What is the connection (if any) with the Hoffritz razors and the Merkurs? Is it the same company with a name change? :happy102
Hoffritz was its own company who had their razors made for them by Merkur. Merkur also made razors for Coles, Pomco, Adams and several other companies.
Grafco was another one of those companies. You can see the obvious Merkur connection with the head of Mercury on the butt of the handle.
Yes, and another was Weck. The slant razors made by Merkur for all of those companies didn't have the Mercury head that I know of. I've owned a Coles slant and a Hoffritz slant and it didn't have it. Does the Merkur branded slant have it?
I have a Merkur made Lunawerk slant, it looks just like the Hoffritz slant with the white metal handle. The one I have doesn't have the Mercury head anywhere either.
Hoffritz was a high-end cutlery company in NYC in the 40s, 50s and 60s (went commercial and mail-order after that, then folded...) that had beautiful stores and carried only high-end merchandise. The offered Merkur razors under both the Hoffritz name and the Merkur name. After losing my first razor (a 3-piece Gillette from Dad) I bought a HD, then a Progress from them in about 1964. I think that they may also have been the US distributor for Merkur back in the 50s... Hoffritz had the same relationship with Simpsons; at the same time, I bought a Simpsons Chubby 1 with the Hoffritz stamp on. I still have it!
The biggest difference I can see between the Hoffritz and the Merkur slant is, the Hoffritz is a two piece razor while the Merkur is three piece. I found a Hoffritz in an antique shop and it is my hands down favorite razor.
