I inherited some vintage Gillettes

My best friend has been reading my many posts on Facebook about my newfound interest in safety razor shaving. She remembered that she had stored away some of her father's old razors in an upper kitchen cabinet, and wanted me to have them. Her parents were like a second set of parents to me, and I loved them a great deal. Needless to say, when I saw these old razors, I was in awe.

I was previously very sad to find out that my father's old safety razors were apparently thrown away years ago. These are next best thing.
Anyway, I would appreciate any help in identifying these razors. They are all Gillettes with butterfly type loading mechanisms. The one on the far left is a very heavy handled adjustable, the next three are fixed blade. The last one is a very well made Gillette travel razor complete with its carrying case and an original Gillette blade.
I would also really like some advice on the best way to clean these razors up. They are in really good condition. There is just some residual gunk left behind, and they have been unused for years. I would really love to restore and use these razors. Thanks -

 

Cool!
Left to right:
Super Adjustable
Flair Super Speed (SS)
A pair of Black Handle SSs
Ball End Travel Tech

I have at least one of each - all great razors.

A date code will be under the head of each razor telling you when the razor was made - a letter and a number. The letter is the year, the number the quarter.

A1 = '55, first quarter (Jan - Mar)
B2 = '56, second quarter (Apr - May)
C3 = '57, third quarter
etc.

Open up / take apart all razors, place is small bowl, spray and cover with Scrubbing Bubbles, allow bubbles to disappear, cover again with Scrubbing Bubbles, allow bubbles to disappear, scrub with soft toothbrush, rinse with hot water, add a drop of mineral to any hinge point.

Scrubbing Bubbles:
- Eats soap scum
- Disinfects
- Leaves razors nice and shiny!

 

Not much to add, Steve(as usual) has hit the nail square on the head..It is wonderful to use an item that has personal importance....I also own and have used examples of all 4 razors. They will all deliver an excellent shave and look to have "MANY" "MANY" years worth of shaves left in them...I would add that you can use a longer vintage or modern handle with the tech shave head if you'd like....

 

Very nice. I'm glad your BF gave them to you. They're all very nice. The black beauty is a super razor. I'm sure you'll have many great shaves. Let us know what you think of each razor once you clean them up and use.

 

I can't add to the answers you've received, so I'll just gawk and say WOW! This is my dream scenario: vintage equipment that means something to you and is functional, which you'll enjoy for years and be able to pass on. I have a few and I treasure them.

EDIT: And it just now occurs to me that your friend's father must have been a bit of a shave hobbyist himself. It looks like he may have picked up new razors over time, as they became available and piqued his interest. Very nice.

 

Those are all great razors you have there.
Congratulations on the score

 

Very nice gift package you've got there. They're all great razors.

 

Thank you, everyone.
I don't have any Scrubbing Bubbles or mineral oil on hand, but I will be buying some.

The date codes on the razors are:

Super Adjustable : Q 1
Flair Super Speed : R 1
Black handle Super Speed # 1 : W 2
Black handle Super Speed # 2 : W 4
The ball end Travel Tech is a bit gunky underneath, but I think it reads : S 4

Any ideas on when these razors were made?

 

Q1 - 1971, first quarter
R1 - 1972, first quarter
W2 - 1977, second quarter
W4 - 1977, fourth quarter
S4 - 1973, fourth quarter

 

Nice. I believe that Q date code is fairly rare. Apparently Gillette decided it looked too much like an O and decided to skip Q after making only a few with that date code on them. Very nice one to have.

 

Thank you, Steve!

 

My pleasure.
Here is a handy table to date all your Gillette razors. *Gillette Razor Dates*

 

Nice to have friends like that.

 

Now I'm well and truly jealous. 1971 would be my birth year. I haven't actively tried to find one yet, but I'd like to do so soon. As an incidental part of another purchase, I have a Super Adjustable of unknown age on the way, so I'm secretly keeping my fingers crossed.

 

The mechanisms on these razors still work perfectly. They've been stored away for many years, and they are just in need of a little TLC.
I really look forward to restoring these razors to their former glory.
When I saw these, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

 

Let's try this again, after reading the chart I posted

O1 - 1969, first quarter (Brian had me looking!) great catch
R1 - 1971, first quarter
W2 - 1976, second quarter
W4 - 1976, fourth quarter
S4 - 1972, fourth quarter

 

Once you get to use an old "SOFT" toothbrush, some Dawn dish detergent, warm water and some Scrubbing Bubbles on them I'm sure they will clean up "VERY" well.... F.Y.I. Gillette also made a short handled version of the Super Adjustable....

 

Nice scores - they should clean up nicely!

 

Nice! Isn't it great to have razors with family history behind them? I have my Grandfathers 1958 T.V. Special D3 that he bought after seeing my father's D1, which I also have to go along with Pop's 1960 something Schick Krona, a '56 Blue Tip and a '56 Red Tip. Oh and a 1940 Gold fat handle Tech. It was a few months after starting wet shaving and buying a Fat Boy that my bro found them at the old homestead.

 

Congrats all the way around!!

I will look forward to the photos after you clean them up too!