Ben Hur/Apollo

Hi all

The history of Apollo/Ben Hur has been discussed in other forums, but I'll recap a bit here: in the 1920s Herkenrath founded the "Ben Hur Rasiermesser-Fabrik" an started producing Ben Hur razors, both straights and DE's. They also produced blanks for other brands, the reknown "14" type straights originate for a large part at Herkenrath.
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In 1940 they registered the Apollo brand. Evidence exists that Balke & Schaaf already used the brandname in 1923, and a French, Paris-based Apollo existed as well, but whether these were related remains a mistery. After WWII both Apollo and Ben Hur continued as brands, so in a way it is a bit strange that Apollo is found that much more often than Ben Hur.
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Different brands from one factory creates room for error. Whether this was a mistake, or scarcity of raw materials necessitated using whatever was laying around I don't know, but at least one hybrid was made.
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The box suggest 1930s, which I think suggests this razor is from the early years of the war. The location of the logo can still be seen in the box, but it is no longer legible. I tried to enhance it digitally but did not succeed in making it better.
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The three-part-razor is of the long-screw type, where the baseplate forms one assembly with the grip. On the bottompart of this grip we can read this is a Ben Hur razor. Bottom of the baseplate claims Apollo. A factory-made Frankenrazor.
I call it my Ben Pollo, because that sounds better than Ap Hur.
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Beautiful razor. Thank you for sharing the history.

When I saw your post, it reminded me I also have an Apollo. I got this as part of a collection or razors from a member here, but I forget whom it was. I try to stick to vintage razors and this Apollo does not disappoint. I have no idea of it's vintage. Notice is has the Solingen Germany embossed on one side of the base plate, and Apollo on the other end. I also like the thickness of the chrome plating. Makes for easy wipe down for cleaning and still maintains and incredible luster on the top cap. Posted here are some pictures of it next to a standard Ball Tech, something that most wet shavers are acquainted with. Here you can see the thickness of the base plate compared to the stamped version from Gillette. The handle is hollow plastic save for the metal cap at the end. It is decidedly head-heavy in contrast to the heavy handle and balance of the Ball Tech. The top-cap curvature force this razor to lean heavy on blade quality. I know blade quality is subjective in our realm, but trust me when I say, if you do not use a quality blade in this razor, (ie sharp, but not feather sharp) you will be rewarded with a tuggy shave. This also applies if you try to stretch blade use beyond practicality. The blade gap is a bit bigger on this razor that other 3-piece razors. So, with the top cap forcing a higher blade angle, and the bigger blade gap, this razor can bite if you are accustomed to a slightly more mild razor like the Ball Tech or a Super Speed.
With the razor depending heavily on the blade for shave quality, and the bigger blade gap, I use this razor exclusively for head shaving. Much less clogging and quicker rinse.

Nice. I got that one as a slant
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Thats soo cool. Like maternal twins separated at birth. Very intuitive for the company to make a line like this with different heads. In this day of fancy handles its no big deal, but these razors are cool.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!