I stopped in at an antique store not expecting to find much...and I stumbled upon a Gillette Adjustable Fat Boy high on a shelf for $3.00 I was thrilled. It was a bit mucky, but it is soaking in some soapy water and is cleaning up nicely. This is the "before" picture. I will post the "after" picture once it is cleaned up.
My first haul from Stirling Soap Company. Ozark Shave Soap, Ben Franklin and Black Cherry bath soap, and they threw in a sample of the Texas on Fire Bath Soap. I topped my order of with some Astra SP blades. I never was particular about bath soap before. Then several months ago the wife came home with sandalwood soap from Art of Shaving. I have enjoyed using it but I could not bring myself to pay $18 for a new one. Looking forward to giving Stirling a try. I will put the Ozark Shave soap to the test in morning.
Here is the Fat Boy after a good hot bath in soapy water and a scrub with some toothpaste and a toothbrush. I think I will send this away for a revamp. For $3 you can't go wrong! How can you tell when this Fat Boy was made? There are no numbers on the base plates...
There should be date codes underneath. A letter and a number. It might still have some crud on the numbers. I use a magnifying glass on the dirty ones.
Yes...I found it...F2. Does this mean second quarter of 1960? If I am reading this chart correctly... http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/US_Gillette_Dating_Information
A couple of weeks ago I scored a couple of razors. Actually, I won a 1954 tech on eBay, but the seller sent me a different razor by mistake. He realized his error and let me know right away that he was also sending the right one. They both arrived the same day. After I saw what he sent by mistake, I asked what he wanted for it and he named a very reasonable price, so I ended up with both. Here’s the one he sent by mistake: It’s a Gillette old type that appears to be the same as mr-razor.com's listing of the 1921-1928 Shawmut set. Identical handle, comb, markings. My case is in a little better shape, but his handle is in better condition than mine. Mine has a couple of good splits, but I gather that is common for the hollow handles of the period: http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Old%20Type/1921-28%20Shawmut.JPG
The second razor that I scored (the one I bid on) is a 1954 Z1 Tech (Z1). It’s a beautiful piece: I looked at the mr-razor page and it seems that the case may be from 1911. mr-razor.com pictures suggest that. See the "Pocket Edition 503-B" 1911? http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Old Type/1911 (158 on blade) Pocket Edition 503-B Canada.JPG Regardless, I love the looks of it, and I haven't even cleaned it yet!
To paraphrase a well known move: "To those of us who follow razor lore, it has always been known, that the razor chooses the shaver, Mr. Potter."
$3.75 movie bin at Walmart has The Outlaw Josey Wales, Wyatt Earp and a few other westerns. I picked up a Earp and Quigley Down Under, but just noticed I walked out of the store without them. They're at customer service, so yay.
