yes,but valet had factories in the u.s,canada and england also..west germany had a gillette factory after 1953..valet made blade until the mid 1950s.
I always forget this piece of information, but at some point, in this period Gillette dropped the Valet line right after WWII to help start factories for Gillette products in France and Germany due to not really needing a brand of shavers in the what the Gillette head people called the inferior single edge often the single edge due to how most of the older blades for some of these companies mainly Gem could not be flipped over on the other side and used. If you have a model that can be used with the scraper style blades that are the same as a modern single edge scraper blade that was meant to originally fit some styles of scraper, hold on to the shaver because the blades are often even cheaper than a regular double edge even if going with the harder to find/slightly more expansive stainless steel versions.
Sunday Evening 14/09/2025 Razor : Gillette New DE (OC) Circa 1930s. (USA) Blade : Polsilver Stainless. (1) (Poland) Brush : Beard&Blade Chubby Synthetic. (United Kingdom) Soap : The Goodfellas' Smile Abysso Non Tallow. (Italy) Aftershave : Layrite Deluxe No.9 Bay Rum. (USA) Weight : 52 grams. (Razor) Hi all, I had a superb shave yesterday evening with the Gillette new razor. This line of razor came directly after the old type single and double ring design with its noted flaws especially the thin tube handle which almost always cracked length ways down the handle. As you can see by the pic the Gillette new was the predecessor to the modern three-piece razor design that is so common in modern razors today. In regards to the shave from this razor (in my opinion) it ranks as one of the more efficient close shaving razors that Gillette made. In later models such as the TTO‘s and of course the Tech’s the efficiency was slowly overtime dulled down to appeal to more shaves. Saying that with one of their adjustable line of razors you may be able to get a similar shave with the right setting and blade combination. (Again this is my opinion only.) The Gillette new goes to show there’s really nothing new under the sun considering it was launched in the 1930s it could challenge and beat many a modern razor. The "Goodfellas’ Smile Abysso" soap (non Tallow formula) provided great cushioning and after shave feel which is no surprise as this is one of my favourite brands of soap. If you haven’t tried them I recommend this one as a good starting point. Finished off nicely with Layrite deluxe No9 bay rum splash. 1 pass WTG 1 pass ATG no touch ups. Clean as a whistle. No nicks no worries done. Cheers.
Cool. Nice bit of history there and a really neat looking razor. Always fun the shave with the older type razors. Interesting looking blade too, how old is that?
Last I looked on e-Bay, the Polsilver was still made but be it in smaller numbers since the end of Communism.
Closed out(for now)the "Ike/JFK" group. Doesn't qualify as a Menthol Monday, but it's getting close to time when my MM's will have to wait til next summer. It's a bit more of a challenge to squeeze out the soap, as all that is left is along the perimeter. 2 healthy passes, though. No issues of negativity. Nice scent. Great close with the aftershave. No wonder it was a favorite of JFK. As Outstanding As It Gets.
from what i have read,both france and germany had gillette factories before the war,france hid their machinery in the basement while the factory was seized by the germans..both france and germany were up and running again by the early 50s,making their own razors.during the 30's england made the razors for france,as french market versions.the biggest reason the gillette autostroppe was discontimued was that stropping blades was very outdated and against gillettes business model.ie non strop diposable double edge blades.. as for every ready ,i had a british ever-ready 1912 model razor friom the 1930's.i didn't like scraper blades,so i passed it along..gillette razors from about 1930 to 1967 british all brass versions are my favourites,with a couple of 1920's new improved and old type for a nostalgic shave on occasion.
-Monday- canadian tech omega fierce davidoff good morning gents fine fierce lather built with the omega boar smooth 2 passer minor pickups thayers and adventure edt to finish awesome have a fine day everyone
16th September 2025. Shaving Recipe for today. Prep: Warm shower:/ Nivea Men DEEP CLEAN Shower Gel. Pre: Cold wet flannel to my face. Pears Transparent Bar Soap. Brush: Semogue 1438. Bowl Lather. Bowl: Tesco's Ceramic 'Cosmo' Side Bowl. Lather: Proraso Sandalwood & Shea Butter Shaving Cream. Blade: GEM coated. (D5) Razor: Ever Ready 1914. (US) (Brass) Razor: Gallant II Platinum. (Head) - (D5) Post: Cold water Face & Head wash with brush squeezing's, Cold Water Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Alum Rub./Cold Water Rinse/Homemade (~Spring/Summer mix~) Lemon, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Essential Oils.3 Menthol Crystals Mixed Together With 200ml of Care+Witch Hazel./ L'0REAL Barber Club Reinforcing ASB./Boots Freshwood ASL. Greetings, Early morning face & head shave. Every shave that I've had with this vintage razor has been smooth comfortable, & irritation free one, today was no exception. I find the E-R 1914 (US) is more aggressive than the 1912, but equally as smooth and comfortable to shave with. Finishing the shave off with a generous splash of Boots Freshwood ASL. My face is feeling smooth, & smelling divine. Keep safe, and enjoy your day ladies & gentlemen.
Tuesday 16 Sept 2025 Once again 2 days growth Cold water shave with the Tuckaway and a fresh Iridium blade Face lathered with Tabac stick, started off a little drier than I should have, but easy enough to keep adding water to the brush and back to the face. Finished off with the full house Tabac products Picked up a minor scratch which disappeared with cold water, so no worries there Super smooth super happy I don’t have too many Iridium blades and because this one impressed me with its sharpness I will not toss it but keep it for October Happy days
-Tech-Tuesday- y-3 canadian tech simpson simpson lime victorian lime good morning gents quick work shave awesome have a fine day everyone
Today, I tried prep-Nivea 4 Men Bodywash(in shower) lather-Mama Bear Soaps(The Club*) brush-Campbell's Badger razor-Gillette Sensor Deuce Pivot DisposeABLE A.S.-Clubman Original(12.5 oz. size) *Clubman clone She did a nice job getting the soap to smell just like Clubman Original. It worked well with the Badger brush, and gave me a real nice shave. I might have done better down at Cactus Nation, but it's OK. 2 passes. . Always great to finish with Clubman A.S. Very Outstanding.
Is that a different design on the Simpson soap?(Course I had a different Simpson and it was a long time ago-maybe the Lime has always looked the same).
September 16 SOTM Good afternoon 1955 Gillette RedTip Gillette 7 o'clock Permasharp DE Blade (2) Heritage Collection/ C-Mon Silvertip HD Badger Brush TabacSk Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS Stirling Alum Block Lucky Witch Hazel Beard Growth: 2 Days. Sorry, this is a late post for this morning's shave. I only needed 2 passes for a bloodless BBS shave. I decided to bring out my C-Mon brush. It is been over 3 yrs since I have used it. I went with the Tabac stick because I never have used these two together. I was pleasantly surprised with the slick lather that was produced. The alum feedback was a zero. Splashed on the witch hazel and the AQ Ice Blue aftershave to finish this shave. I will get to replying to your post late this evening. Take care.
Today's shave was a 9/10 due to a few cuts on the moustache that were due to having to be on dial 3 because of the shave and some on the neck unavoidable due to missing the hairs on sunday so they were long and ripped out rather than cut Today is shave 8 on the top/total with the Personna 100 pack made in USA I bought in late 2017. I used as always, my H 2 Gillette Adjustable slim handle shaver without the case. I shaved today before the shower and I used shave soap, but due to the skipping Monday I did keep the shaving head/blade wet during the whole shave. I Did get this item below in yesterday and have a ruberband to use for travel to keep the blade closed, I might use this shaver case when traveling on road trips but swap out the Micro Touch for my Gillette Adjustable slim handle model I am currently using.