Hi all, Well, color me surprised! About two weeks ago, I visited an (out of the way) Antique Shop. I've been to this Shop several times during the past year and I have found a few "decent" (common) vintage Gillette Razors (which I did purchased) however, I left behind a few "also ran" Razors. On this recent visit, I searched about the store and I found only a single "Ever-Ready 1912" (priced so cheap) that I had to buy it (despite having many SE GEM/Ever-Ready Razors). At any rate, after searching the entire Shop and not finding any other Razors, I walked up to the Glass counter to pay for my 1912. While standing by the Cash Register, I one more time gazed into the Glass display case (where the same old "also ran" Razors still sat). Whoa, wait, wait, ummmm (thinks I) did I examine this ONE razor before ? I had spied among the "also rans" a Razor in a case that I was uncertain if I had examined in the past. I was thinking this Razor might of been the (so so condition) Super Speed that I had passed on months earlier but this was not a Super Speed. So, of course I asked the Shop person if I could see that one Razor. The Razor was then placed on the counter top in front of me. I put on my Reading Glasses and I took a close look. I turned the Razor over and quickly noticed "Made in England" (Whoa!) So (keeping my cool) I held the Razor right up in front of the Shop person Face and I began to open & closed the TTO knob. It quickly became apparent that the Razor's doors would not close completely. I said to the Shop person (after a dramatic pause as only a former Actor could do)......Ummmm, this might clean up and work.....OK, I guess I'll take a chance. So, I paid NINE dollars for this Razor (which included it's case) and (if memory serves) I paid four dollars for the Ever-Ready 1912 (which is in VERY nice condition). As I wrote in the TITLE of this thread.....I had no idea what vintage Gillette Razor I purchased (other than it being a "Made in England" Gillette Razor). Once home, I post (elsewhere) a photograph of this Razor seeking help to ID. I quickly received a reply and learned this Razor is a Gillette #58. Oooh (thinks I) OK, nice, a Gillette #58. Well, what I did NOT know (until yesterday) the Gillette #58 is also called an "ARISTOCRAT". So, now I'm the proud owner of a 1956 Made In England #58 vintage Gillette "ARISTOCRAT". How cool is this ? SixCats!
It's a 1956-58 Aristocrat Jr. The red retaining band was added to the case in those years. It's one of my favorite Gillettes. You got it for a fantastic price. Were you able to fix it?
Enjoyed the story on how a person goes through his thought to purchase a razor, been there done a similar process of thought for a purchase. Sounds like you got a good deal and cleaned up nicely for you . Enjoy the razor & thanks for sharing.
Hi PLANoFMAN, thank you for the information you provided. I will sent this beautiful Razor to Matt at R.E. as I don't dear mess with things of this nature. I think it will be worth the price of admission.
To add to this the razor far as I know was sold either in a #58 set or as an Aristocrat Jr in Australia, in England it was only sold in #58 sets.
It was from an English No. 58 ad I learned they were called Aristocrat Jr's. It had it in the description. If you have proof they were also called AJ's in Australia, I'll update my Aristocrat Jr. thread.
IIRC the ad you posted and I'd have to dig through here to find it was from an Australian paper or magazine.
It was originally posted on the Shave Nook. Since the person who owns the ad is from New Zealand, and specifically ruled out that the ad was from the UK, it's safe to say that it is an Aussie advertisement. I'll update the thread accordingly. You have an excellent memory. Edit: updated that thread, also went in and pulled all the photos in it out of photobucket and reuploaded them to TSD. No more blurry pictures!
