1912 King C Gillette C117599 Razor Kit

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by GlennConti, Aug 3, 2018.

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  1. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    Well $900 is better than nothing I guess. Less about 20% for fees to eBay and PayPal... I could clear about $720! (That's about what a good Double Ring goes for. Anyone want to trade?).
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2018
    GlennConti, Aug 4, 2018
    #21
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  2. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    It sounds a bit like a KCG razor in 1912 would be the equivalent of a DJT razor today.

    This particular one looks a bit like it might have been a presentation piece of some sort, given that it has images of various Gillette facilities. Perhaps some kind of employee award or, maybe, a gift to a particularly close business relation?
     
    John Ruschmeyer, Aug 4, 2018
    #22
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  3. PickledNorthern

    PickledNorthern Fabulous, the unicorn

    Thank you for nipping that in the bud. I’m reading along, scrolling through great pics, and I read about it being from KCG’s personal stash..... I had to scroll back up and see what I missed.
     
    PickledNorthern, Aug 4, 2018
    #23
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  4. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    So, I came across Frederick Charles Blank's drawings for this razor. Thought I might share those too.

    IMG_5682-small.jpg IMG_5683-small.jpg
     
    GlennConti, Aug 4, 2018
    #24
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  5. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Politics aside, President Trump cannot grow a beard. Most likely due to laser removal or genetics, he doesn't have much facial hair.
     
    PLANofMAN, Aug 4, 2018
    #25
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  6. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    The FCB drawings come from his great-grandson and I was lucky enough to get photos of the FCB's original drawings (which still exist) of this razor set. So, it looks like FCB personally hand engraved this razor set.
     
    GlennConti, Aug 4, 2018
    #26
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  7. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    I was thinking more along the lines of the branding. King Gillette went so far as to put his picture on every blade wrapper. It reminds me of the way that DJT brands anything he touches.

    Imagine if he had turned his attention to high end grooming tools around the same time that DSC and Harry’s got going.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     
    John Ruschmeyer, Aug 4, 2018
    #27
  8. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    Sorry... this is my first ever tripod video for YouTube. But, it's better than nothing!

     
    GlennConti, Aug 4, 2018
    #28
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  9. brit

    brit in a box

    very cool set. i am from leicester, england .wasn t aware of a factory there. always something new learned here...
     
    brit, Aug 4, 2018
    #29
  10. Norcalnewb

    Norcalnewb Magnanimous Moos

    Beautiful set!
     
    Norcalnewb, Aug 4, 2018
    #30
  11. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    @GlennConti I'm afraid I might have made a tiny mistake in the valuation.

    The razor engraved for the 1915 Panama world fair was valued at $500.
    The Gillette booth at the fair is shown below.
    [​IMG]
    It's presumably the razor case on top of all the other razor cases. The razor itself is probably somewhere at Gillette headquarters. The drawing for the engraving can be seen here:
    https://scontent.fhhr1-2.fna.fbcdn....=96894260939de69daae9bb14102ee325&oe=5C10E80E

    Due to the valuation of that razor, and based on the inscriptions of other razor prints, I will revise my earlier statement to say that if your razor set is not a "one off" made specifically for KCG's own use, then it was almost certainly made in very limited numbers specifically for KCG to use as a presentation item. I speculate that there were at most five sets made, one for his own use, and one for each of the directors/VP's/head honchos of the factories dipicted on the tubes. Alternatively, they may have been made for each of the members of the 1912 board of directors for the Gillette Safety Razor Company. I don't believe that this particular set was ever offered as a purchasable item to the general public.

    I find the most historical value in this set comes not from the fact that it might have been owned by KCG, but that it was engraved by a man who engraved razors for 3 U.S. presidents, the pope, Mussolini, Franco, and various other kings, generals, and potentates. Not to mention leaders of industry, including, without a doubt, King Camp Gillette himself.

    This was a man who is considered one of the best engravers, etchers, and bas relief carvers in the world (at least of razors) during a time when hand engraving was common and engravers were found in every city.
     
    PLANofMAN, Aug 5, 2018
    #31
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  12. TitanTTB

    TitanTTB Well-Known Member

    An amazing set Glen! I had just recently read about F. C. Blank and his similarly engraved NEW set on B&B. The hand engravings are really a work of art and it's nice to see it in such great shape. Certainly there are not many out there considering the price and how many hours it would taken Blank to execute one set.
     
    TitanTTB, Aug 5, 2018
    #32
  13. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    As I understand it there is some controversy as to whether or not the Nogent France Gillette Factory ever really existed. I don't know but found this on Google...

    IMG_3578-B.png
     
    GlennConti, Aug 5, 2018
    #33
  14. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    No worries! You are a big person for admitting it. I didn't think calling Gillette's Master Engraver Frederick Charles Blank's artwork "tawdry" sounded quite right so I never bought in. I was tongue-in-cheek when I paraphrased you and said $720 and was quite surprised I wasn't inundated with offers to take me up on my trade.
     
    GlennConti, Aug 5, 2018
    #34
  15. jmudrick

    jmudrick Type A Man

    King had sold his controlling interest in the company in 1910. The BOD and investors understood it was good marketing to continue to associate the large industrial corporation with his visage even when he was more concerned with California oranges and real estate than blade technology (which he knew little about anyway).
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2018
    jmudrick, Aug 5, 2018
    #35
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  16. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Yeah, a cased double ring sounds about right.

    You know, the lithographed cased one Mr. Razor has. One of the first 51 made in 1903. They're probably worth about the same amount.
     
    PLANofMAN, Aug 6, 2018
    #36
  17. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    Well here are two razors to consider....

    jfk_razor_jfk_kit_1.jpg

    The above one went for $23,000 in 2013,

    1930 NEW Aristocrat.jpg

    And this one above I offered $15,000 for and was laughed at about two years ago.

    I think the KCG razor is the most beautiful one of all. Of course KCG is not JFK as far as the people's love of celebrity. But still...

    IMG_3575-small.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2018
    GlennConti, Aug 6, 2018
    #37
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  18. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    So you know that the razor was owned by KCG? Beyond a shadow of a doubt?
     
    PLANofMAN, Aug 6, 2018
    #38
  19. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    More information may surface. I have the 1979 Bill of Sale with the seller's contact information. And, I have not cleaned the razor and it has been used. The possibility of residual DNA does exist. This could be tested for matches to living relatives of KCG. So who knows?
     
    GlennConti, Aug 6, 2018
    #39
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  20. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Out of curiosity, what did it sell for in 1979?
     
    PLANofMAN, Aug 6, 2018
    #40
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