This is the Stahly Live Blade razor. There were several safety razors with vibrating heads over the years but the Stahly was probably the best-known. It was produced from the 1940’s into the 1970’s and had a reputation as a very well-designed and well-built razor. Some called it the Cadillac of safety razors.
Stahly made no grandiose claims of the razor being able to make hairs stand up like some modern razors (a claim that has since been thoroughly debunked). No, Stahly simply said the vibrating head helped reduced a razor blade’s tendency to catch on skin irregularities or dry spots.
The bottom of the razor’s handle was a knob that had a little torsion spring that the shaver wound up before shaving. The spring was connected to a crankshaft that was off-center to the razor’s head. After winding, the razor’s head would vibrate for about three minutes.
The Stahly’s razor three piece design was exceptionally well-engineered and shaved very well even without the vibrating feature. In fact, when I tried this sample I think I got a better shave with the vibrator off than with it on.
I forgot to add that my grandmother told me that the razor belonged to my papa who died in 2014. So it’s nice to have a vintage safety razor that was a family’s member.
My grandmother from Mississippi just brought me this razor today after finding it through some junk. I have to say, I actually like the razor. When it comes to double edge safety razors, I’m normally a huge lover of Gillette DE but I will say that I actually love the Stahly Live Blade Safety Razor. The vibration is a cool feature, and I never knew that safety razors could have built in vibrations. Now I know thanks to my grandmother.
I’ve had a Live Blade for years, but the vibrator part has kicked out. How may I get it fixed? HELP!
Very interesting piece! Your observation that “I think I got a better shave with the vibrator off than with it on” would tend to support the view of many that the whole “vibration” thing is more to do with ‘gimmick’ than with good shaving technique!
Ditto. The last cartridge razor I had, before wet shaving enlightenment, was the Fusion Power. It produced the same quality of shave (and razor burn) as a regular Fusion razor–the only difference was a slightly larger handle diameter and a tingling sensation in my fingertips while trying to hold it.
The Stahly razor head design looks interesting. There are a few currently for auction on eBay.
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