Thread: Heljestrand Razors: Prices in 1957

just recently, i bought a heljestrand catalogue from 1957. it contains all (?) razors that were sold in 1957, width, grind, point, scales and prices (in swedish crowns; for one piece and per dozen). i thought you might be interested. i typed the data into an excel sheet. one is low to high numbers, the other one is low to high prices.

comments in the right column are from the catalogue, except for my comments about the 57 in brackets (french point?).

abbreviations used:
grind: F(ull), H(alf), Q(uarter) hollow
point: O/R ordinary or round point; S(quare) point; F(rench) point
scales: I(vory), B(lack) R(ubber), W(hite) C(elluloid)

regards,
hans

Great find! Goes to show the 134 really is the biggest monster

I too have seen this (late) 1957 catalog; my main take is that Heljestrand never got round to rationalizing it's model ranges/numbering system....

In this document different ranges introduced over the decades (e.g. 1-13, 22-24, 29-34, French long blades etc) just seem co-exist side-by-side with overlaps and inconsistencies.

Did they just keep old ranges when they added new ones for customer loyalty reasons? Or too many old blades still available in stock and the catalog was written based on what they had? Or maybe they thought the whole issue unimportant for utilitarian tools?

Whatever the answer, none of this takes away from the fact that the Heljestrands are stellar shavers!

i find their product mix rather strange, too.

interesting, at least to me:

it seems that the only difference between a 1 and 2 was the scale material. same applies to 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8. i did not know that.

wide blades were not that expensive: you got a 7/8 nr. 12 for SEK 13.30, a 7/8 133 for SEK 14.15, and a monstrous 8/8 nr. 134 for SEK 15.80. but a tiny little nr. 29 with a 3/8 blade was 17.20! how that has changed!

regards,
hans

And my 24 french tip is not even listed...

This explains why all those 133's on eBay are coming from South American countries.

Collectible
C.V. Heljestrand
No. 5 MK