Edward Weck & Co.

Edward Weck & Co. was a cutlery manufacturer based in New York City. It was established in 1890. Edward Weck was a German immigrant who lived in Brooklyn from the age of 15 until his death. Photo evidence of razor boxes suggests that he came from Solingen, the city known for its production of straight razors. The company also manufactured pocket knives, kitchen knives, and scissors in its early days. It is best remembered, however, for its early shavette-type razor: the Weck Sextoblade. The name of this shaver (patented 1909) came from its bundled sale with six blades that could be removed and stropped. The shaver also came with a removable safety guard. The Sextoblade came in eight different styles: AA (the least expensive), A, B, C, D, E, F, and H (top of the line). One may surmise that the different price points relate to the various sets and what items were included in them.

Weck brand strops (cushioned, with a wooden handle) were also part of the shaving line. The company made other types of razors too, including single-edge safety models (notable for their wide heads) and corn razors. The shavette-type came in a smaller edition as well, intended for travel, called the Bantam.

Edward Weck died in 1922 from hardening of the arteries, but his son Albert kept the business in the family. There were retail storefronts in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the factory was located in downtown Brooklyn, where the MetroTech Center stands today. This link to the photo archives of the Museum of the City of New York shows the building at 135 Johnson Street, circa 1931, along with various images of workers making instruments: http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?V...D=24UAYWHWEAW2.

The company developed technologically, becoming involved in the manufacture of surgical instruments, though it also produced hair shapers that were very much akin to the Sextoblade. In addition, the company made prep razors for use by U.S. military surgeons.

At least as late as 1953, the Weck factory still stood on Johnson Street, as want ads in the Brooklyn papers show. At some point, though, the company moved to Long Island City, Queens. Also, some time between 1956 and 1963, Standard International Corp. of Massachusetts bought Weck. In November 1963, Weck purchased Durham-Enders Razor Corp. of Mystic, Connecticut -- the company that had once produced the Durham Duplex -- showing that razors were still part of the company's makeup.

Standard International floated 20% of the shares of Weck on the over-the-counter stock market in 1969, while continuing to hold an 80% stake. News of the filing, with a company description including the razor business, is toward the bottom of page 2 of this SEC document.
http://www.sec.gov/news/digest/1969/dig011469.pdf

Squibb Corp. -- then known as Squibb Beech-Nut Inc. -- bought Weck in 1971 for $22 million. This story from the New London (Connecticut) Day gives insight on Weck's operations at that time, in both Mystic and Long Island City.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...pg=857,4135868

In 1993, four years after Squibb merged with Bristol-Myers, Teleflex Inc. bought the Weck assets for $63.5 million. The Weck surgical products remain a prominent part of Teleflex's offerings.

See Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office:
http://books.google.com/books?id=9ul...q=Weck&f=false