Here is a cross section of ads showing what was produced and sold when including wartime razors for civilian use. Anything concerning military use is well documented elsewhere. I'll be breaking the posts up by years so please do not comment until after I get done with 48 ads as to not break the flow of the information. Patents are first filed in 1938, patent number 2270388 but not granted until 1942. The Tech according to my research does not go on sale until January of 1939 at the earliest. Here is the patent information https://patents.google.com/patent/US2270388A/en?oq=2270388 https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b5/84/50/a7f5903b363f2c/US2270388.pdf With that we know for sure by the packaging which razors would have been produced prior to 1942. For example here is a black and gold tech, notice the lack of patent 2270388 on the package and patenting pending Now notice that patent number is on this packaging. The next post will cover 1939.
In 1939 we see the introduction of the 3pc piece Tech in January in the US and no later than March in Canada. Gillette ran a massive ad campaign to promote this razor for almost 2 years before you no longer see any of the Gillette ads shown here and the ads from there on in are mostly retailer ads. If they introduced the Tech in 38 it reasons that Gillette would have put a massive ad push to promote the new razor for the Christmas season which is something that did not happen so with that information 1939 it is unless information to contrary pops up later on. First ad on the left is from The Tampa Tribune January 27th, 1939. This is the earliest retail ad I found. The one on the right is from the Tallahasse Democrat Feb. 28th, 1939 and was the earliest print ad I found for a Gillette promotional ad for the 3pc tech. In Canada the earliest ad I found was from Windsor Star March 30th 1939 for an ad taken out by Gillette. They would have been sold on retail at least this early in Canada if not as early as January. Finally here are some Christmas ads from 1939 One on the left is the news messenger Dec. 14th 1939 One on the right is for Canada from the Star Phoenix Journal Dec. 21st 1939 full page ads From what we can ascertain from the ads is nickel plated fat handle techs were only sold in 1939, it is uncertain if gold plated techs were also sold this year.
In 1940 we see the introduction of the fat handle gold plated Tech for sure and in 1941 the fat black handle with gold head tech. Nickel plated fat handle techs were also sold in both years. Here is an ad from The San Francisco Examiner Aug. 18th 1940 Here are 2 ads from 1941 One on the left is from The Dispatch Dec. 11th 1941 The one on the right is from The Statesman Journal Dec 19th 1941 full page ads
In 1942 retailers are still selling fat handle techs with nickel and gold plate and the black and gold version which was also billed as World Series Special. When they stopped production is unclear but after 42 you don't see any civilian production all metal razors again except for leftover stock until after Sept of 1945 when Gillette resumes sales of all metal razors. Here are 2 ads from 1942 The left one is from the Courier Journal May 1st, 1942 The right one is from Index Journal Sept 3rd 1942 Here is the only ad I could find from 1943 from the price being 98 cents we can infer it was most likely the gold plated fat handle tech. ad from the Warren Times Mirror Sun Jun 13th 1943 full page ads
In 1944 we see the introduction of the plastic handle techs with gold plated heads for civilian use. If they sold them non gold plated it is unclear what they would have looked like i.e. nickel plated like the Canadian wartime techs or like the US military issue techs. We also see retailers still selling a few fat handle techs still but no new production. If there was you'd see a lot more ads and these were the only 2 I found that didn't have the plastic handle on them. First is an ad for a wartime civilian production Canadian Tech notice the plastic handle style. This should differ from the European handles by the thread, the Canadian handles should be SAE 10-32 and the European metric 5.0 threads. ad from The Windsor Star Apr 27th 1944 Here are various ads for American Techs sold in 1944 Ad on the left is from the Bakersfield Californian Jun 15th 1944 middle is from the Odgen Standard Examiner Jul 7th 1944 right is from the News Journal Sept 14th 1944 Next set of ads left is from The Daily Times Sept 15th 1944 middle is from The Pittsburgh Press Sept. 21st 1944 right is from The Daily Register Sept. 28th 1944 Full page ads
Not sure the basis for Mr Razor (non) dating the Ebonized Gold Tech, I'm pretty certain it was a September 1941 release. Last ads for the Ebonized Gold Tech appear June 1942.
In 1945 prior to the end of the war all you see are plastic handle techs. Once the war ends in Sept of 45 you see the reintroduction of all metal handle techs on the market. This when you first see the contract tech handle available on a retail level. You also see the reintroduction of the fat handle still see plastic handle techs with gold and non gold plated heads being sold after the war. Also of note you do not see any ads for 1pc razors in 1945. They first show up again in 1946. Ad on the left is from Philadelphia Enquirer Oct 12th 1945 middle is from Amarillo Daily News Nov 16th 1945 right is from Amarillo Daily News Nov 20th 1945 next set of ads left is from The Montclair Times Dec 20th 1945 right is from The Star Press Dec 22nd 1945 full page ads
In 1946 we still see the contract tech handle in an all gold configuration and a black handle and gold head. We also see nickel and gold plated fat handle techs. No hint of the ball end handle yet and no oval slotted guard bars yet. left ad is from The Evening Times June 13th 1946 right ad is from The Times June 20th 1946 full page ads
Better recrop of the ad from The Cincinnati Enquirer Jun 9th 1946 This shows the black and gold contract tech and all gold version in the ad.
I'll defer to those with more experience, but is that statement about the handle threads correct? As I understand it, England (where the European/Canadian handles would have been made) didn't switch to the metric system until the 1960s. So, wouldn't the cap and handle threads still have been using Imperial measurements?
In 1947 we still see the triangular slotted base plate techs being sold in as nickel and gold plated fat handle models and by no later than June the techs go from triangular to ovular slotted guard bars. All models this year looks to still be contract tech handles with the new ovular slotted base plates. If someone finds ads otherwise I'll update accordingly. Of note the first ads that clearly show the ball end handles for Techs appears in 1949 anything before is unclear when the handle can't be positively identified though in this year the shading says they are contract techs when unclear. Ad on the left is from the Missoulian Jan 19th 1947, this is last ad I found with the triangular slots ad on the right from the Wilkes Barre Times Leader Jun 12th 1947 ad on the left is from the Chicago Tribune Jul 3rd 1947 ad on the right is from The Salt Lake Telegram July 25th 1947 full page ads
In 1948 we still see at least one retailer selling all gold triangular slotted with looks to be a fat handle tech as late as Nov. The rest of ads shows when the handle is clearly identifiable as contract techs in gold and non gold plate. In 1949 the ads clearly show the all brass ball handle tech razors. ad on the left is from The Minneapolis Star Jul. 21st 1948 ad on the right is from The Tampa Bay Times Nov 2nd 1948 ad on the left is from Akron Beacon Journal Nov. 21st 1948 ad on the right is from The Courier Journal Dec. 17th. 1948 full page ads
Another question... During the war, Gillette in the US produced two particularly unusual variants of the Tech- The Plastic/Bakelite Tech: And the "transitional"(?) Tech with pre-War geometry but oval slots: Is there any indication that either of these were available to the general public?
BTW, the two razors shown above have different style plastic handles. The one on the metal razor is the common version which shows up at least as late as the Korean War. The one on the Bakelie Tech only seems to show up on that razor and actually won't work with a metal baseplate due to the shallowness of the threaded portion of the handle.
The bakelite base plate and cap techs were only produced for military not retail. The other one I don't know, they did produce a tech during the war without a gold plated base plate and cap for retail. If it was nickel plated or looked like the military ones I have no idea.
