The Rolls razor was an ingenious and high quality device, which combined many of the virtues of the straight razor and the double-edged safety razor which eventually killed it. An elderly friend of mine was pursued by the company to find out the origin of a replacement blade which a friend had made for him, probably during or just after the war, when parts for many things were hard to get. He wouldn't tell them, so he never did find out whether they wanted to know such a talented artificer, or to lay about them with a big stick for breach of registered design. They could talk, since they had no relation with the late Honourable Charles Rolls or Rolls-Royce, and chose the name since it sounded classy.

Later the company was bought as a moribund shell by one John Bloom, who used it to market washing machines direct to the public on hire purchase. But a host of minor things went wrong, together with the conventional retail manufacturers taking him on in a price war. I remember the scandal well, as he was heavily criticised for supposed malpractice, but proved a strong influence on British commercial law, since a lot of things he did aren't allowed nowadays. Somebody has to do it.

Rolls Razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia