Craftsman electric shaver

[human]

I saw a real oddball item on the shelf at Goodwill the other day--a Sears Craftsman electric shaver! I wasn't even remotely tempted to buy it but I did find it to be an oddball piece of cross-merchandising from I'm guessing, the early '60s. I can't think of another example of Sears stretching the Craftsman brand outside the traditional hardware and lawn care categories. It looked a lot like the Remington shaver my dad used when I was a little kid. I didn't take a picture of it but the URL below will take you to an eBay listing for one just like it. A Remington just like the one Dad had is in the similar items lineup at the bottom, second row, second from right.

http://https//www.ebay.com/i/332600179964?chn=ps

 

[fan-of-fans]

That is a little odd. I've seen some stretches with the Craftsman name, especially more recently, but not that far. I guess they figured it would be manly to use the name on a shaver.

 

[human]

Yeah, on some levels, it makes about as much sense as a Lady Kenmore belt sander but then merchandising is often about thinking outside of the proverbial box.

 

[real1shep]

I dunno...in Hoover's efforts to keep afloat, expand and have a good bottom line, they got into kitchen appliances and even washers back in the day.


 


I only know Norelco shavers and so I can't tell who really made this one? To this day, a restored triple floating head Norelco gives me a better shave than the Gillette Fusion Power blade setup. You just gotta know how to restore one correctly.


 


Those were the days before micro-compressors....when you wanted to miniaturize a electric motor, you just made it smaller....no tricks there, just solid engineering and manufacturing principles. And those little electric motors made in Holland for Norelco were amazing.


 


Kevin


 


 

 

[oreck_xl]

Equally amazing were the motors Remington made for their electric shavers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I never got a good shave out of the Norelcos, but the Remington XLR-3000 is the best electric shaver of all time IMHO. Victor Kiam was a marketing genius and the Remington microscreen really does shave as close as a blade!

These Craftsman shavers are not really rare and for a time Remington did make the shavers for Sears, however this was not one of them. Payer in Austria also made some Sears shavers.

 

[madman]

The Sears marketing department:

"We need to sell an electric shaver, what brand name do we slap on it?"

"Ok boss, we'll spend countless weeks researching a new brand name for our electric shaver line."

"It's just a shaver, for pete's sake! Just pick one of our existing brand names. One that exudes masculinity!"

"Lady Kenmore?"

"Craftsman it is!"

 

[real1shep]

The thing about the triple floating head Norelcos.....you had to understand how to maintain and keep the blades sharp. Most guys just opened the flip top, brushed or dumped out the hair and threw it back in the box for the next time. If you just did that, over time the shaver would give you a lousy shave. That's why at one point there were so many to find slightly used, thrown in the trash and/or up for sale. I used to buy them on eBay for $5 all day long. Now it's changed to about $15. Plus, you had to update cutters to the later style for the supreme shave.


 


My kids gave me a new one about '90 or so, what a cheap POS compared to my old one.


 


Kevin

 

[oreck_xl]

It all depends on the type of beard you have. The cutter combs on a Norelco are THICKER than the foil screen on a foil type shaver. So, rotaries (like Norelco) work better for those who have soft beards. Yours truly who has a coarse beard gets a closer shave from a foil shaver like a Remington or Braun. My father swore by Norelco and I've tried his and many others. I've just always found a foil works better for me....

 

[human]

Personally, I've never used an electric shaver of any sort that didn't make my face itch like crazy afterward. For me, it's gotta be a blade--and a good quality one at that. My dad used Remington for a long time and then switched over to Norelco maybe sometime in the '80s. When he died a couple of months ago, Mom gave me his last two Norelcos, one of which was only a couple of months old. Both were caked with clippings so I thoroughly cleaned them and gave each a try. Both were miserable. Oh well, the pop-up trimmers are useful.

 

[kenkart]

Another good one

Was the 60s and 70s Ronsons with the foil head.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I've never used one of those foil type shavers, have always used a rotary, usually Remington, a few Norelco. But that's mostly all my dad ever used either, so naturally what I had when I started shaving.

Personally, I always prefer a razor and shaving cream. Rinse with hot water. Very relaxing and feels smooth afterwards and smells nice. Electrics make my skin red and never get as close. I agree the side trimmers are very useful though, for getting the sideburn edges nice and clean.

It's all a moot point now, anyway, as I've gone fully bearded this year and no plans to shave anytime soon... lol

 

[oreck_xl]

Oh yes, I forgot about Ronson. They did make an excellent shaver. I still have a Ronson 66 foil shaver from about 1957. Sunbeam Shavemaster was also an excellent shaver. At one point Bulova (the watch company) even made an electric shaver. I had one, but the plastic casing completely disintegrated. Now they're rarer than hen's teeth!

 

[tolivac]

At present use a Norelco triple head rotary razor.Used to use Braun and long ago-Sunbeam foil electric razors.Liked the Sunbeams but as we all know they are NOA.Tried Norelcos and have used them for years now.Mine has the cleaner charger unit-use this and the razor is like fresh everytime.I do vacuum out the clippings before putting it in the cleaner charger.Usually I just replaced the blades-shaving head every year.Used to use the Norelco blade sharpeners-but haven't seen those in years.You could sharpen the blades several times before they wore out.

 

[oreck_xl]

I think these are the shaver sharpeners you are looking for. Now they offer a few different types depending on which model Norelco you have....


http://www.vollco.com

 

[real1shep]

Yeah, I don't think those systems are intended  for the older Norelco's....but they might work. Many have taken Simichrome polish and a piece of glass to sharpen their blades. It works but in the beginning, Norelco told you to never swap or mix up your blades; they should always remain with their particular floating holder. Maybe in later models the machining got so accurate you could do so....but not in the earlier models.


 


I read that some are using toothpaste inside the blade holders to sharpen your blades. That would be a tad bit less evasive than Simichrome polish. Then wash everything in hot soapy water afterward. I may try that against the Simichrome...... 


 


Kevin

[this post was last edited: 4/11/2018-19:54]

 

[gus]

Hi, your Norelco talk is about the Philips product called really Philishave in the rest of the world. I understand this Norelco is the commercial brand in the States, but they are world known as Philishave. They were built in many countries like Argentina (low quality) China( so so), Germany (extra high quality) and of course the home country Holland, high quality indeed. I still have my first Philishave that my father gave me in 1960. Unfortunately I dropped it and doesn`t work anymore. But it lasted more than 15 years. Now I have a German Philishave which is from the late 50`s and still works. On the other hand I `ve got sensitive skin so it`s impossible to shave me with anything electric so I use Match 3 sensitive. It works quite well for me. Gus.

 

[human]

I have a two-head Norelco, made in Holland, from the early '60s (I think) that my grandfather gave me when I was a teenager. It has two 'wings' that open up on each side to allow access behind the shaving heads. One says 'Norelco' on it and the other says 'Philishave'. For a long time, I assumed 'Philishave' was a model name. These days, I wonder if one of the wings had been replaced.