Received this "scary" little thing this past weekend and had my first shave with it this morning.
A little bit about Gillette "Psycho"
The Gillette Psycho is what is also commonly referred to as an 'institutional razor'.
It was commonly used at prisons and mental institutions through the 50's and 60's as it was especially designed for that purpose.
At its core the Gillette Psycho is a fat handle Tech - but with one important difference: the head can be locked using a removable tube-key. The purpose behind this design was to allow the razors to be handed out to the inmates/patients - with the blade loaded into them - but with no possible way for the blade to be taken out of the razor until it was returned to the guard who could unlock the razor. The razor has a trapped nut inside the handle that must be operated with this special key.
These razors were made in England, The US and Brazil during the 50's and 60's.
Mine happens to be a Y4 (1953) razor made in Brazil.
Gillette wasn't the only company producing "Psycho" razors during those years. Grafco was another manufacturer that had a very similar product but with a rather different looking locking mechanism;
In the beginning the razors were sold as kits consisting of 10 razors and 1 key (that later changed so that each razor was sold with its own key) - which today makes the key in many cases more valuable and more rare than the razor itself.
Ok, some photos of the Psycho that I bought:
Here with the key inserted:
The key taken out:
Only when the razor is unlocked can the head plate be taken off so that the blade can be accessed.
Shaved with it this morning and a great shave was had
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi60.tinypic.com%2F2nm1928.jpg&hash=293e270db995c6540f3e0c5d80e81932)
Click to expand...