I just bought an old Gillette Safety Razor from an antique store and see that there is a Pat Nov15 :04 on the stem. According to this link: http://www.geocities.com/safetyrazors/gil_ser2.htm#1930 It should be a 1904 razor however I don't understand where to find the serial number. I do see a number 2 on the underside of the top flat piece once I disassemble the razor. There are no numbers on the bottom of the razor head however. Can anyone chime in on if I have the second razor made in 1904 or not? Thanks, Sean
That #2 on the underside of the safety bar portion of the razor should be on one side of the razor or the other. If the razor is completely assembled you should see the 2 on the right side of the razor and to the left side of the handle you should see a letter. Thats the date code. It should read something between A-Z and a #.
If it is that old it should be a 4 piece. The head should be 2 pieces and the shaft the 3rd and the 4th should the the internal cylinder. The cylinder usually has a serial number on it. Some have the internal shaft some don't. +1 on the pics.
I work in the legal field and the trick is to know where the line is and walk right up to it, stare at it, and kick dirt on it. Same here, know where the line is and walk right up to it. Granted that was really close to tripping over the line, and for that apologies to all put off by the post. Oh yeah, it looks like a mid 1900's. I think I saw a ball at the end of that handle. I do not think it is older than 1920 though. 1910 -1920, any other thoughts?
That's definitely a ball tip Old Type. Most likely 1920's, although there were military issue ball tips in the late teens during WWI.
Inside the head on the piece with the comb, there is no numbers? That is definately an Old, but it could be from a huge range of dates. If it has numbers on it that would help greatly.
I have never seen a ball end that did not have a number on it anywhere. I could be a ball handle with an older head?
This picture is credited to Achim (Mr_razor). Note the lack of any serial number on the base plate. This is a '20's Old Type. Many Old Types of this era did not have serial numbers as referenced by this well known site: http://www.geocities.com/safetyrazors/gil_ser2.htm
Old types after August 1921 were not usually serial numbered and were often created using leftover parts after the cutoff date. These were created due to competion and the need for a less expensive razor. About this time Gillette switched from fancy packaging to many cardboard types. Still a fine razor. I would say that the date would fall into the early 1920's as others have stated.
