Tracing the History of a Vintage WW1 Razor - Part 6: At War's End

Read all eight parts of the story here:
Part 1: The Khaki sets.
Part 2: Searching for Pvt. Robert Mercer.
Part 3: Robert Mercer Joins the Army.
Part 4: Over There.
Part 5: Battle.
Part 6: At Wars End.
Part 7: What Became of Robert Mercer?
Part 8: Fathers and their children
Part 9: Robert Mercer and Little Chicago


At the end of part 5 I promised that this would be the last part… It turns out I lied!
As it is becoming something of an ordeal to trace the later years of Robert Mercers life, and since the story keeps on becoming longer and longer, I have decided to post the chapters that have been done for some time.
Therefore this 6th part is a bit shorter than the last parts I posted, but I can assure You all, that more is coming. I will post part 7, that now (almost certainly) will be the last part, as soon as I get it done.


Post-War Europe

At 11 am on November 11th 1918 the war was finally over. Robert Mercer was going home... eventually!

On Thanksgiving Day (November 28th) his company, the 112th Ammunition Train, was encamped at Ooigem Castle in Belgium, about 15 km from the frontline that the 37th Division had fought to push east just a week before. On this date one of the soldier from the 112th wrote to his family:

Am now staying in a Chateau at Wielsbeke, Belgium. We have been here for several days now but expect to go to a railhead to entrain. Where we go I do not know but I hope it will be at some seaport. If we do go to a seaport it will not be long until we will be back in the good old U.S.A.​

Not surprisingly the troops did not know the full picture of what was going on, and even to the commanders the situation would still have been uncertain. Would the German troops just go home? What kind of peace would it be?

So for the time being the allied troops stayed where they were, uncertain as to what would happen, and hoping that they would soon be sent home. For Robert Mercer and the 112th Ammunition Train this meant waiting at a chateau in Belgium. We do not know how they spent their days, other than that they must still have been drilled and trained by the officers and that they naturally shaved with their army Khaki sets. The war might have been over, but beards were still not allowed in the army. What we do know is that staying at a Chateau in Belgium in 1918 was not as nice as it sounds. Wielsbeke is situated right in the middle of the zone where the several battles at Ypres had been fought, and across which the western front had moved several times in the past 4 years. This picture from nearby Zonnebeke gives us an idea what the countryside looked like.



A few ruins and total devastation at Zonnebeke, 1918 - 23 km west of Wielsbeke.


Eventually all the troops did get to go home. The German, French, English and Belgian troops did not have far to go, but the troops of the American Expeditionary Force were in a different situation. With more than 2 million US troops in Europe, it would take a long time till all had left European soil.

For Robert Mercer this meant that he would not only get to spend Thanksgiving, but also Christmas and New Years a long way from home. In all he would be waiting for almost 4,5 months before finally being shipped across the Atlantic. This means that Robert Mercer actually spent more time in post-war Europe than in war-torn Europe, and 4,5 months is a long time for a young man just turned 18. Based on his later pursuits with women, it would be a safe guess that Robert Mercer killed time by fraternizing with European girls. But of course, this is pure speculation.


Going home

Robert Mercer and the 112th shipped home on 2nd of April 1919 aboard the troopship SS President Grant, as the ships manifest clearly shows. Robert Mercer is number 10 on the list. As on the trip to Europe Mercer filled in his older sisters address as his own, but this time he states that is is the home of her husband, William E. Tillson.



From the manifest of the USS President Grant, April 2nd 1919.



The USS President Grant on April 2nd 1919. A soldier has written the following on the postcard: "President Grant - The Ship That Brought us Home".


If the dating of the above photo is correct (and there is nothing to suggets that it is not) it was taken on the exact day that Robert Mercer went aboard to embark for home. That means that he is aboard the ship in this picture. In fact, Mercer could be one of the persons seen standing on the deck!

The journey across the Atlantic must have been very different than when Mercer had travelled the other way in late June 1818. This time he did not have to worry about whether Germen torpedos would end the journey midway. This time he had time to think about what he would do with his life when he got back home. Being 18 he probably did not worry much about the future, and based on what we know, he was probably fairly certain that he would at some point be able to get a steady job at the railroad, where his father worked.

But the army was not quite finished with Robert Mercer. After embarking the SS President Grant, the 37th division went to Camp Sherman in Ohio. It was not until april 18th that Robert Mercer was finally honorably discharged. 5 months and 6 days after the war had ended, and 1 year and 9 months after he had joined up, he was now finally able to get on with the rest of his life.

And almost immediately Robert Mercer did the same thing as so many other soldiers after so many other wars have done all through history. He made a young girl pregnant.

But before we get to that part, we need to keep track of the J2164 Khaki set, that had been a part of Robert Mercers military equipment since he had received it at Camp Sheridan in the spring of 1918.

Mercer must have used it for the last time as a soldier in camp Sherman. And then what? Did he tuck it away, a distant memory of the horrors he experienced in his youth? The best way to examine this is to take a closer look at the contents of the bladebox.


The bladebox

I know that many vintage shaving fans are also very knowledgeable about vintage razor blades, but for me this is the first time I have tried to trace blades from the past. Therefore, you are all very welcome to correct me, if somehow, I get the facts wrong, or overlook some important historic clue.

This is the contents of the bladebox of Robert Mercers J2164 Khaki set:





And here is a list of the blades:


3 x PRO – TEX

1 x STAR

1 x SHARK

3 x Mystery Edge (silver)

1 x Mystery Edge (dark blue))

3 x PAL – HOLLOW GROUND (hollow text)

1 x PAL – HOLLOW GROUND (solid text)

2 x Shelby De Luxe 004 Ultra Thin

1 x Gillette - G 3 (1936)

1 x Gillette Blue Blade – R 1 (1946)

3 x Gillette Thin Blade (gold) – I 4 (1938)


As with their vintage razors, Gillette very helpfully printed date codes on their blades. The other blades are more difficult to date, but according to what I have found the ”Mystery Edge” blades are probably WW2 era, and the PAL – HOLLOW GROUNDS are from the early fifties. I even found this nice PAL – HOLLOW GROUND add from LIFE Magazine from February 25th 1952.



No wonder Robert Mercer was persuaded to buy Hollow Grounds after this convincing little comic-book commercial...


Based on the blades in the blade-box I can now conclude, that Robert Mercer's Khaki set razor was used well into the late forties, and maybe until sometime in the early fifties. Since the set was originally bought at an auction that also sold off more of Robert Mercers WW1 equipment, it is logical to assume that, Robert Mercer did not hand off his razor to someone else after WW1, but kept it. Therefore, it is most probably that it was Mercer himself who used the razor as late as into the fifties, when he was himself also in his fifties.

Now all I need to do is find out how Robert Mercers life turned out after the war. What did he do all those years that he seemingly still used his WW1 razor?

More on that in the next (and final) part of this historical examination.

Go to:
Part 7: What Became of Robert Mercer?

 

Still a fascinating read. Great work.

 

Thanks!

 

The selection of blades in the blade bank (I assume that's where they were) seems odd somehow. They are spread over a period of over a decade and are skewed toward later years. I wonder if he was using the Khaki set as a travel razor by this point.

 

Possibly rather than using it as a travel razor, he simply didn't use the blade box unless he _was_ travelling? It might be that the other blades were chunked into the wall slot of a medicine cabinet.

 

That is certainly a possibility, and it sure would be a nice set to travel with. The problem with using the bladebox to establish something about the shaving habits of the owner, is that there are so many unknowns.
However, like you point out, the age of the blades seem to be skewed toward the later years, and as the PAL's can be dated to the early 50's all I dare to conclude using the bladebox is that there is a posiblitity that Robert Mercer still used it at that time. Maybe when he travelled??

 

That is actually a good theory I think.

 

Yes!

 

You have a gift, Mr Rosengaard, excellent work sir! A great read. Thank you.

 

And thank You Sir! I'm thrilled that You and some of the other "Den regulars" are still enjoying what is turning out to be quite a lengthy story.

 

It is a fascinating and very detailed historical account. Very well put together. I have been following it from the beginning. Your thread shows a lot of work/research. Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

This has been a very well written, informative and interesting series. I'm looking forward to the next segment.

 

Thank's Jim!

 

I've been following along with the story, and have to say that I find it fascinating! You've put a ton of time and effort into it! As much as I'm looking forward to see how your story ends up, I'll be sad to see it end. Excellent writing, sir!

 

Wonderful work and absolutely fascinating. I can't wait for the next part.

 

Thanks Rich.

 

Thanks a lot. I'm happy you're enjoying it.

 

So, have you found anything new about Mr. Mercer?

 

Very odd...I happened to think of this story just a few hours ago!

 

I was reminded of it on another forum, where a member was wondering why there weren't very many movies or documentaries about The Great War.
My short list was 1) limited recording ability. 2) broadcast news wasn't there (infancy of radio. In fact, most places ordered all radios to remain turned off.) 3) Not Here (Unlike the Civil War, it was mostly outside of America, so not popular with the History Channel), 4) By the time people were willing to think about it, we were in the middle of a massive Depression and it didn't end until the next big war. oh yes, and as pointed out here - documents were destroyed.