Grandpa's BYR (1918) easier to buy than dad's! (1943)

Trying not to get too roped in to the whole razor collecting world (wishful thinking), but like the idea of shaving with "birth year razors" for me (1973), my father (1943) and my paternal grandfather (1918). They've both passed away, unfortunately, so I can't ask them for details about their first razors... all I know is that by the time I came around, my dad was using an electric.

What I've found is that 1943 is super hard to buy. There's a Black Contract Tech on the 'bay, but it looks fugly to me, plus it's too rich for my blood, at $74 shipped! Call me cheap, but $50 feels like the upper limit of my nostalgia-justification... and although I want to shave with these razors (not just put them on a shelf somewhere), I'd still like them to look attractive!

So, I've shifted to hunting something a little oder, that might have still been on the shelves in '43. A nice '40/'41 TTO sounds most appealing, but even that has been elusive under my price cap. Looks like most of the 40s TTOs out there have the little hook on both ends of the blade guide, which someone said means '48-'50.

I could opt for a pre-war Tech, but doesn't sound like you can narrow those down any further than '38-'41... potentially up to 5 years before he was born, which doesn't feel as compelling/significant.

Hmm... reading back over that makes me feel I'm further down the rabbit hole than I'd thought I was. Oh well, regardless... any experts/enablers out there who can help guide me closer?

FWIW, feeling good on my other two checklist items: today I took delivery of a '73 Aluminum Tech and a 1918 Army-issue Old Type OC... so tomorrow I'll shave with a 99yr-old razor! I also have a '73 Black Beauty on the way.

Today's arrivals:

 

Apparently when the US entered fully into WW-II, the War Procurement Board allocated all of Gillette's razor production, and most of the blade production, to the war effort. Keep in mind that regular shaving (more than once a week) came into vogue because of the need to have a good seal with gas masks in WW-I.

So, I would suspect that the only razors you will find for 1943 _will be_ the "fugly" ones. Copper was in short supply, so the razors were made with as much as they could manage of other materials. Steel plate/anvil, Bakelite handles, even the occasional pot metal cap. What other razors would have been available to the general public would have been expensive pre-war production, such as leftover Regent Techs, and some grey market "after hours" production of razors that could be sold on the quiet. The reason I don't call it black market is that black market would imply redirecting normal production, and I'd simply suspect that some workers would do an 'extra run', with company blessing.

Other razors on the market would be more likely to have been made during the war - but those would be made of steel and possibly aluminum.

 

Did anyone need to cut back on bakelite razor production for civilians during the war?

 

Yes.

My mother has retold stories from my grandmother of the war years. My grandfather was IN the war, so he didn't have stories that he told.

Basically, everything was rationed. Something considered essential to the war effort had most of its production routed to the war. Businesses were either given quotas, or identified how much they could produce. If they held back or rerouted production, or were found to have understated their production, they were often gone after for treason for hindering the war effort.

If a company was producing Bakelite, they might have all of their production being routed to the companies that made field telephones, rather than to the ones making non-essentials such as razors. The companies that made the razors (or whatever) would often be co-opted to produce what was necessary for the war. Automotive plants produced tanks. _Universities_ were producing goods. At the University of Houston, the band practiced in a WW-II Quonset hut originally erected for something like tank assembly. (in the 1990's. they might be gone now)

It's hard for those of us who grew up since the 60's to really conceive of the level of rationing and control that went on, not only accepted, but in many ways, encouraged.

 

Great info, thanks! Any ideas re: how I might narrow in on 1942/43 production of the "other razors on the market" you referred to?

What I'd heard re: this was what @Bookworm alluded to, i.e. that there was zero civilian Gillette production during the war.

 

I've been seeing a lot of fat handle techs on Ebay lately, selling and auction. Some selling at $25.00 for real nice ones, and lower, depending on condition. Since they were made during the war years, it would be a good choice.

 

For '43, you're looking at a Tech with a pre-war style baseplate, but probably blacked out. There are also Tech variants from that era with a pre-war style baseplate, but oval slots (and a big letter 'S' on the bottom). Lastly, there is also a Tech version with a bakelite baseplate (and similar ones from a couple of other companies such as Clix).

The black finish they used doesn't seem to wear all that well. However, if you sacrifice some authenticity, a flat black GunKote finish would be close enough.

I suppose you could go all out and try for a Canadian service set.

If you expand into the SE realm, then there is the military versions of the Gem Junior and, IIRC, a Schick Injector version that was made for the military.

Now, at the risk of bursting your bubble a bit...
Your 1918 seems to be a Frankenrazor. The head is from an Army-issue Khaki set and would have been paired with a ball-end handle, but your handle looks to be from a German vest-pocket set. The original owner probably did the swap after the original handle failed.

 

Hmm. Ok. So... what do you mean by "pre-war style baseplate," if not triangular slots?

Are any of those easy to date? I was under the impression that the SE's, in particular, were a bear to narrow down dates on. How do you identify military versions?

Bummer! Oh, well... it's a "G" serial, so at least what I'll be shaving with looks to be slam-dunk 1918. He was Army Corps of Engineers in WWII, so I'll just envision him taking his gifted BYR with him, and swapping out the handle then.

Would've had to be acquired from someone else, though... iirc he was strictly Pacific Theater. Whew... this suspension of disbelief is exhausting!

 

@John Ruschmeyer -- is this one a Frankenrazor too, then? That's a "J" at the start of the serial. If not, might consider picking it up just for the handle... seems acceptable, although the head is rough shape.

 

According to Krumholz, whom I quote: "...the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan put an end to civilian razor production, according to Gillette company records, because of America's official involvement in World War II."
It doesn't surprise me at all that you are having difficulties locating your 1943 razor. It wasn't until 1946 that production of the Aristocrat and Milords resumed.

 

Yes, there were no fat handle techs with open comb heads. So it's a head made when they were doing full serial numbers, paired up with a post-war fat handle.

(I don't think they had the fat handle tech pre-war... I'll have to look at Achim's site)

 

Thoughts on date range of the handle? The closest matches I saw when I searched for "vest pocket razor" had equally sized rings at the end, the lowest ring on this one is wider.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Honestly, the handle looks like a two piece from a German 'vest pocket' razor. Normally came in a brass, chromed or nickel plated tin. It also looks like the handle's finish has completely worn away. I have two vaguely similar 'vest' razors.

 

Yeah, that's what @John Ruschmeyer noted above -- this is clearly a frankenrazor. My question was an request for help estimating the handle's age separately from the head's age.

 

A Gillette Single Ring and a pre war Gillette Tech should fill the bill.

 

WW-I, perhaps. The razors I have don't say Prussia or similar. They say 'Germany', and they're old enough that it means WW-I to WW-II. "Germany" Didn't exist as a unified single country until about 1870, after the Kaiser hammered them together. Prior to that, they were the "German Empire" or random other names, because it was a loose confederation of princedoms referred to as "The Germanies". So, you'd have seen names such as "Bavaria", "Prussia", and not "Germany". So, 1920's through 1946. After that, you saw 'West Germany' or 'East Germany', until the Berlin wall fell. It can't be much before that, because they were clearly made as copies of the Gillette razors.

 

Okay - found a similar handle in this BIN

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-193...n-LINED-SILVER-CASE-Double-Edge-/252945891181

This was serendipity, BTW. I wasn't looking for anything other than a silver box.

 

Apparently they can't be relied on to take in-focus photos, count to four (the handle splits in two... plus baseplate, plus cap = 4, not 3) or identify the brand, country of origin or anything else about this razor... you'll have to forgive me for being skeptical that their date assessment is accurate. (smirk)

Seriously, why can't eBay sellers LOOK at their own photos before they upload them? (sigh)

 

Because a lot of these people are making their living off of this, and it takes long enough to post something on E-Bay that they're just trying to get as many posts up in the shortest period of time. Others are trying to do it in a narrow time window, or just get rid of stuff. They put the photos up because it makes people look at them - they don't necessarily know how to use a camera.

 

(shrug) Fair enough, just seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot by not taking a few seconds to make sure the photo is clear... it has to affect the price they get. They took the time to break the razor down into its 4 pieces to stage the photos, seems like a total waste of time to do that and not review your photos.

My point stands... if they're in too much of a rush to make sure they're uploading somewhat-clear photos, they probably didn't invest a lot of effort into researching what time period it was from. (shrug)

No knock on you, @Bookworm -- I appreciate you passing along the data point.