The Segal Lock and Hardware Company of

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, was a leading manufacturer of hardware merchandise and razor blades in the 1920s and 1930s. Established in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and Manhattan, the firm relocated to

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, in the mid-1920s. The Segal Safety Razor Corporation was a subsidiary of the Segal Lock and Hardware Company. The business was at first known as the Burglar-Proof Lock Company. Segal was started by Samuel Segal, formerly a

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detective in 1912,"Mrs. Samuel Segal Dies", ''New York Times'', July 5, 1957, pg. 17. through his invention of a nearly burglar-proof lock. The vertical

deadbolt A deadbolt or deadlock is a type of lock morticed into a wooden door where a bolt is thrown into the door frame, using a key from either side, to secure the door. It is distinct from a spring bolt lock because a deadbolt can only be opened by ...

lock eliminated a horizontal bolt, concentrating on the hinge principle. Segal had noticed that burglars forced locks but never hinges. The firm's beginning was aided by a few more policemen. The original capital was approximately $1,000. Segal and his associates refused $1,000,000 in cash for their fifty separate lock patents. Shortly before her death Mrs. May Stevenson Segal, wife of Samuel Segal, invented a burglar-proof lock, which was marketed to a leading lock manufacturer.

History, expansion of corporation

In August 1926 the business purchased a square block on Ferris Street, Sullivan Street, and Walcott Street for use as a factory and foundry to make Segal locks. Segal owned two large factory buildings, a foundry, and a machine shop on this property with the addition of this real estate. The combined floor area was . Segal planned to add three more large buildings at an approximate cost of $500,000. The property fronted the waterfront in the

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section of Brooklyn. The development enabled Segal to move two plants from Connecticut and its warehouses from Manhattan. Employment was to increase to 1,600 persons."Lock Company Buys Factory In Brooklyn", ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', August 19, 1926, pg. 32. In November 1927 the Segal Lock and Hardware Company announced the sale of 5,000 shares of common stock and 5,000 shares of preferred stock. The stock was placed privately with no public offering made."Segal Lock Sells Stock", ''New York Times'', November 16, 1927, pg. 40. The company acquired a controlling interest in the Norwalk Lock Company and the Universal Razor Blade Corporation in 1929."Segal Lock Plans Issue", ''New York Times'', August 21, 1929, pg. 39. Stockholders approved an increase in the authorized stock of the company to 400,000 shares, of which 300,000 shares were outstanding."Stock Increase Approved", ''New York Times'', September 7, 1929, pg. 28. The corporation introduced a single-unit safety razor in late 1930, a low-priced product designed to use only Segal double-edged blades. The following year Segal placed on the market the Unimatic Segal Razor, a one-piece razor which accepted a double-edged blade. The firm entered a contract with

United Cigar Stores United Cigar Stores was a chain of cigar stores in the United States that in its first quarter-century grew to nearly 3,000 shops. It eventually became part of the corporation that bought Marvel Comics and its parent company Magazine Managem ...

in June 1931. The agreement was for a long term of years and stated that the cigar interest would feature and distribute Segal razors and blades. In October 1933 the Segal Lock and Hardware Company was awarded a contract to provide the finishing hardware for 1,595 apartments in the

Knickerbocker Village Knickerbocker Village Limited is a housing development in Manhattan, New York City. It is situated between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side. Although the location was generally conside ...

. This was a model housing development on the

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. It was made possible by a loan of $8,075,000 from the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...

. The company sold its

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factory buildings to Macklett Laboratories, manufacturer of X-ray tubes, in March 1934. Segal announced plans to introduce a new type of single-edged razor blade and a new aluminum window in mid-1946. Strauss Fasteners Inc. was acquired by the Segal Lock and Hardware Company in February 1947.

Litigation

In October 1931 the Segal Lock and Hardware Company sued

Gillette (brand) Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

, asking $2,000,000 in a loss of blade contract. The suit claimed a violation of the

Clayton Antitrust Act The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (, codified at , ), is a part of United States antitrust law with the goal of adding further substance to the U.S. antitrust law regime; the Clayton Act seeks to prevent anticompetitive practices in their inci ...

. Another suit, decided in

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, resulted in an agreement between Segal and Gillette. The former agreed to discontinue the manufacture of razor blades which infringed the Gillette patent. Segal continued to manufacture its own razors and blades which fit their own razors. However they were forced to discontinue making blades which also fit razor handles made by Gillette."Agreement Settles Gillette-Segal Suits", ''Wall Street Journal'', November 4, 1932, pg. 7.

References

External links

SegalLock.com
- Official site
Samuel Segal Patents
{{Coord, 40, 40, 47.2, N, 74, 0, 56.9, W, display=title Segal Lock and Hardware Company Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City Male grooming brands