Yeah, I forgot about that... the historian emailed me this past Friday and said she couldn't find anything. So if she couldn't find anything, then I'm 99.999% positive this is a prototype.
Just a step away on the evolutional ladder from the Cobra and then Feather Artist. Shame it dead ended the family tree!-(
That does it.....I say a tour of Jody's place would be more fun than a tour of the Gillette Place....All in favor say 'Ay'..
The mystery has been solved, my friends! At around the same time, 1967-1970, Gillette UK was working on both the "Contra" and the "Rex" projects (the "Rex" project was the combined result of a stacked-blade project and another project called "Emperor" which itself consisted of a pair of wire-narrow blades strung side-by-side in a harp-like holder). The "Contra" was this injector which had 2 blades glued to a thin plastic frame in such a way that each blade's cutting edge faced each other, like a potato peeler. The "Rex" was a cartridge that held 2 blades, one on top of the other. While the British Gillette designers were so far along on the "Contra" that it was being test marketed in Australia, the British Gillette designers were having problems with the "Rex". It clogged badly with soap and whiskers and seemed a doomed product. The "Contra" however, was doing well in its test marketing and because it was test-marketed in Australia, it was renamed to "Atra" which was short for "Australian Test Razor". At Gillette's headquarters - Boston, Mass., USA - it was decided that the "Contra now renamed Atra" would be launched to the public in 1972 - a timetable that was advanced by a year when Wilkinson-Sword introduced its new bonded-edge blade in 1970. However, a Gillette USA engineer finally solved the clogging problem with the "Rex" cartridge and by doing so, Gillette shelved the "Contra/Atra" project. Gillette used the 1971 baseball World Series as the "launching pad" for the "Rex" cartridge razor under its new name, what we now know as "Trac II", which the "Trac" portion of this new name was an acronym for "Twin-blade Razor and Cartridge". While the "Contra/Atra" razor as an injector was shelved and never released to the market, the name "Atra" would come back to life and hit the market in 1977 as the pivoting-cartridge razor we all know today. So there we have it on the "Contra". An almost, oh-so-close new injector design that started at Gillette UK and ended at Gillette USA. FYI, I found this information on pages 267-270 of the Russell Adams book, "King C Gillette: The Man and His Wonderful Shaving Device". I have read this book cover to cover at least 3 times and not once ever recall it speaking of the "Contra". It was finally pointed out to me by a fellow collector in the UK, Renzo Jardella.
I wonder why they didn't call the four blade razor the "Frac 4" or "Frac 5" (Four-blade Razor And Cartridge) It's most appropriate. More so than "Gillette Fusion Proglide." They could have even called it a "Qrac" (Quad-blade Razor and Cartridge) Say it...it's fun. I sure did from time to time. "This frakking razor!, I'm gonna toss it when something better comes along!" Little did I know that I was quoting a Gillette razor developer.
Gillette's marketing slogan when it brought the Trac II to market: It's one blade better than whatever you're using now.
Congrats on finally solving the sought after razor secret. That term Contra sounds familiar and I might have even owned one..not a prototype of course. The razors in Canada were patterned after their British counterparts and the Contra may have landed in Canuck. It's tough to remember though..so many years..so many razors...
Seems it's prototype day so here's a bump for prototype Gillette injector I owned... Not mentioned anywhere in this thread is how one was supposed to shave with the Contra... The user would scrub it back and forth on the face, hence why the two blades faced each other.
Never seen this razor until now. I'll concur reading some of these necromancer resurrected threads you have a good eye for finding the oddball razors no one else pays attention to.
Wow, definitely never saw this razor before - thanks for sharing! - Seems like the 60s saw a lot of development in the razor sphere, after many years of basically stand-still. Great read!
