? about Gillette DE safety razors

[Selig]

Do you know if old DE safety razors Gillette
(particularly open comb models) were definitively all,
etched or stamped, whatever country they were issued ?

I have 2 items looking like "1918 old type" and "Big Fellow", possibly English market, but free from logo or number or anything else.......
Thanks for your help!

 

[gaseousclay]

are you sure they're Gillettes? all Gillettes should have the diamond logo stamped underneath the safety guard. there were quite a few that didn't have serial numbers but they all had the logo. you probably got some knockoff razor meant to look like the old DE's

 

[Pike]

can you post some pics??

 

[mr-razor]

the older razors have no Logo or "Made in..." They have only a SN, most inside the handle, or Patent informations on the handle. Here is a 1908 example:

 

[Blue-EyedSon]

Mr Razor - I'm glad to see you chimed in here. On the basis of some ABC's I have, I wondered if it was correct that all older Gillette's had the diamond imprint logo. The ones that I have lack this logo, which made me think that some of the older Gillettes actually can lack the imprinted diamond logo, but I wasn't sure because the ABCs were made by the American Button Company for Gillette and I didn't know if ones actually made by Gillette were different. So, I'm glad to see you chimed in here to confirm my suspicion that the older Gillettes do not necessarily have the diamond logo.

In response to the original question - I don't think that the older gillettes necessarily were stamped with the country of origin, but there should be a serial number.

 

[Pike]

Good to know....thank you as well for the info...I just dug out my 191X big fellow and it does have the gillette logo...so I was also wondering about the above set. Beautiful set BTW!!!!

cc

 

[Selig]

Pls consider my apologies : I have not cleaned those razors that I ve just got today.
Thanks to B&B wiki about cleaning, I 've already cleaned some recently with some results and should you wish it, I ll post soon some pics of those razors once cleaned.
2 razors look like Gillette ones, the third one I do not know.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Selig]

And here are pics of the box in which the "looks like Big Fellow" is.

 

[T Rick]

Big Fellows were not just fatter, they were longer also. While the standard DE of the day (Old Type Single Ring) measure around 3.25 inches overall, the Big Fellow was around 3.75 inches in length. You can measure the opening in the case also. I've never yet seen this type of case used for Big Fellows, but I am still quite new at this and there is much I have not seen.

All Big Fellows should have a serial number on the head (top of base plate under the cap). Earlier Gillettes (around 1911 and earlier) had the serial numbers on the cylinder of the nut (the part that goes inside the handle tube, as seen in Mr-Razors pic above). The Big Fellows were not introduced until 1919, and switched from the Old Type to the New Improved in 1921 (they made both Old Type and New Improved versions in 1921, I have an example of each). The big Fellows (I am certain the center/right one above is not a Big Fellow) did not use a nut that tapered as above until the New DeLuxe versions, and the taper had different proportions even then.

Check your handles on the smooth portion near the opening for the nut, there should be patent dates there, often quite worn and hard to see. A magnifying glass or Jeweler's Loupe is helpful. These should be on both Big Fellows and Old Type Single Rings.

 

[mr-razor]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like all 3 razors are not Gillette.

 

[Selig]

Many thanks for your interest & answers.
It helps.
(I read some new today post about DE razor addiction syndrome, I should be myself more quiet about that :
start w/ a brand new Parker 89R, 2 months ago, now I'm w/ about 13 used ones, + 5 to be received, and not all tried yet but I wish to.)