the razor pictured is a 1907 model. knowing the company it was probably available for up to 5 years after. as for the difference between gem and gem junior, thats where im just as in the dark as anyone else. but remember, gem and ever ready flew basically under the same flag, and i think they acquired star at some point (1915 i think?)
the bar on the razor that snaps down on top of the blade is designed to lay your skin taught in advance of the blade.
im going to have a website dedicated to the gem cutlery co. complete with pictures, history, shaving technique, and a grading scale loosely based off the hazelcorn kampfe grading scale. theres still a lot of company history i want to collect though; hardly anything is known about it.
the bar on the razor that snaps down on top of the blade is designed to lay your skin taught in advance of the blade.
im going to have a website dedicated to the gem cutlery co. complete with pictures, history, shaving technique, and a grading scale loosely based off the hazelcorn kampfe grading scale. theres still a lot of company history i want to collect though; hardly anything is known about it.
Since there are obviously at least a couple of folks out there who are quite knowledgeable on the subject, can anyone give me any more information on this Gem Junior; such as, how long was it produced etc.? Also, what is implied in the name "Gem Junior" as opposed to simply "Gem"? I've seen many razors labled "Gem Junior" that look vertually just like others simply labeled "Gem", "Ever Ready", "Treet" and "Star".
The razor pictured, besides what can be read in the picture, says: "U.S. Pat. Aug. 28, 1900" and "U.S. & Eng. Nov. 5, 1901". The handle is black painted wood and it appears, suprisingly, to be in what I would call "hardly used or unused" condition, even though the box looks somewhat worn. (Possibly not the original box???)
I guess I'm just getting more courious about these razors and would like to learn a little more of their history. I have the Krumholtz book on Gillettes, but is there any good references similar to that on the ASR razors and their predecessors?
Thanks,
Tom