Razor hefts of Gillettes

The Big Fellow is a fabulous razor. I have about 5 of them and love them. I usually wait till I find one that I can clean up myself. The ones like posted above will sell for a BIG premium. The Merkur 12c is a reasonably close approximation and you can pick one up for a lot less (~$35). I use a Swede or Israeli in mine and the shave cannot be beat...IMHO.

There are three razors in this group you are discussing. There is the Big Fellow an Old Type made until 1921. There is the New Improved Big Fellow (also available in gold) made until 1929, at which time the Gillette NEW Big Boy was introduced. There are transitional razors that have a Big Fellow handle and Big Boy head, but they are rare.

You have a beautiful explar of a Big Fellow. I have a Silver and a Gold, neither in the condition of yours.

jlander said:

There are three razors in this group you are discussing. There is the Big Fellow an Old Type made until 1921. There is the New Improved Big Fellow (also available in gold) made until 1929, at which time the Gillette NEW Big Boy was introduced. There are transitional razors that have a Big Fellow handle and Big Boy head, but they are rare.

You have a beautiful explar of a Big Fellow. I have a Silver and a Gold, neither in the condition of yours.

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There was also a Big Fellow De Luxe, before the Big Boy-- in nickel and in gold, here's the one in nickel. The Big Boy was not a De Luxe.

I think there is a glorious world of pre-Aristocrat DEs that I have not taken the time (or money) to get into. Many of us tend to think only of DEs from the 40s to the 60s, after that, its all Merkurs. But there are obviously some great ones from the turn of the century to WW2. I watched a Bostonian go for $250 last night on eBay.

As this particular thread is about weights, I have a few questions that would help this whole discussion:

1) What is the heaviest DE that Gillette ever made?
2) What is the heaviest DE that anyone ever made?

My guess for question 1: The Big Fellow, the Bostonian, or maybe the Fatboy

My guess for question 2: probably one of the above or maybe the Merkur 38c

I'd love this info if anyone has it.

Thanks

Here's a survey of Big Fellows (and one Big Boy)-
From left to right:
1. Pre 1920 Big Fellow (82 grams)
2. New and improved Big Fellow Silver (84 grmas)
3. New and improved Big Fellow gold (85 grams)
4. New Deluxe nickel Big Fellow (85 grams)
5. New Deluxe gold Big Fellow (85 grams)
6. New Big Boy gold (65 grams)

The Krumholtz book briefly mentions the "New Big Boy", but nothing about the "New Big Fellow". I believe that the "New Deluxe Big Fellow" is indeed a Big Fellow, by comarison to its predecessors. The Big Boy is shorter and quite a bit lighter, comes apart differently, the handle texture is different, and has a different blade guard, as the pictures below show (Deluxe on the left, Big Boy on the right):

The biggest of the DE that I know of, is the 38C. ANother biggie is the large Barbasol. THey are shown here for comparison:
1. Merkur 38C, 112 grams (left razor)
2. Barbasol, 90 grams (middle razor)
3. New Deluxe, 85 grams (right)
Sorry about the picture quality. The silver Bostonian BTW, is 75 grams.

I now use regularly, these three plus the New and Improved Big Fellow. My favorite of the 4 is the New and Improved, because of the open comb,and also, it has a very easy mechanism to inrease the closeness for the second pass, by unscrewing the handle 1/4 of a turn.

cutting_edge said:

The biggest of the DE that I know of, is the 38C. ANother biggie is the large Barbasol. THey are shown here for comparison:
1. Merkur 38C, 112 grams (left razor)
2. Barbasol, 90 grams (middle razor)
3. New Deluxe, 85 grams (right)
Sorry about the picture quality. The silver Bostonian BTW, is 75 grams.

I now use regularly, these three plus the New and Improved Big Fellow. My favorite of the 4 is the New and Improved, because of the open comb,and also, it has a very easy mechanism to inrease the closeness for the second pass, by unscrewing the handle 1/4 of a turn.

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Well done!!!!! Thank you for this info, as I have read several threads on the Big Fellow, and this is most informative. Magnificent razors, BTW. Congrats.

Hey cutting edge stop posting pictures of those Gillette razors your making me jealous !!!

Those pictures are what led me to my originating the thread. I like looking through all those vintage Gilllettes and would like to start collecting only shave quality razors for my own personal use.

One more for Bob...

cutting_edge said:

The biggest of the DE that I know of, is the 38C. ANother biggie is the large Barbasol. THey are shown here for comparison:
1. Merkur 38C, 112 grams (left razor)
2. Barbasol, 90 grams (middle razor)
3. New Deluxe, 85 grams (right)
Sorry about the picture quality. The silver Bostonian BTW, is 75 grams.

I now use regularly, these three plus the New and Improved Big Fellow. My favorite of the 4 is the New and Improved, because of the open comb,and also, it has a very easy mechanism to inrease the closeness for the second pass, by unscrewing the handle 1/4 of a turn.

Click to expand...

Cutting Edge,

Excellent information. You also ruined my Sunday morning because I am more than a bit envious of your collection and knowledge. You did some serious, righteous clean up work!

Don't tell him they were NIB, he would probably go over the edge I'm sure.

polod said:

Don't tell him they were NIB, he would probably go over the edge I'm sure.

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LOL, yeah, sure they weren't. Not all of them anyways...

Cutting Edge, you say you are using the Barbasol razor. What blade are you pairing it with? I have one I have tried with a Feather, not a good move! I was thinking about a Derby or even a Dorco.

Thanks,
Fred

drfred said:

Cutting Edge, you say you are using the Barbasol razor. What blade are you pairing it with? I have one I have tried with a Feather, not a good move! I was thinking about a Derby or even a Dorco.

Thanks,
Fred

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I use Derby Extra, which I consider a terrific blade. To be honest, I haven't looked too deep into choosing the perfect blade. I stumbled on the Derby about a year ago and have used it since on all my razors, and I am very satisfied. I like the Barbasol razor, IMO close to the 38C, but a bit more more gentle, and definetely in my respected razor list. Too bad they are so scarce!

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Groundhog said:

+1 on the Big Boy or Big Fellow. They make a red tip Superspeed seem downright dainty... Here's mine.

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STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! You KNOW I'm trying to be responsible and control spending. What would I DO with another razor right now, anyway...hmmm...that's certainly a handsome razor...wow...comes with a case, too...but I'd probably want to have the lighter, too, so I'd have to search that on E-bay...hmmm...I do like the heft of the Fatboy as a daily driver, but yeah...one of those big fellows wouldn't look too bad in the antique medicine cabinet.

YOU ARE AN EVIL PERSON. My significant other will grow to hate you for showing me that picture. My children will go without new shoes, and Christmas will be just a little "less commercial" this year...what was the Ebay link again?

hehehehehehehe

This 1930's NEW Deluxe handle looks like the Bostonian handle. Were there different handles in different Years? Or is this not what it says it is?

Thanks

ZethLent said:

This 1930's NEW Deluxe handle looks like the Bostonian handle. Were there different handles in different Years? Or is this not what it says it is?

Thanks

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This handle style was featured through a long period of production and many Gillette models, crossing from the "New and Improved" to the "New", including the "New DeLuxe".

Thanks a lot for the input!