I expect that it is no coincidence and those hones are made by Escher.
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I expect that it is no coincidence and those hones are made by Escher.
I seem to recall that a few other non-affiliated companies also made labels that were very similar, with the same color scheme and a barber scene, on their hones. It probably was legal but certainly was sleazy.
Brand encroachment was pretty common back then. The market place was more deceptive then than now, at least in North America.
Talking about similarities: how about this one? A genuine Stukenbrok. Stukenbrok was one of the first mail order companies. Its catalogues are collectors' items and facsimiles are sold on ebay.
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Is it possible the similarities in packaging could also be due to the labels being designed and printed by the same company? Perhaps Escher and Droescher bought labels and boxes instead of making their own.
Yes. It may also be possible that because escher mined them they sold them the boxes with the altered labels too.
Probably more related to distribution than knock-off. There weren't a lot of export channels at the time so manufacturers used any means possible.