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Collectors. Bet you've not seen one of these before...

Legion

Staff member
I was going through my boxes looking at some cool old stuff I'd forgotten about, and was reminded of this.

Looks like a tatty old single ring, right?

Well yeah, it is. BUT open the box and you might notice something a bit unusual. Firstly, the Gillette badge is stuck on patch, like on an ABC set. That's odd, but then, look closely and squint your eyes, underneath that is the words Made in England, and the remains of the Australian coat of arms. It's faint, but it's there. The back of the box is a bit different too.

So, what do you think? An England made, Aussie Gillette, with ABC ties? I've never seen another, not even on Achim's site.

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EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
Very nice! I am certainly no expert here but could it be that some patriotic Australian has modified or added embellishments to a regular case? Just a guess, I have no idea really 😄
 

Legion

Staff member
Not exactly the coat of arms but the emblem of W Jno Baker Ltd., the Australian importer of the British company.
For eg.: https://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/The NEW/1930s Milady Decolletee England.JPG

The ribbon was not a pocket set exclusive, all sets were marked that way during the 1910s.
That's interesting. Jno Baker also had their own personalised straight razors they sold in store from Cadman, and I think others.

It's too worn to see, but I wonder if the coat of arms on mine is the Jno Baker one.
 
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Legion

Staff member
They did sell a personalised Bostonian, but the inside of the box looks more like that Milady. But I reckon that this is the most likely explanation. It is an earlier packaging customisation for an Australian store.

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Legion

Staff member
Are there any other stores around the world that Gillette personalised the packaging for, that we know of?
 
R

romsitsa

Most notably Kirby Beard, E.F. Grell Hamburg and M.E. Meyer. There were also tons of "complientary" sets for several companies in the Brownie range, hotel "welcome" sets.
 

Legion

Staff member
Most notably Kirby Beard, E.F. Grell Hamburg and M.E. Meyer. There were also tons of "complientary" sets for several companies in the Brownie range, hotel "welcome" sets.
I’d like to see any of those if anyone has one.

That would be a niche collection within a collection. Store branded Gillettes.

For a while I was collecting store branded straights.
 
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