Thread: My Grandfather's Johan Engstrom Frameback

Originally Posted by vvti713

What DEs did you obtain that were your grandfathers?

I was given 5 of his DE's. A 1957 Flare Tip Super Speed, 1975 Black Handle Super Speed, 1930's Gillette NEW Ball Handle, Valet Auto Strop with case and blades, and a Schick Krona. I was least excited about the Krona, but after reading about how they were the most underrated DE, I gave it a try yesterday. I have to admit that it is a great shaver and earned it's rightful place in the rotation!

All this time I thought his first name was Joh...

Originally Posted by JimmyMac483

I was given 5 of his DE's. A 1957 Flare Tip Super Speed, 1975 Black Handle Super Speed, 1930's Gillette NEW Ball Handle, Valet Auto Strop with case and blades, and a Schick Krona. I was least excited about the Krona, but after reading about how they were the most underrated DE, I gave it a try yesterday. I have to admit that it is a great shaver and earned it's rightful place in the rotation!

post pictures please! =]

he died in 1915 and his factory ceased all operations by 1917.

In 1918, Fahle Hammar reorganized the firm and invested over 1,000,000 Swedish Crowns in new factory buildings and special machinery.
And then, the name of the firm was changed to SSA.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Strangely enough, Alex, Johan Engstrom was taught by a swedish knife-maker at the age of 13 then travelled to learn his trade in Russia, England and Solingen! At one point he worked for a year at the Geo. Wostenholm factory in Sheffield.

The history of SSA seems a bit clouded by the mists of time. As far as I know, Johan Engstrom's firm was experiencing troubles in 1914, he died in 1915 and his factory ceased all operations by 1917. The export boom that Sweden experienced leading up to and including the beginning of WW1 soon turned to a time of major depression and ruin, and a lot of venture-capitalists bought-up ruined businesses for nominal sums - I expect that this is how SSA acquired the Johan Engstrom factory and plant in 1918 - as far as I know they always traded under their own name but represented in the US by sole agents Scandinavian Western Importing Co Ltd, 110 Broad Street, NY (but represented by Eric Mellgren between 1918 - 1920 according to Uniclectica) and never used the Johan Engstrom trademark.



Regards,
Neil

Wow, thanks Neil. I had been looking for some history about the company without much luck. That is awesome!

Here is my modest set of heirloom DE's

1930's Gillette NEW Ball Handle

SAM_0307 by jimmymac483, on Flickr

1957 Flare Tip Super Speed

SAM_0318 by jimmymac483, on Flickr

1975 Black Handle Super Speed

SAM_0331 by jimmymac483, on Flickr

Valet Auto Strop

SAM_0354 by jimmymac483, on Flickr

and last but not least, Schick Krona

SAM_0323 by jimmymac483, on Flickr

Originally Posted by manah

In 1918, Fahle Hammar reorganized the firm and invested over 1,000,000 Swedish Crowns in new factory buildings and special machinery.
And then, the name of the firm was changed to SSA.

This must be the same Fahle Hammer who was head of C. E. Johansson's US subsidiary (Carl Edvard Johansson was the inventor of the guage block system for precision measurement in industry) at the time that CEJ was to be sold in 1917. The deal did not go through though, so presumably FH remained as CEO?

Regards,
Neil

Yes.
Fahle Hammar was a director of SSA(Svenska Stalsmides Aktieb), 1918-1920.
And SSA never used Johansson's trademark.
It was another company.