Shoot, the giveaways are just as nice if not nicer than the keepers! Hoping to find one at the fleamarket this season.
I remember the ad jingle for the color tips. Gillette advertised so much that I'll never forget it, and I was a kid. "Light, regular, and heavy the only way to get a decent shave."
With the dozens of modern razors available, and the other vintage brands, and the adjustables...there's still something special about the basic Super Speed family. Have never been able to put my finger on it. For me, none of them are bad but the best of them are perfect shaves simplified.
We need to get @mgbbrown to move some of his information from B&B to here. He has a solid set of information on the SuperSpeed (and Post WWII America)
I love my Redtip and Bluetip. I've had 5-6 regular SS razors and hated all of them. Either all of them were mangled or they just don't like me. Herm
@gorgo2 - It may simply be that the SuperSpeeds, even more than the three pieces, were constantly refined from the beginning, and all the extra engineering didn't actually change the razor much. They found a solid foundation that was next to impossible to improve upon. Even the 'Adjustables', technically, are just big SuperSpeeds. Sentator/Sheraton/President/Aristocrat. Ranger Tech. 40's SuperSpeed, then the 50's Flare Tip solid brass Super Speeds, then the Aluminum handled flare tip Blacks. Slight variations, but other than that, a continuous stream of identically used (TTO) razors from the 1930's to 1990, and if you look at the copies (Weishi/Baili), all the way through today. Even the Krona, frankly, is a SuperSpeed with a longer, and in some ways more comfortable, handle. My Old doesn't look much like the NEW, and the Tech looks like a anemic old (thinner handles, but solid). Other than that, the three piece razors were all over the place in how they were laid out, edges, where the screw was, how thick the cap might be... Far more variables. Maybe I should take some time tonight and lay out the entire progression (that I have) of the TTO's, and take some photos. I've been trying to get a user grade Aristocrat, but that's been a fight, and I'm not willing to drop $50 on another razor that will probably only get used once every month, because I'm not planning on having a huge display cabinet of "Isn't this pretty?"
Everybody should have a Super Speed in their den! Low cost, there's one to fit everyone, classic... What's not to like?
Silver one with the brass head in the bottom left corner - which one is that one? Also, the Gold one with the smooth collar ring above the TTO knob in the center. (I THINK I know, but I'd prefer someone else confirmed it for me)
Have you tried one of the 40's SuperSpeeds? I found that those are probably the most comfortable 'don't pay attention' shavers out of the SuperSpeeds - and I learned on, and still have, an 80's black handled SS.
He would have been 35 at the time. Cheer up. I hear that people who have the most birthdays live the longest.
Bottom left is a Ranger Tech that's had all the plating stripped from the head. Center one looks like a Milord, but is VERY much more 'gold' than I've ever seen one. Most of them are pretty pale. (I have one of those. It's beat up in plating, but all the functions are good. I'm working on cleaning it up before using)
The brass-headed one was listed as a '40 Milord, but there's no trace of gold anywhere on the handle. Underside of the base plate *might* be gold, but I wouldn't swear on it. The smooth-ring is a '46 Ranger Tech Milord.
I''s a Milord alright...all three of those are in near-mint condition. I wish my '51 would have been as nice, and with the case. I'd still have it.