I have a friend at work that has had an amazing amount of experience. He enlisted in the USMC in 1958, eventually became an Intellegence Officer during Viet Nam, has been both a Sheriff and a Fire Chief and still is one of the most humble and mellow people I have ever met. He's one of the few people at work that I can talk shaving to and knows what I am talking about. Though he has fallen to the dreaded cartridge razor, he is still a brush and soasp guy. What is this doing here in the Safety Razor forum you ask... Well he still talks about the razor he was issued when he joined the corps and the Gillette Blue Blades he used to use with it. I would like to track down one like he used to have to give to him as a gift. I don't really know too much about the older razors, but I'm guessing it would be a Gillette Tech? Any Idea on how much one in a slightly better than user grade would be or if this is even the right razor I should be looking for?
Around $30 at an antique store. I paid $25 for a Gillette superspeed (1965 ) & a Gem Junior. I can't imagine it being any more than that & that's the higher end of the spectrum price-wise. You could probably find it for less on E-bay. I'd go to your local antique store and ask THEM to get their hands on one for you. Couldn't hurt, the more eyes you have searching, the better, PLUS, they wouldn't mind the business.
Off the top of my head, Gillette public retail offerings in 1958 were the colored-knobs Super Speeds, the TV Super Speed (flare tip version made in 1958 only), the Toggle, the FatBoy and the ball-end Tech. Military-issue options that I know of were the plastic-handle/metal head pieces Tech - aka "Contract" Tech - but these were in the 1940s and ceased being made in 1952. So I'm guessing it was a ball-end Tech. You'll need to find out if his was a TTO or a 3-piece. If it's a 3-piece, it's the ball-end Tech seen here. Could have a plain cap or a Gillette logo cap, they were both made. I won't link to the TTO razors from 1958 as you probably know what they look like. Good luck.
