I have a 1952 (X1) Super Speed with nothing on it but the Gillette logo and X1 on the underside. No patent stamps or "made in" on it. Handle is SS, not Rocket. End caps are not the pointed Brit style. So it walks and talks like a U.S. Super Speed but has no country of manufacture on it. I bought it in a Canadian antiques store for five bucks. It is the same as the '51 on the Mr. Razor site. Did Canada ever manufacture Super Speeds for their own market? This seems to be a mystery. Has anyone got to the bottom of it yet?
Made in Canada Super Speeds?
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Pictures might help us out.
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I did try that but my camera stinks. It is just like the '51 on the Mr. Razor site. Same conundrum for him as he claims to have seen many of these in red "Rocket" cases. I had an Old Type made in Canada and still have a FH Tech made in Canada but these are both clearly marked. The English Rockets sold in Canada are different razors and are marked "Made in England". So I'm wondering if Canada ever produced Supers like they did for Techs and Old Types. Any thoughts?
Those are a bit of a puzzlement. As far as I know Canada never made any TTO razors. The bottom of the Canadian Rocket case that Achim's got with his says that the razor was made in England, even though the razor itself doesn't bear any "Made in..." marking and, like you describe yours, is in the American Super Speed style rather than the British.
It would seem to me that if they went through all the work of tooling the Canadian plant up to be able to make TTOs we'd see way more evidence of that than we do, so I don't think it's very likely that these unmarked razors were made in Canada. However, it also seems rather strange that they might have been made in England in the American style and then not marked with an origin at all. Beyond the endcaps, the one that Achim's got seems to be missing the patent stamping but does have a date code.
I can't really come up with much of a good answer for them...
It would seem to me that if they went through all the work of tooling the Canadian plant up to be able to make TTOs we'd see way more evidence of that than we do, so I don't think it's very likely that these unmarked razors were made in Canada. However, it also seems rather strange that they might have been made in England in the American style and then not marked with an origin at all. Beyond the endcaps, the one that Achim's got seems to be missing the patent stamping but does have a date code.
I can't really come up with much of a good answer for them...
Those are a bit of a puzzlement. As far as I know Canada never made any TTO razors. The bottom of the Canadian Rocket case that Achim's got with his says that the razor was made in England, even though the razor itself doesn't bear any "Made in..." marking and, like you describe yours, is in the American Super Speed style rather than the British.
It would seem to me that if they went through all the work of tooling the Canadian plant up to be able to make TTOs we'd see way more evidence of that than we do, so I don't think it's very likely that these unmarked razors were made in Canada. However, it also seems rather strange that they might have been made in England in the American style and then not marked with an origin at all. Beyond the endcaps, the one that Achim's got seems to be missing the patent stamping but does have a date code.
I can't really come up with much of a good answer for them...
I think you are right Porter. The only thing I can add is that I have found probably close to 20 Rockets at antique shops all over Canada, many of them with the red Rocket case. The razors are always Made in England. I have found many other TTO's around Canada (Milords etc) and have never found a Made in Canada one.
Cheers.
Would this be considered a rare and valuable
Super speed
Super speed
Now Alex...
But really, it's only really valuable if there are people who want to buy it and are willing to pay a lot of money for it. Not knowing what exactly these are will probably hurt things there a little bit. For all we know these are just American Super Speeds that escaped being stamped properly and made their way north of the border -- maybe dodging the draft.
Even so, you could probably find someone looking to collect "errors and oddities" who'd want to buy it at something of a premium over a standard Super Speed, but I wouldn't quit my day job if I found one.
But really, it's only really valuable if there are people who want to buy it and are willing to pay a lot of money for it. Not knowing what exactly these are will probably hurt things there a little bit. For all we know these are just American Super Speeds that escaped being stamped properly and made their way north of the border -- maybe dodging the draft.
Even so, you could probably find someone looking to collect "errors and oddities" who'd want to buy it at something of a premium over a standard Super Speed, but I wouldn't quit my day job if I found one.
Canadians had no need of a razor factory, it's well known that we shave with two-men saw and lumberjack axes.
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