usual. To address Henriks question about later models I don't think there's really any way to tell the early open combs from the later ones, unless you have a specific cased set then you can narrow down the time range a little.

With that said I do have one OCMM that is a bit different and I've kind of wondered if it might have been an early one. In the first picture below if you look at the chrome one on the left notice it has two raised bumps on the blade seat, while the brass one doesn't have them. I assume those bumps serve to set the correct angle of the blade in the frame.

In the second picture are examples of all three models, the open comb, Clog-pruf and the Flying Wing, and they all have the bumps, as do all of the other Micromatics I own, which leads me to believe the brass one was made early on before they started adding the bumps.

 

[Henrik]

Hmm. Interesting answers from you both. Apparently I knew too little in the first place. So there were no serious modifications on the OCCM (apart from Tom´s bump theory above). Great to learn! So the sum up would be:
The OCCM started to hit the shelves early 1931 and could have no longer life span than to 1950 (due to the patent laws). With the release of their new model Clog-pruf around 1940 it is plausible that both models were sold but one can expect that OCCM vanished in the early 40`s. In the late 40´s the Flying Wing appeared which makes sense as the patent 1773614 used on the Clog-pruf (issued in 1930) was about to expire in 1950.

Basically a new model from GEM appeared every ten years.

 

[MacDaddy]

With that said I do have one OCMM that is a bit different and I've kind of wondered if it might have been an early one. In the first picture below if you look at the chrome one on the left notice it has two raised bumps on the blade seat, while the brass one doesn't have them. I assume those bumps serve to set the correct angle of the blade in the frame.

In the second picture are examples of all three models, the open comb, Clog-pruf and the Flying Wing, and they all have the bumps, as do all of the other Micromatics I own, which leads me to believe the brass one was made early on before they started adding the bumps.

That's a really neat one that I hadn't noticed before, Tom. I just checked 4 OCMMs that I had handy here and they've all got the bumps. Just looking at the design of them, I wonder if the intent was to fine-tune the blade angle relative to the head or to improve the flow around the blade to reduce clogging...

Hmm. Interesting answers from you both. Apparently I knew too little in the first place. So there were no serious modifications on the OCCM (apart from Tom´s bump theory above). Great to learn! So the sum up would be:
The OCCM started to hit the shelves early 1931 and could have no longer life span than to 1950 (due to the patent laws). With the release of their new model Clog-pruf around 1940 it is plausible that both models were sold but one can expect that OCCM vanished in the early 40`s. In the late 40´s the Flying Wing appeared which makes sense as the patent 1773614 used on the Clog-pruf (issued in 1930) was about to expire in 1950.

Basically a new model from GEM appeared every ten years.

The expiration of the patents wouldn't have meant that they had to stop making the razors. It would just have meant that they couldn't put the numbers on them anymore after that point. There's nothing to stop ASR from making and selling an OCMM today, if they wanted to. But because the patents are expired, so could anyone else.

 

[Haggises]

I missed this thread until today.
But so inspired, I recalled how much I enjoyed the Flying Wing during GEMini, and realized I hadn't used it since.
Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Ray Todd]

Thanks for sharing all that research! Interesting stuff...now I have to go read patent numbers and look for bumps on my Micromatics! Up until today, the only one I'd used was the OCMM. I like it, and have practiced enough to be able to shave without too much risk of severe blood loss, but I still make sure I reserve enough time for a careful shave.

Today I tried the Clog-pruf for the first time in honor of Single Edge Sunday. I'd say it was easier to use than the OC, but I was still surprised at how aggressive it was. That's not a bad thing, just different than what I expected. I also have a Flying Wing that I haven't tried yet, and I'll be interested to compare it to the others. My Flying Wing looks like the one Tom posted above - gold plated and with a metal tto knob.

Does anyone know if there is any difference between the Flying Wings that have metal tto knobs and the ones that have white plastic tto knobs other than the knob itself? Just curious.... Also, Tom, have you noticed any difference in the feel or performance of the MMOC with the bumps vs the probably older one without?

 

[cpool222]

Yes, I've also wondered about the ones with the plastic tips. Anyone know if they were made before or after the metal tipped ones? I keep trying to get a plastic tipped one on eBay, but keep missing them.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

Amazing thread and information. Every time I shave with any of the MicroMatics, I wonder how ASR could have possibly lost the blade wars.

 

[cpool222]

Amazing thread and information. Every time I shave with any of the MicroMatics, I wonder how ASR could have possibly lost the blade wars.

I agree!

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Here's a little Micromatic eye candy, a gold plated Flying Wing with the Guiding Eye. This one's kind of my show horse because it's been used so little, or none at all. Enjoy!

 

[cpool222]

Here's my nicest GEM Micromatic... love the yellow case, wish I could find the green one to match it:

 

[schmidtmj]

I apologize for the horrible quality picture. Is this the razor referenced in this thread? I found this in an antique store for $28 but didn't pull the trigger. Is $28 a good price for it?

 

[MacDaddy]

Here's a little Micromatic eye candy, a gold plated Flying Wing with the Guiding Eye. This one's kind of my show horse because it's been used so little, or none at all. Enjoy!

Wow, that's a beaty, Tom. Looks like it just flew off the line.

Here's my nicest GEM Micromatic... love the yellow case, wish I could find the green one to match it:

Like butter. I love those cases, though. It's one of the few times an eBay seller will be right saying "art deco" and not just mean "it's sort of old and neat looking."

I apologize for the horrible quality picture. Is this the razor referenced in this thread? I found this in an antique store for $28 but didn't pull the trigger. Is $28 a good price for it?

Yes, that's a Micromatic -- looks to be a Clog-pruf. $28 would be a little high in my opinion. If it were in better condition that might be an OK price, but from just that photo it looks like the interior of the case has some fading and staining problems and the razor's plating looks a little worn on the handle ridges in particular. Assuming I'm seeing that right, in decent but not great condition I'd say $15-$20 would be more normal. You can get them cheaper without trying all that hard on eBay, though. If you've got some patience you can score one in the $10-$15 range in that shape or even better, and anything below $10 is a steal.

 

[MacDaddy]

Here's a nice little set that I just picked up off eBay recently. I hadn't seen this particular case style before, but it seems like it would have to be an earlier one and it's got the "un-dimpled" version of the OCMM like you were conjecturing there, Tom.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I don't recall seeing that case either Porter, it definitely has an early style to it. So, is it safe to maybe assume the early ones didn't have the dimples?

 

[cpool222]

So are we going to have a razor of the month for September?

 

[MacDaddy]

So are we going to have a razor of the month for September?

Yup, yup. Real life is just interfering a bit much here at the moment. We'll have a new SROTM thread up for you guys here very soon.