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1928 Gillette New Improved de luxe model (“Hermann Köhl” engraved type)

R

romsitsa

Wonder why they list it as Mussolinis razor, judging from the photo it could be anyones Deluxe set.
But it's also perfectly possible that they managed to take a photo omitting every engraving related to the duce.
 
Just to finalize the theory on this being Benito Mussolini’s razor:

I contacted Woodson Research Center in Texas which alledgedly holds the Gillette razor of Benito Mussolini as part of the John H. Wright U.S. Civil War and related ephemera collection, 1838-1936 MS 061:
https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/rice

They kindly responded that they do still hold the razor and even supplied a picture (below). Very interestingly it seems to be an identical razor…

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The Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany until about the mid twenties. Until 1929, the German economy was booming for a few years after paying off war debt, then the depression hit. A lot of US money was tied into Germany before the crash.

In 1928, things were still going well. I can’t locate any relatively known Germans with the initials BM. I have not conducted an extensive research on the matter, but just looking at the odds, we should find a known native to Munich or Germany in general at the time that would have put down about $1200.00 in today’s dollars on that razor. Gillette razors had been around for about a quarter century at that point. I really think this was a status purchase. They were still selling Old Types because people didn’t want to put down extra cash for the new razors.

If you contact the seller and work your way back, I think it’s possible the family of the original owner, if he was German, could be ascertained. I’d be willing to bet it was still in the hands of that family within the last 15 years.

Maybe if the family wasn’t related to the first owner, they might have a funny story to tell about an expensive travel razor being swiped at a Munich hotel in the late 30s. Unlikely but still remotely possible.

Weird things happen. I own a numbers matching 1918 DWM Luger P08. It escaped confiscation after WW1. It eventually was a WW2 war capture and ended up being brought over to the United States to the state of Texas by a member of the US Navy. His wife sold the P08 after his death to a Texas FFL dealer and I obtained it within about a year of this. My first question was how a member of the US Navy got it. There was no answer. I like to think it was maybe lost in a card game aboard one of the ships bringing US Army Troops back, but I’ll never know.
 
I did contact seller but sadly he could not bring anthing more, knew nothing about the razor’s background. I have been thinking to ask the Woodson people if they could post a photo of the engraving of the initials, in order to see if the used font and design is the same.

Still, this may go down in history as an unsolved mystery.

Thanks a lot for your detective effort :thumbup1:
 
Well, at least you know what it's not and you've put together a bit of a story of your own. Since all of mine have come from flea markets or antique shops and I've never met the sellers, the only stories I have are of where I found them. Like the ones I found in Paris while my wife and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary. I'll never forget when I found a Toggle in the bottom of a shoe box with a $2 tag on it or the feeling I had when I saw a Double Ring laying on a table with 2.00 scribbled on the cap, and so on. That would be a great story though if it were the razor of that Italian guy.

P.S. Let me know if they want to do a PIF of that Deluxe set. I'm in! :001_302:
 
Well, at least you know what it's not and you've put together a bit of a story of your own. Since all of mine have come from flea markets or antique shops and I've never met the sellers, the only stories I have are of where I found them. Like the ones I found in Paris while my wife and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary. I'll never forget when I found a Toggle in the bottom of a shoe box with a $2 tag on it or the feeling I had when I saw a Double Ring laying on a table with 2.00 scribbled on the cap, and so on. That would be a great story though if it were the razor of that Italian guy.

P.S. Let me know if they want to do a PIF of that Deluxe set. I'm in! :001_302:
Two-dollar Toggle was always one of my fondest antiquing hopes, but it never materialized. Best I could do was find a Darwin Deluxe in its coffin case listed at $35. I bought it, of course.
 
Two-dollar Toggle was always one of my fondest antiquing hopes, but it never materialized. Best I could do was find a Darwin Deluxe in its coffin case listed at $35. I bought it, of course.

That would definitely get my adrenaline flowing also.
 
Ok guys, enough already. Those of us who joined late are bummed out by your crazy wild finds like that :001_tt1::drool::crying::cryin:
The best I can recollect is a 5 buck Fatboy. No case. Not a crazy wild find but I could hardly keep my composure as I offered the 5'er and the seller eagerly accepted.
 
Greetings, this is the first time I post something, this is mine, I think the engraving is identical, I found it in 2016 Mexico in a flea market, I took these photos a long time ago, I will take new ones more in detail and with better quality to upload
I have no LNM information
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Greetings, this is the first time I post something, this is mine, I think the engraving is identical, I found it in 2016 Mexico in a flea market, I took these photos a long time ago, I will take new ones more in detail and with better quality to upload
I have no LNM information
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Beautiful razor and case. Thanks for sharing. Finding a razor like that in a flea market is the stuff that dreams are made of.
 
Wow, thanks so much for sharing. The full package!! Does it even still hold the brush and maybe soap?

You must have almost wet yourself when you saw it sitting there :001_wub:
 
Wow, thanks so much for sharing. The full package!! Does it even still hold the brush and maybe soap?

You must have almost wet yourself when you saw it sitting there :001_wub:
I felt very excited, it only cost 1000 pesos (about 50 dollars) almost immediately I felt panic, I had gone out for a walk, without money or cell phone, I did not think I would find a jewel, I tried to stay calm while running for my wallet, getting used to the idea that he would only have the pleasure of having seen it and would not find it when he returned.
It didn't have a brush or soap, and I didn't get any information about the former owner.
 
I felt very excited, it only cost 1000 pesos (about 50 dollars) almost immediately I felt panic, I had gone out for a walk, without money or cell phone, I did not think I would find a jewel, I tried to stay calm while running for my wallet, getting used to the idea that he would only have the pleasure of having seen it and would not find it when he returned.
It didn't have a brush or soap, and I didn't get any information about the former owner.
At 1,000 pesos/$50 USD, the razor and case were a bargain. Enjoy it and let us know if you shave with it.
 
Some recent photos and a video where it is much better appreciated
 

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In April of 1928 German airplane pilot Hermann Köhl became the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, i.e. from Europe to the US. This remarkable feat was achieved less than a year after Charles Lindbergh had done the same journey but in the opposite direction west to east.

As part of his welcoming in the US Hermann Köhl was given a welcoming parade and at the same time presented with a beautiful richly engraved Gillette razor set with his monogram. This gorgeous full set, based on the Gillette New Improved razor model, is pictured in the mr-razor Gillette encyclopedia and it is pictured below.

Now, after almost 100 years, at long last a similar razor has surfaced - an identical(?) golden hued Gillette New Improved de luxe model with intricate engravings. Along with it came a matching engraved bladebank, and even with the case and other paraphernalia missing it is still a remarkable piece.

Both razor and bladebank is engraved “B.M.”, and initially judging from the seller pics the rich engravings appear to be very like (or identical to) the Hermann Köhl set engravings. And the full appearance is remarkably akin to the engraved New President offered 2 years later by Gillette in gold and silver versions.

Even the internet has no further info on this model, and I have never seen one before. But hopefully some others here can shed more light on this fascinating model?

Currently inbound, so only seller pics are available and shown here. But when received I will post better pictures.

Enjoy!

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The 1930 New President
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Greetings, if it is not indiscretion, what was the final amount of the auction?
 
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