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Can you help me date my Gillette Brush?

Hi, I got this brush in a shaving kit that also contained an Eclipse Red Ring (sadly cracked). It was made by Gillette after 1939, which was the patent date, and Gillette kept that logo until 1964, but I haven't got any closer than that to identify when it was made. Looking at the style I'd say 50's/60s but if you can help me I'd be very grateful.

In case the photo isn't clear enough it says :

Sterilised Bristle and Hair
A
Gillette logo with arrow in a diamond shape
Pat. No. 524281
Made in England

It also once had Gillette painted on to the white plastic

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I've given it a good clean and sterilised it, and it's still a great little brush for face lathering!
 
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The patent should have expired in the late 1950s or early 1960s, so I think you are on the right track.

I would not expect the A to be a Gilltte date code, but stranger things have happened.
 
I looked up the patent: GB524281A issued 1940-08-02. The application was in 1939, but the number 524281 would not have been used until 1940-08-02. Either way I doubt it was made during the war, unless it was for a military contract. Barring evidence of that I would push the earliest date to ca. 1945, but that could be wrong.

The patent was taken by "T W CULMER & SONS LTD", not Gillette UK. Culmer seems to have been a contract manufacturer, active from at least 1917. According to http://www.suffolkpainters.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1410 this company became Culmak.

CULMER, Alban Russell
1882 - 1970
Born at Islington, London on 20 April 1882, son of Thomas William Culmer, wholesale artist brush maker, and his wife Eliza Robertson G. née Kennedy, who married at Islington in 1879. In 1901 Alban was a 18 year old artist brush maker, living at 2 Woodview Villa, Archway Road, Hornsey, Middlesex with his parents, 49 year old Thomas and 44 year old Eliza and six siblings but by 1911 they had moved to Ashington Hall, Ashington, Essex. The family firm was Culmak Ltd., which moved to Woodbridge, Suffolk in 1920. A member and exhibitor at the Ipswich Art Club 1946-1969. During the 1960's the company, now one of the largest shaving brush manufacturers in England, was sold to Addis Ltd., and moved to Hertford. Alban married Gladwys Barnes and they had four children. He died in the Samford district of Suffolk in 1970.

That makes sense: your brush reminded me of a Culmak Spartan, and http://www.culmak.co.uk/about_us.htm verifies the connection. So it seems probably that your brush was made by Culmer or Culmak under contract for Gillette. There is some good discussion of Culmak at http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/194360-Culmak-brushes-please

None of this helps place the brush very closely: ca. 1945-60 at a guess. The A might mean 1955, but I am not sure if we have seen letter codes on Gillette brushes before, or on items made under contract. The Culmak web page has contact info, so you could ask if someone there knows when they made brushes for Gillette, or recognizes the style of yours. That was a long time ago in corporate terms, but I hope someone can help.
 
That's really helpful, I was feeling smug that I'd looked up the patent date and just assumed it would be Gillette's patent...
 
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