What's new

Safety Razor Acquisition Thread.

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
Found an interesting Made in England Personna TTO :)
20200830_180535~2.jpg
20200830_180511~2.jpg
20200830_180607~2.jpg
Screenshot_20200830_191843.jpg
 
Won this 1938 Gillette Popular #47 set last night. Case is basically shut but I wanted the razor which looks to be in good shape (apart from that eternal loaded rusty blade :angry:). The razor will fit nicely into my surplus dark blue bakelite case, together constituting a #45 set.

Populars are not seen too often, and the ´38s with the Rocket style knurling are the hardest ones to find :thumbup:

699E91F0-8E32-4A79-B7D8-063F844329AE.jpeg
 
Stopped a local thrift shop and ran across a nylon base plate Super Adjustable 109 "Black Beauty" and picked it up to replace an O1 SA 109 that broke at the crimping (still works, but drop handle). The last quarter turn is as silky smooth as my Fatboys and Slims, and the crusty old soap cleaned up well and the handle is good and black--I may transplant the doors from my broken SA 109 as they are nicer, but these aren't bad at all very usable. What I need help with is date coding it. My O1 SA 109 and my O1 SA 84 both have the metal base plate and it's easy to find the date code on the bottom, but other than a single "2" stamped on the bottom of the black nylon plate, there is no date codes on the Nylon, OR stamped into the metal part of the blade tray inside the razor (photos attached) like other Black Beauties I've seen photos of. I see nothing to identify when this one was made, and I've heard rumors that Gillette may have stopped date coding the SAs at some point, but thought that was in the later years and the knurling on this is like my older Super Adjustables. Anyone have any thoughts?
03FDE231-4BEE-45F2-8FBE-836F1F85CAB1.jpeg
42FB0A25-C3CA-43B9-85FB-952529E4A209.jpeg63D47D2D-5B4C-4C1B-8FD3-ECDF57A86AAD.jpeg75B362F7-83B4-44FB-8A84-8DB956B7ED4A.jpeg
3EBE9EC7-E443-4184-855C-EF02033D1A00.jpeg
 
Stopped a local thrift shop and ran across a nylon base plate Super Adjustable 109 "Black Beauty" and picked it up to replace an O1 SA 109 that broke at the crimping (still works, but drop handle). The last quarter turn is as silky smooth as my Fatboys and Slims, and the crusty old soap cleaned up well and the handle is good and black--I may transplant the doors from my broken SA 109 as they are nicer, but these aren't bad at all very usable. What I need help with is date coding it. My O1 SA 109 and my O1 SA 84 both have the metal base plate and it's easy to find the date code on the bottom, but other than a single "2" stamped on the bottom of the black nylon plate, there is no date codes on the Nylon, OR stamped into the metal part of the blade tray inside the razor (photos attached) like other Black Beauties I've seen photos of. I see nothing to identify when this one was made, and I've heard rumors that Gillette may have stopped date coding the SAs at some point, but thought that was in the later years and the knurling on this is like my older Super Adjustables. Anyone have any thoughts?
View attachment 1149197View attachment 1149198View attachment 1149199View attachment 1149200View attachment 1149201
I always thought they were inside the blade tray, that's really odd!
 
Yesterday after a long break, I stopped by a small flea market in a little town that I was doing some work in. As I was walking out the door, after not finding anything, the nice lady behind the counter asking if I was looking for anything in particular. I told her I was looking for razors. She said she knew a barber wanting to sell his 30 year collection of barber stuff. She said, if I was interested, leave my number and she would have him call me. Not thinking anything would come of it, I left my number. About 10 minutes later, my phone rang. After a short conversation, I turned around. In the back room of his shop, he had several tubs of stuff. He let go through them and pick out what I wanted. The problem is, his collecting and my collecting are two different things. He had a lot of stuff but a lot of it was old scissors, shears, and rusted straight razors. But I was able to find a few diamonds in the rough. Sorry about rambling, here's some of what I brought home.

2020-09-02 16.48.28.jpg


I didn't include the Single Edge razors and another display of 20 packs of Blue Blades just like the one in the picture.
 
Here's a question for the experts. Is this a correct set with the 1918 Bulldog or should it have the 1913 Single Ring?
 

Attachments

  • 2020-09-02 16.48.28-2.jpg
    2020-09-02 16.48.28-2.jpg
    601.9 KB · Views: 15
  • 2020-09-02 16.42.05-2.jpg
    2020-09-02 16.42.05-2.jpg
    180.6 KB · Views: 13
Last edited:
R

romsitsa

Nice catch. The Combination set is a No 17 Bulldog combination set, it has a pocket for the metal mirror and cardboard boxes. A 1913 No 00 would have metal blade cases, no pocket behind the liner and no MiUSA in the emblem.
 
Yesterday after a long break, I stopped by a small flea market in a little town that I was doing some work in. As I was walking out the door, after not finding anything, the nice lady behind the counter asking if I was looking for anything in particular. I told her I was looking for razors. She said she knew a barber wanting to sell his 30 year collection of barber stuff. She said, if I was interested, leave my number and she would have him call me. Not thinking anything would come of it, I left my number. About 10 minutes later, my phone rang. After a short conversation, I turned around. In the back room of his shop, he had several tubs of stuff. He let go through them and pick out what I wanted. The problem is, his collecting and my collecting are two different things. He had a lot of stuff but a lot of it was old scissors, shears, and rusted straight razors. But I was able to find a few diamonds in the rough. Sorry about rambling, here's some of what I brought home.

View attachment 1149411

I didn't include the Single Edge razors and another display of 20 packs of Blue Blades just like the one in the picture.


Well done... That Traveller Bulldog alone is worth the whole thing!
 
Thank you Adam. This was pure luck, I haven't been in a flea market or antique shop in at least a year. One day I just turned off the switch, then Tuesday I had a feeling I should stop in.

I'm sure you'll find what you want someday, if I recall, you've been pretty lucky yourself. 😉
 
Top Bottom