Our trivia expert solves local mysteries of who, what, when, where, why, and why not. Well, sometimes.
Dear E.G.: As a child, I was fascinated by the slot in the back of bathroom medicine cabinets, where you were supposed to drop used razor blades, instead of tossing them in the trash. This was a safe way to discard them, but I often wondered if there was a huge pile of rusty blades piled up in the walls — or the basement — of the Lauderdale mansion.
Over the years, not many businesses here have carried the name “Shelby.” Looking through old business records, I’ve turned up Shelby Biscuit on West Colorado (1910), Shelby Candy & Coffee on Linden (1915), Shelby Electric on Vance (1920s), Shelby Jobbing House (whatever that means) on McLemore (1925), and Shelby Plumbing on National (1930s and later).
But Shelby Blade Company? Well, in the 1930s, a fellow named Westley S. Strehl was working as an auditor for the J.T. Fargason Company, one of this city’s largest dry-good wholesalers. If you care about such personal matters, he was living at 2410 Parkway Place with his wife, Edith, and son, Wesley Jr.
Strehl obviously thought there was money to be made in the sale and manufacture of the new double-edged “safety” razor blades, certainly less perilous than the straight razors men had used for years to scrape the stubble from their faces. So in 1934, he opened the Shelby Blade Company, in a former restaurant building at 37 East Carolina. Each blade — stamped “Guaranteed” and “Quality” — was enclosed in a tiny wax paper envelope, and then wrapped in an attractive blue-and-white packet.
But the company lasted only two years. In 1936, Edward Falls — who had been a vice president with J.T. Fargason (surely that’s where he met Strehl) — became owner and manager, moving the sales operation of Shelby Blade to the Sterick Building. Strehl took a new job as a manager with the Boyle Investment Company, a position he held for the rest of his career, eventually retiring to a country home outside Cordova.
Falls left the razor blade business to work for Cole & Company, a prominent advertising agency. And to bring everything here full circle, the old Shelby Blade factory on Carolina became a warehouse for J.T. Fargason. Today, though, the location is an empty field, without a trace of the various business ventures — from restaurants to razor blades — that were housed there.
Got a question for Vance?
Email: askvance@memphismagazine.com
Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, 65 Union Avenue, Suite 200, Memphis, TN 38103
