ERS4
My exploding razor knows secrets
After several twists and turns in searching, and even dreaming about it... I finally got this Gillette token "elephant version", and its story is even more interesting!
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Many people regard Gillette as a representative of capitalism for "binding consumers with special, expensive blade consumables."
In fact, the founder, King Camp Gillette, is an active Utopian socialist; not only does he hate capitalism, but he has also published several related books:
"The Human Drift" (1894).
"The Ballot Box" (1897).
"World Corporation" (1910).
"The People's Corporation" (1924).
He believes that he launched the razor to combat the monopoly and class sense of the traditional barber industry, so that everyone can shave. By the way, according to Gillette brand historian Greg McCoy, his book didn’t sell well XDDDDD
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In Mr. Gillette's vision, the United States would be consolidated into a giant single company, absorbing all businesses vertically.
People are all shareholders and perform their own duties. Everyone lives equally in the "metropolis" of the city powered by Niagara Falls; they live in gear-shaped buildings, enjoy the same sunlight rights, have only bicycles as private transportation, and go to large public cafeterias. Meals, no more money... Once this company is strong enough, it will take over governments around the world.
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------What does it have to do with this advertising token? ------
The ambitious Mr. Gillette hopes that President "Theodore Roosevelt" will serve as the president of this dream company, and also offers a reward of one million US dollars; he also attempts to find the automobile giant "Henry Ford" to participate in his vision--of course, they are all like They refused like any normal person, and the meeting between Gillette and Ford even ended with them yelling at each other. (The city in your mind doesn’t even have cars, so how could a car dealer want to invest in it!)
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In order to win over Roosevelt, this advertising coin specifically suppressed the "elephant" head and butt representing the Republican Party "G.O.P." on the front and back of the coin. Now we are witnessing that absurd and ironic history.
The two coins were issued at about the same time, probably between 1905 and 1908.
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The standard version of the Gillette Token I got a few years ago has the familiar Mr. Gillette face on the front and an image of Gillette's single-ring razor on the back.
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------Gillette tokens special display box------
I finally got together a set of two Gillette advertising tokens. Of course I had to display them properly on the cabinet!
I originally wanted to just use the velvet gold coin boxes on the market, but I feel that their designs usually waste space, lack variety in display methods, and the luxurious style does not match antiques.
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It’s better to do it yourself─I made it into a flip-top magnetic wooden box with the word “Gillette” on the front, and painted it with black paint to create the natural wear and tear of hundreds of years of playing; the bottom of the inside was padded with cobalt blue leather brings out the color of red copper. The coins are placed on both sides of the box, protected by sliding transparent sheets to prevent them from falling. They can sit like a clam shell, lie down like a byobu, or hang up for display.
