Gillette Black Handle razor aka super speed

[D.B. Rieley]

Today I drove past an antique store and had to stop in and look around. Then out of nowhere i spotted a black handled Gillette TTO razor. It has a black handle with a chrome flared end that twists to open the blade compartment. I Bought it for a whopping 1.50. After getting it home I scrubbed it with a Dawn dish detergent and water with an old toothbrush, soaked the head in Barbicide, then, after it dried I lightly brillo'd the tarnish off of the head and polished it heavily with MAAS polish. It is now clean and shiny, almost new.
Then I wiped it with alcohol and put in a new Derby blade and shaved with it. All I can say is Wow! What a difference the Gillette is compared to My Parker. There is no comparison. The Gillette felt flimsy beside my parker, but I found the Gillette gave a smoother shave with almost no irritation. My Parker for some reason seems to make my skin red in the chin area, just below the corners of my bottom lip , that area turns red and feels awful. My Gillette did not do that. I wonder why that is?
I was totally blown away by my new ( to me) Gillette. It was way above what I expected. I am now going to have to acquire some more Gillettes

 

[baba]

The Superspeed's are hard to beat. Amazing shavers, and how could you beat that price?!

Congrats!!!

I have a variety of razors but I always come back to my Superspeed, it is without a doubt the smoothest razor I own.

 

[moonshine44]

Super Speeds are great shavers. The only thing I like better is my Slim...

Caution: It sounds like the AD's may be setting in. Prepare to sacrifice your wallet...

Welcome!

 

[Straight Arrow]

I have found that any and every SuperSpeed shaves me great. One word of caution; avoid using a Brillo pad when cleaning razors. Much too harsh.

 

[Mulligan]

I likewise found a black-handled Superspeed for a very low price from a local merchant. After a little polish, it shaved like a dream. In fact, it was my very first DE! Not bad.

 

[Omnichron]

pictures please

 

[my19]

The only problem with Super Speeds is there so many varieties and I want 'em all! I've got an undated SS, but it's not the original '47 model, so I need that. I have the birth-year SS, but it's not the right quarter of the year. And when I find that, I'll need one in the original metal and one with a black tip. Then there's the red tip, the blue tip, the flare, the black handle ... and all the different variations in those subgroups.

You could have a powerful case of RAD collecting just one Gillette model!

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Today I drove past an antique store and had to stop in and look around. Then out of nowhere i spotted a black handled Gillette TTO razor. It has a black handle with a chrome flared end that twists to open the blade compartment. I Bought it for a whopping 1.50. After getting it home I scrubbed it with a Dawn dish detergent and water with an old toothbrush, soaked the head in Barbicide, then, after it dried I lightly brillo'd the tarnish off of the head and polished it heavily with MAAS polish. It is now clean and shiny, almost new.
Then I wiped it with alcohol and put in a new Derby blade and shaved with it. All I can say is Wow! What a difference the Gillette is compared to My Parker. There is no comparison. The Gillette felt flimsy beside my parker, but I found the Gillette gave a smoother shave with almost no irritation. My Parker for some reason seems to make my skin red in the chin area, just below the corners of my bottom lip , that area turns red and feels awful. My Gillette did not do that. I wonder why that is?
I was totally blown away by my new ( to me) Gillette. It was way above what I expected. I am now going to have to acquire some more Gillettes

Best buck and a half you'll ever spend. Take a look under the head where the handle attaches and you should see a letter stamep on the left side and a number on the right. That will tell you what year and quarter it was made in, if that's important to you.

 

[Mr_Marbles]

Congrats on a great find!