Reconnecting with Mr. Gillette (2025)

I recently found a spare Gillette safety razor I'd forgotten about, which I think I bought at a second-hand shop years ago for about $15. I've been using a Merkur safety razor for many years after my old Atra II died and all the then-current replacements looked like plasticky toys, so I went old school and have never looked back. Also use a brush and Proraso cream. (I think there was a thread on shaving earlier last year.)

After giving it a good cleaning and putting in a new Feather blade I found it was just as good as, if not better than my Merkur. It's slimmer and has good serrations on the handle, plus the adjustment has a click dial. And the iconic "butterfly doors" which open to change the blade

I got to thinking that it looked very much like the one I first started shaving with and wondered when it was made.

There are a number of websites devoted to these razors and it turns out they have a date code stamped into the base of the head where the shaft connects. From Razor Emporium, I found that mine was made in the first quarter of 1963, as the date code is I 1, the letter indicating the year and the number the quarter.

Mine was made two or three years before I began to shave. The one I had back then might have been my dad's, as I recall he latterly used a Phillips electric.

Despite being 60 years old, it looks brand new and works perfectly. I think they cost between $1.95 - $2.50 back then and I read that Gillette didn't make a lot of money on them, but made it up on the blades.

STCM(SW) said:

If your not using a strait edge your not going back in time enough....

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LOL. I have my grandfather's Böker straight razor and did learn to shave with it many years ago but it's just too much work ...and too dangerous. But there are some very dedicated and patient folks who swear that a straight razor gives the very best shave. And it does have a certain "cachet."

I think I posted this image on the older shaving thread:

Been using a late 40's gillette safety razor for 10 or more years, found in an antique store. Gillette silver blue blades run about 50 cents each and I get a week's worth of shaves. Started this due to the insane cost of cartridge blades!

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My second son uses a devise made in the 1930's that sharpens the blades.

I was heartbroken to learn when I started shaving in the early 1970's that all of my grandfather's razors ad strops were thrown away by dad in the late 1950's! I do use a mug and brush.

I can grow a pretty fair beard in two months. My three sons have beard races. My two-month beard is like a two-week beard from my younger two! The oldest was the fairest complected and so is his beard. My daughter married a full blood Italian. The triplets are 13 and shave two to three times a week!

Ivan

ImprovedModel56Fan said:

I can understand that many folks have a logical interest in classic shaving tools, but to me it would be like collecting disassembly instructions for Jennings autoloaders - possible academic interest, but not a lot of practical application.

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LOL! Fortunately the "manual of arms" for a safety razor is dead simple, and, like the 1911, a proven design that's been around a long time.

A straight razor OTOH is a specialist device

I've got a nice collection of safety razors and straight razors, with a few Gillette's in the mix. I have 2 "Fat Boy" adjustables, 2 "Slim" adjustables (one a President model that is gold plated), and 1 "Black Beauty" adjustable that was mine when I first started shaving. I also have a few modern all-stainless models from boutique makers, and even one with the handle made from a .50 cal shell casing.

By far, the best shaving razor I have is a Gillette Fat Boy - they just got everything right about that razor!

Although I most often use a Braun electric shaver for convenience, about every other week I will break out a safety razor, a shaving brush and some really excellent Proraso shaving soap. There is nothing like the clean feeling you get from a hot shave!

Addendum - I've tacked on a picture of some of my straight razors.

Ivan the Butcher said:

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My daughter married a full blood Italian. The triplets are 13 and shave two to three times a week!

Ivan

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And the boys shave every day!

Kevin

I use a Braun once a week as radiation destroyed a goodly percentage of my facial follicles.

PS: I ran into a lot of folks wearing these in my road years.

Rustyt1953 said:

...PS: I ran into a lot of folks wearing these in my road years.

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Now that's open carry!