Summary

Curley's Ideal safety razor. Blade has ridged safety bar which rotates around blade. Thumb rest with serrated edge. Handle broken. Made in New York, United States of America, probably about 1910s.

The Curley's safety razor design was first patented by Terence F. Curley, of Brooklyn, New York (U.S. Patent No.349,386, filed 15 June 1886, issued 21 September 1886) with later improvements subsequently patented by Terence F. Curley & Albert S. Granger (U.S. Patent No.398,947, filed 6 July 1888, issued 5 March 1889). It was manufactured by J. Curley & Terence F. Curley, operating under the name J. Curley & Brother, 134 Nassau Street, New York, N.Y., from about 1880-1921. The firm also made pocket-knives. Their straight guard razors had a bar guard with diagonal ribs, a replaceable single-edge blade, and originally a black or ivory-colored handle. First called Curley's Patent Reversible Safety Guard razor, it was one of the first designs of 'safety razor' to become widely available in America from the 1880s, although the concept of using a guard for protection on the sharp edge of a razor blade had been invention by the French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret as early as the 1760s. This style of razor was briefly popular in Australia during the early 1900s, but by the end of WWI, succumbed to the more convenient 'GEM' single-edged safety razor design and 'Gillette' double edged design which used cheap replacable rectangular blades sold in multiple packets for a fraction of the price.

The "Curley's Ideal Safety Razor" was widely advertised in Australian daily newspapers during the period 1905-1920, with the highest frequency of advertisements during the years 1910-1917. Illustrated advertisements described the benefits of the design as follows:
"Adds to the "safety" idea, an improvement which permits of a SLIDING, GLIDING, DIAGONAL MOTION, which gives an absolutely CLEAN SHAVE, leaving the face soft and smooth, without the slightest irritation or soreness." [The Australasian (Melbourne), 3 Sep 1910, p.61]

"Men who use the CURLEY IDEAL SAFETY RAZOR will have no other. It is, the manufacturers claim, the only Razor made that permits correct shaving with safety, that is, the sliding diagonal stroke from point to heel or heel to point. Shaving with the CURLEY IDEAL leaves the face smooth, soft, and cool. There is no irritating, pull with the Curley Ideal, 'which possesses a Safety Guard that prevents cutting the skin." [The Sun (Sydney), 15 Jun 1913, p.1]

The cost of a "Curley's Ideal Safety Razor" in 1910, mail ordered and delivered by post was 15 shillings, with prices declining to 7/9 by 1913, probably through competition from other brands of 'safety razor'. Replacement blades for the "Curley's Idea" sold for 2/6 to 5 shillings.

Physical Description

Blade includes a patented sliding frame that protects the blade from coming into direct contact with skin at right angles. Blade rotates retracting into a handle with a brown 'plastic' cover, possibly celluloid. Handle broken.

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