Albert Machan (1908-1955) was born at Sheffield, the son of Laurence (1881-1948), a file cutter, and his wife, Nellie.  The family lived at Wadsley Bridge.  In the 1930s, he worked at the Wardonia Works of Thomas Ward & Sons, which specialised in the production of safety razors.  In 1946, Albert Machan registered a private limited company (capital £1,000) to manufacture his own ‘MAXAN’ brand of safety razors.  The address was Maxan Works, Mary Street.  He was remembered as a ‘dapper little man and a fine engineer’, who operated a small family business, with his wife, Lillian Mabel née Corbett, employed in wiping and packing the blades (Machan, 2023¹).  An advertising campaign was launched, which concentrated on the south-east of England.  However, the business had folded by the end of the 1940s.  Albert took his expertise to W. R. Swann & Co, where he helped develop its line in surgical blades.  Albert Machan died on 4 September 1955, leaving £6,263.   His son, Peter, became a well-known local historian.

^1.Machan, Peter, The Little Mesters: The Rise, Decline and Survival of Sheffield’s Traditional Trades (Sheffield, 2023).