Nickel NEWs and variants - help me decide which is which

[cpool222]

The pictures are found in my B&B Gallery. Hopefully this link will get you there: http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=3&userid=22198 If not, go to the Gallery link and find me under cpool222. The first 7 pictures have these razors. I'm calling them "nickel", but I'm not sure if these were nickel or silver plated, hoping some of you experts can tell us. The first four are (obviously ) the uncased ones. The one in the middle is the only one of these that I'm almost sure is a pure Gillette as it has the feel and appearance of a slim "bar handled" NEW, but the head is that of the typical Old Type razor, so I'm not sure if it's a Frankenrazor or if some of these early Nickel NEWs had the Old Type head or not (it is marked Gillette). The razor on the left has an appearance similar to the middle one, but the two stripes around the handle are much deeper into the knurling than the one in the middle and all other NEWs I've had. Also, as you see here, the smooth part at the bottom of the handle is shorter than the middle NEW handle. It also has an "Old Type" head marked Gillette, so, again, not sure if it is a Frankenrazor put together by someone or an odd Gillette NEW. The one on the right is not marked Gillette, but has no other brand or markings at all. It looks like Probak razors I've seen, and is definitely one that was made to look like the NEW model Gillette, but has distinct differences as the pictures show.
Next is the three cased ones. The one on the top right in the "Red & Black" case is a Gillette NEW that was gold plated that I had replated in nickel by our own Onotoman. The one on the top left is, I believe, a true Nickel NEW by Gillette from top to bottom in the metal Gillette case. The one on the bottom has a bonafide nickel NEW handle (I didn't have it replated). It has the slightly different handle with a smooth part of the handle above the knurling that a minority of the NEWs have, but it also has an "Old-Type" Gillette head, so Frankenrazor or not? I don't know. So, any definitive help on "what's what" here will be appreciated. Thanks,
Cleave

 

[DrAwkward]

Not entirely sure what you are asking. The Frankenrazor (NEW bar handle with Old-Type head) is surprisingly common. The Old-Type handles were always cracking, so apparently Gillette sold a bunch of them in the late 1920s and 1930s with the bar handle. I have one and I have seen tons of them on the 'Bay.
Most NEWs made in the USA had a thin plating of gold. According to Mr. Razor, some of them were plated in Chrome (aka Chromium).
http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/The NEW/The NEW.htm

 

[cpool222]

Thanks, I was referring to the difference in the "Old-Type" heads with the two "bullets" sticking down that you see in some of my NEWs as compared to the NEW type heads as in your pictures that don't have the two bullets sticking down through the bottom of the head. Only a couple in my pictures have the "NEW" heads without the bullets, so I was wondering if someone had just put those heads with those handles and they didn't really come that way.

 

[DrAwkward]

Thanks, I was referring to the difference in the "Old-Type" heads with the two "bullets" sticking down that you see in some of my NEWs as compared to the NEW type heads as in your pictures that don't have the two bullets sticking down through the bottom of the head. Only a couple in my pictures have the "NEW" heads without the bullets, so I was wondering if someone had just put those heads with those handles and they didn't really come that way.

In my opinion, there are too many of those hybrid frankenrazors for all of them to be mix & match jobs by users. As I mentioned earlier, I think Gillette sold off its remaining Old Type heads with bar handles due to the fact that the ball end old type (i.e., "Brownie") handles cracked so often.
Maybe we could get Porter / MacDaddy to weigh in on this question ...

 

[mblakele]

It sounds like you have it figured out: bullets with a curved plate mean Old Type, and bullets with a flat plate are New Improved. Most of your photos look like Old Type to me.

The old Gillette handles had a tendency to crack or split, so gents would sometimes replace the handle with whatever was available. Another common combination is a Tech handle with a NEW or Old Type head.

 

[MacDaddy]

In my opinion, there are too many of those hybrid frankenrazors for all of them to be mix & match jobs by users. As I mentioned earlier, I think Gillette sold off its remaining Old Type heads with bar handles due to the fact that the ball end old type (i.e., "Brownie") handles cracked so often.

I tend to doubt this. All the evidence that I'm aware of points the bar handles as having been a later development in the NEW's life cycle. I don't think we start seeing the bar handles until the middle part of the '30s, IIRC. I think the Goodwill razors were really Gillette's primary way of using up the Old Type stock after the NEW was released. That way they could not only use up the old stock, but also tie those folks to their NEW blades.

Cleave, I think I pretty well agree with your assessment of your pieces there. I don't think that the two outer handles in this shot are Gillettes, but the center one almost definitely is:

And I think the set in the upper left is probably a good, original one. I've seen at least a couple of other examples of that same case with the same nickel NEW in it. The lower one is almost certainly a frankenset -- case from a No. 460B set (probably later part of 1910s), head from a post-patent ball-end Old Type ('20s), and DeLuxe-style bar handle from a later NEW (probably backside of the mid '30s).

 

[cpool222]

MacDaddy, do you have any ideas about what the razor on the right in the top picture could be, or the handle of the one on the left in the same pic (ones without cases). Thanks,
Cleave

 

[alex2363]

MacDaddy, do you have any ideas about what the razor on the right in the top picture could be, or the handle of the one on the left in the same pic (ones without cases). Thanks,
Cleave

You guys pretty much nailed the identification and theories. The last razor may be hard to identify since there were hundreds of thousands that had that design on the handle. Without a case or point of origin sale it would be difficult to pin point. With the stripes is has a resemblance to the Big Ben razor handle from England to some extent.

 

[MacDaddy]

MacDaddy, do you have any ideas about what the razor on the right in the top picture could be, or the handle of the one on the left in the same pic (ones without cases). Thanks,
Cleave

Sorry, but no. I don't have even any guesses for those. I'd swear that I've seen more than a couple of handles similar to the one on the left, but I can't remember them ever being matched to anything that had useful markings on it. We'll just have to keep looking, I'm afraid.

 

[cpool222]

Thanks, guys, I appreciate your help. If anyone finds any like them, please let me know. Thanks,
Cleave

 

[alex2363]

Thanks, guys, I appreciate your help. If anyone finds any like them, please let me know. Thanks,
Cleave

I have been looking in the Waits and no luck yet.

 

[cpool222]

Alex and MacDaddy, thanks again for looking. If you find any like them, please let me know.
Cleave