Company Info
Durham Duplex was a New Jersey company which manufactured razors using proprietary blades. Early razors resembled open-comb shavettes, and the company later added what ads called "hoe-type" or "T-type" safety razors. The original shavette-like razor probably appeared ca. 1908[1], but the earliest known adverts appeared in 1909.[2] In 1912 Gillette successfully sued to prevent manufacture or sale of the Durham razor in the UK.[3]
In 1920 Durham Duplex claimed to have 9 million users and 1/3 of the USA shaving market.[4]
In 1922 Durham Duplex announced a "hoe-type" razor known as the Du Barry.[5] The handle of this razor used the same threading as Gillette three-piece razors. However the blades were of the same type as the Durham Duplex shavette, and incompatible with Gillette razors.
"On March 13, 1935, the Durham-Duplex Razor Company succeeded to the business and rights of Enders Razor Company, Inc."[6] In 1937 Durham Duplex opened a factory for aircraft engines and torpedo parts in Mystic, Connecticut.[7]
By 1941 the company had moved its headquarters, and then its razor manufacturing, to Mystic.[8] The two companies became the Durham-Enders Razor Corporation by 1947.[9]
In 1957, two brothers from New York City named Joseph and Abraham Mailman bought Durham-Enders at auction for $208,000. Joseph Mailman, who died in 1990 at the age of 1988, was a notable investor and philanthropist whose fortune was rooted in shaving. In his teens, he and his brother sold razors door to door in their birthplace, Utica, New York. At the age of 18 in 1920, Joseph (along with Abraham) founded the Utica Knife and Razor company, which later became the Mailman Corporation -- one of the first conglomerates in the Americas. They later formed the PAL blade company.
In November 1963, the Mailman brothers sold the company to Edward Weck & Co. for an undisclosed price. At that time, Durham-Enders occupied part of a two-story factory building in Mystic and employed 25 people. Weck announced plans to expand the plant, adding new machinery and people. The factory eventually closed in 1979.[10]
The UK subsidiary ceased making male grooming products in 1970.[11]
Key Patents
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Product Info
See Also
References
- ^The Independent, vol. 89, p428.
- ^Saturday Evening Post, vol. 182, issue 1, p.49.
- ^ Illustrated London News, vol. 140, p680, dated 1912-05-04.
- ^The American Cutler, 1920-07, vol. 133, p80.
- ^Commercial America, 1922-03, vol. 18, no. 9, p32.
- ^The Trade-mark Reporter, vol. 26, p508.
- ^Fought, Leigh. A History of Mystic, Connecticut. The History Press, 2007, p85.
- ^LIFE, 1942-03-02, p80.
- ^http://www.trademarkia.com/durham-duplex-71545103.html
- ^Fought, Leigh. A History of Mystic, Connecticut. The History Press, 2007, p86 cites a date of "early 1950s" for the sale to Weck. However, the Bridgeport Post reported the sale on November 1, 1963.
- ^Post by mjclark citing a letter from the company.