Probak with a slim NEW handle

[gearchow]

I just got this today and seeing as GentsInstinct posted about this very type of Probak, I thought I would share this:

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Compare to a gold slim NEW handle:

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The interesting thing is, it's not the complete slim handle from a NEW. The threaded flared end is larger. Whether the case is original or not, I don't know. It's a pretty green case though!

-jim

 

[GentsInstinct]

That's the one that was on Ebay that prompted me to start the other thread, I believe. Interesting. Too bad we can't date Probak like we can Gillette. I'm noticing the studs on there are like the studs on a Gillette Goodwill.

 

[gearchow]

They are very interesting razors. An earlier one I bought - and I think earlier made because of the different handle - but strictly a guess - has a different base plate. They do seem Goodwill-ish, but the Probak pat. numbers look like they were cast and not stamped. The writing is raised not inset.

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-jim

 

[GentsInstinct]

They are very interesting razors. An earlier one I bought - and I think earlier made because of the different handle - but strictly a guess - has a different base plate. They do seem Goodwill-ish, but the Probak pat. numbers look like they were cast and not stamped. The writing is raised not inset.

View attachment 116981

-jim

Yes, that's a pre-Bought-by-Gillette Probak handle.

 

[howardshort]

I have a Proback that came NOS from a closed pharmacy (yeah right!).
Its in very good condition and in the original box (cardboard) with blades. The box is printed with the price $1.00 which jives with the info below. The handle is different and not gillette-like at all, the same as gearchow's older one. I have read that after gillette bought out Proback there was a transition period of frankerazors so the newer probak may not be an after market fabrication but a rare transition razor. I use mine regularly and it is in my top rotation. If you see one, grab it, they work with modern blades and shave great.


1930, the year in
which, in some fundamental way, Gillette imploded. Auto Strop, a
much smaller competitor led by inventor Henry Gaisman, cleverly
wedded patent and trademark law in an effort to lock-in the blade
aftermarket and introduced a new blade and blade format that was
backwards compatible with the existing stock of Gillette razors.
Gillette responded by introducing a new razor, a new blade, a new
blade format and a new top price of $1. But, as the new razor
blades themselves made painfully clear—“patents pending”—
Gillette had not secured its patent position at the time of the
launch, and Gillette immediately found itself on the defensive
when Auto Strop filed a patent infringement action alleging that
the new razors and blades violated Auto Strop’s patents.