1940s Super Speed

[Frank Shaves]

I bought a Super Speed and a Tech at the beginning of my journey, and have always preferred the simplicity of the Tech plus there seems to be more metal resting on my face with the Super Speed.

That said, the Tech is a tad mild for me which is why I bought a Game Changer with a .84 closed combe/safety bar base plate.

 

[BigJ]

Here are some nice pictures to get us all warm and fuzzy about a wonderful line.
The 1941 Ranger Tech

The 1946 Ranger Tech, the new endcaps fitted

The first named Super Speed type, 1947

The lovely 1948 Super Speed (the packaging on these is so evocative)

A 1949 Super Speed, with a new case

The 1950 Super Speed with a great clue for dating models

And a 1954 Flare Tip, the first. This might be your example, @CCS

Or it may have been this 1954 TV special the last possibly before the Flare models

Like a vintage beauty parade!

I certainly love the Tech range, especially the Flat Bottom, which has amazed me with it's performance, but even now I get a great kick from using the TTO loading of the Super Speeds, so cool. It must have been a complete Wow back in 1948, when the Speed Pak and the Super with the notch for hands-free loading came out together.

Super Speeds make me smile.

Lovely comparison!! Makes me wish to get back in my ‘razor accumulation phase!’

 

[tipster_621]

That is interesting. I would like to one day try one of these very interesting Gillette developments. It seems to me that Gillette in 1941, if war had not broken out, would have wedded them to the Tech family. Instead they are the precursor of the Super Speed. I have heard 46' Rangers had old stock 41' heads unused fitted post war, but that's just something I read somewhere.

So how does it shave compared to a Super Speed? Is it more efficient? Any differences in blade gap or exposure you can see?

I heard the 41 Ranger had a centre bar that was not as perfected as the 47 Super Speed, something about rigidity? No end caps also, would this affect the clamping of the blade in the head?

Would that influence the shave for better or worse?

I guess having the end caps added kept the center bar from spreading/separating when the doors were tightened down, but I'm not really sure. I don't know if that made any difference or if the difference lies in some subtle changes in the baseplate and doors.

To me, the '41 RT and the '46/'47 Aristocrat feel milder, and at the same time, more efficient. I don't believe I've ever had any nicks or weepers with either one of them, yet I've had a few with my various Super Speeds. The RT and Aristocrat always seem to give me a nice BBS shave, but I have to work a bit more to get the same result from a Super Speed.

Again, I'm not knocking the Super Speeds.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

I was hoping someone would correct me on the date of my 40s Super Speed since it doesn't have a flat area on the neck. Anyone?

 

[nemo]

I was hoping someone would correct me on the date of my 40s Super Speed since it doesn't have a flat area on the neck. Anyone?

Pre-notched (winged) center bar but with the dip along the safety bar sounds like a late '47 to me.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

Thank you for your opinion.
I was leaning that way too.
I was thinking maybe it was put together using left-over first-gen parts and second-gen parts to complete it. Before the new model came out. Well, I have learned a few things about it anyways. Thank you.

 

[cf1]

40s SS was my first vintage and it is a great smooth shaver. I also had a flairtip and only wanted to keep one so after side by side comparisons the 40s won. So slightly Smoother and just as efficient. I think the flairtip looks a bit better but I went with the shaver that worked better for me. I imagine another flairtip could have felt slightly different given the QC back in the day. Also I do have a red tip that will always have a place in my Den. In the end they are all good!

 

[razorfool]

I guess having the end caps added kept the center bar from spreading/separating when the doors were tightened down, but I'm not really sure. I don't know if that made any difference or if the difference lies in some subtle changes in the baseplate and doors.

To me, the '41 RT and the '46/'47 Aristocrat feel milder, and at the same time, more efficient. I don't believe I've ever had any nicks or weepers with either one of them, yet I've had a few with my various Super Speeds. The RT and Aristocrat always seem to give me a nice BBS shave, but I have to work a bit more to get the same result from a Super Speed.

Again, I'm not knocking the Super Speeds.

I totally agree with your assessment! In addition to the razors you listed, I would add the 47 Aristocrat Junior, and the 46 Ranger tech. These all appear to have the same configuration baseplate, with varying degrees of info stamping on the undersides. All great razors and the Superspeed is a very close 2nd placer. All capable of satisfying shave results.

 

[Hair Scraper]

I get very good results with a late 40's Super Speed I have. I just picked up another late 40's, and a '50 Super Speed yesterday. Pricewise the '40's model was $4 and the '50 was $14. But, the '50 came in a red '58 TV Special case. The case was obviously mismatched to the razor, (obvious to most people here knowledgeable about Gillette's,) but I now have a case for my '58 TV Special Super Speed.