Vintage Williams - Did I pay too much?

[media]

I just won this auction for a dozen cakes of williams. I figure they will last me a while and bought them because it looks like they were stored well. Did I pay too much? comes out to $58 with shipping. It looks like it's about $5 a puck. I am curious to see if they still have the scent!

 

[life2short1971]

I think thats an average price for Vintage Williams from what I have seen lately. On the bright side you won't be looking for any for at least 5 years if you use others too.

 

[michiganlover]

I have paid about $10 shipped per puck of for the pucks of Vintage Williams I have purchased. So I think the price you got was a pretty awesome deal!!

 

[Leon]

~~~JOHN~~~Modern Williams: Proudly Ruining Shaves Since 2005~~Williams Shaving Soap--- It's not the worst shave you'll ever have!® Even Canned Goo is better than Williams!!

Wow, John, your signature sure tells us your past experience with Williams soap.
Pardon my ignorance, but is vintage Williams so much better? Have they screwed up in a reformulation like Pen's non-tallow soaps recently?

 

[The Nid Hog]

Wow, John, your signature sure tells us your past experience with Williams soap.
Pardon my ignorance, but is vintage Williams so much better? Have they screwed up in a reformulation like Pen's non-tallow soaps recently?

This is a question certain to ignite debate. I personally find vintage Williams to be an amazing soap. I don't have the rose scented stick, but other ones I have are really fantastic. Having said that, I don't think that the current Williams is that bad either. It might be that the shaving gods constantly directly me to the best pucks, but I always get a good shave with Williams, vintage or not.

 

[michiganlover]

Wow, John, your signature sure tells us your past experience with Williams soap.
Pardon my ignorance, but is vintage Williams so much better? Have they screwed up in a reformulation like Pen's non-tallow soaps recently?

The heavily contested version of Williams dates to 2005, when Combe took over. Williams had several variations, with the most recent 2005 being the worst of the reformulations.

The 1970's era Williams easily generates thick, luxurious lather. Most who have tried it will rank it near the top of the class in terms of performance.

The 2005 Combe version for most people generates an airy, bubbly lather that quickly dries on the face. Some say the lather can be improved upon by working it longer, but I have not been successful in getting a stable lather from it; not from lack of trying, as I have made attempts at least 20 times.

So yes, in my opinion, the Vintage is vastly superior to the current formulation.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

I think you got an awesome deal, let us know how they lather compared to other soaps you have.

 

[Blondie]

That was probably a good deal. I saw that auction the first time it ran, as well as the second. I had messaged the seller asking him to check for barcodes, and to photograph a box, but he wouldn't, so I let it slide. Let us know if the boxes have barcodes after you receive them.

 

[michiganlover]

That was probably a good deal. I saw that auction the first time it ran, as well as the second. I had messaged the seller asking him to check for barcodes, and to photograph a box, but he wouldn't, so I let it slide. Let us know if the boxes have barcodes after you receive them.

Looks very similar to this packaging:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2631078&postcount=10

Since the age is estimated to be 1969, there would be no bar codes (bar codes came into wide spread use in the late 70's/early 80s; 75% of products had bar codes on them by 1975.)

I am not surprised he was unwilling to check for bar codes, or take pictures of a box, as doing so would have destroyed the "sealed box of 12" aspect of the sale.

 

[sfcablecar]

Nick,

A great find!

You certainly did not pay too much. I am familiar with this 12-pack version. It is NOS Vintage Williams pre-barcode circa 1960's - the really good stuff! It is extremely rare.

I am lucky to have come across 5 of these packs and I will try to post some pictures later this week.

 

[the_ogre25]

If any of you guys would not mind selling a puck or two of your vintage Williams, please shoot me a PM!

 

[shamus]

Congrats on you're great find. Enjoy the Williams!

 

[Deltaboy]

I got one I scored off the bay for $4.00 + $2.50 shipping. It has the AV after shave add on the flap.

So I think you got a great buy!

 

[Topgumby]

What is "too much?"

Using and enjoying a vintage soap is well worth five bucks a puck, IMHO, but if you're shortchanging the landlady to feed your soap addiction, well...

On the other hand, I have a buddy who thinks paying more than a buck or so for a puck of soap is silly, as he gets great results with the current version of Williams.

I'm sure there are guys here who think dropping a hundred bucks on a soap order is a nice warm up for a real purchase.

 

[sigthorson]

I'm surprised a soap that old would still hold it's properties. How much decay is normal for these vintage soaps?

 

[michiganlover]

I'm surprised a soap that old would still hold it's properties. How much decay is normal for these vintage soaps?

Besides loss of scent, I would say there is zero decay. Vintage Williams, Yardley, and Old Spice are all still heavily prized top performing soaps.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I'm surprised a soap that old would still hold it's properties. How much decay is normal for these vintage soaps?

I am currently using a puck of Williams that was produced in the Glastonbury plant that closed in 1960 so it's at least 50 years old. It just has a soapy scent, but still felt "greasy" to the touch because of all of the tallow. It produces a great lather and works perfectly.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I just won this auction for a dozen cakes of williams. I figure they will last me a while and bought them because it looks like they were stored well. Did I pay too much? comes out to $58 with shipping. It looks like it's about $5 a puck. I am curious to see if they still have the scent!

At $5 a puck I would say it's quite a bargain!

 

[CaptainK]

I have a couple pucks of vintage Williams, tallow first. But, I've also seen formulations considered vintage, with tallow, but not as the first ingredient.

Can you post the ingredients list when you get them? Thanks!

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've picked up Barbers tubes (10 pucks, 1 lb) of vintage Williams for between $45 and $105 (with some other vintage soaps, an old spice, a couple colgate, etc) before. I consider the pucks worth about $10-12 each as a shave soap. I don't buy it anymore because I don't use them often due to lack of scent. I've only seen one of the box (looks like a retail stores shelf display refill maybe?) 10/12 packs before. I'd say you got a pretty good deal.