Grandaddy Trusty's Shaving Supplies

[Coste]

My Mom came through for me and brought me my Grandaddy's shaving supplies. I had only seen pictures up until last night.


The following razors were in the shaving case:

• 1972 Gillette Black Handle Super Speed,
• 1955 Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed (was painted black by somebody),
• American Safety Razor Co. Inc. "Ever Ready" SE Razor
• Vintage Pat. 1912 VALET Auto Strop Safety Razor

How can I tell the year of the last two razors? I know next to nothing about SE razors.

I attached a few pictures.

 

[jbradley]

I'll defer to Tom on this, he is the SE expert. I like the brushes though. Heck, I like the whole set up. The box they are in is just cool.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Thanks Johnnie, but not really an expert at all.

Coste, the Ever-Ready was made between 1914 and 1920 or so, around 1920 they went to a different handle and bigger/better blade stops. They didn't put any kind of date code or serial number on each individual razor so it's impossible to narrow it down to a specific year. That is a great razor and has been nick named the Little Lather Catcher. You can get blades for this at most Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS drugstores.

The Valet was made from 1928-1935 and like the ER Valet didn't individually mark each razor. That one used a proprietary blade made by Valet that had cutouts that lined up with the pins in the loading gate. The only other blades that work in it are Feathers available from www.razorbladesandmore.com

Great family heirlooms you have there.

Here's an ad from a 1916 Cosmopolitan magazine for the ER.

And one of my sets.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Awesome Collection!

 

[BBrad]

Very nice! Extra special having your grandfather's shave den! (I'm assuming those are his initials on the box lid?)

 

[windrider]

You are a lucky man. Priceless!

 

[Coste]

Thanks for the information. I shared it with my Mom and she was amazed at how old the two SE's are.

My grandfather is Louis Buel Trusty. Yep, those are his initials. It appears that a mirror once sat in the frame on the door. When I get my inheritance, I will get a piece of glass custom-made for it. It is made to be mounted to the wall and it will be one day. My Mom is keeping it for now, but knows it is mine when the time is right.

I wet one of the brushes and immediately the room filled with the smell of shaving cream that I can vaguely remember being "his". This brush hadn't seen water since 1986. The two Gillette razors are shave-ready. I will put a new blade in them and shave tomorrow with one and Sunday with the other before my Mom leaves for home.

 

[retrolike]

I love the brushes...so so cool!

 

[ironfist]

Nice stuff you have

My grandad was in the other day, showed him my razors, he said he had a few of them back in the day but got rid of them, sad times =[

 

[itsmedave]

That's a true gift you got there. I'd give anything to have had my granddad's old razors. When I did a lot of hunting for old razors, I always thought that someones grandfather or father used this and it did the job for them. I always used great care in cleaning them because I was holding history in my hands. You are holding more than just history in your hands, you're holding FAMILY history in your hands.

 

[Artistik]

I know you hated it when Mom took that prize back home with her. Hopefully it will return to you soon. I would have those brushes restored with new knots. The handles are awesome and they were held many time by your Grandpa.





I created a monster!

 

[cosmicdoom]

I have my grandpas slim and 40's superspeed. When I told him I had been shaving with safety razors he asked me why the **** I would want to do that, and then dug around and found his razors for me.

 

[bcraig.waciii]

I am still waiting on my Grandfather's small collection of safety razors and his Dopp kit. My dad has no use for them, and is going to give them to me soon. I hope.

 

[The Kiwi]

Well, the only one of the two that I knew. My paternal Grandfather passed away while I was quite tiny, and I have heard no stories about his shaving habits. The Old Man had seven German straights from Solingen, with the days of the week engraved on them.

I had no reason to wonder where those went when he died, or if my Uncle got them, if he held onto them after the Old Man was gone.

There were more "black handle" Super Speed Flare Tips than nickel plated ones. They were produced over a longer period of time, and the date codes started over again.