Well ok mostly shaved heathen (the gf LOATHES when I don't shave). So it was a lovely day in Northern NJ (around 90 degrees). Anyways, me and the trusty sidekick (aka the GF) decided to go some garage sales. Well lot's of nothing to be seen...until, we hit the last garage sale. I see a small leather case (about the size of a dvd case...or maybe a wee bit bigger). I opened it up and I see the following : 1. Hair Brush with silver looking handle 2. a file and tweezer ( a old La Cross brand , the file is triple cut usa tempered) 3. and last but not least a silver looking metal container (for the lack of a better word). I open it up and see a Gillette safety razor ! WOWEEEE! Also included was a plastic container of Wilkinson Sword blades (made in England, Packaged in the USA). The other set of blades is gun metal grey container (metal and plastic?) saying " Gillette Platinum Plus". Oh there's also a small shaving mirror that has little legs that fold out. I was looking at it and turned it over. I see a black and white picture of 2 kids. I go up the gentleman running the garage sale and I say, "you might want these pictures". He's like "wow, I haven't seen that picture in ages!" He removes the photograph and turns it over. Written on the back is his and his sisters names and ages, he was around 7 1/2 and the sister around 3. I guess he has to be around his late 60's or so. He was happy to get the photograph back and I was happy to get the shaving set for around $5. Anyways, I'm glad I found this forum and hope to learn a lot about shaving. Ps - how do I know how old the Gillette Safety razor is (which after cleaning looks brand new)?
I'm not sure about this forum, but Badger and Blade has a wiki page for Gillette date codes. The letter and number underneath the silo doors will tell you what year, and what quarter of the year, the razor was produced in.
Welcome to The Shave Den, a great community of guys and gals that enjoy wet shaving, I hope you enjoy your stay! Be sure to sign up for the May Newbie Give-Away for a chance to win some great shave gear! To find the date code, look underneath the blade base plate, there may be a letter on one side and a number on the other, something like R 4, then have a look at this site for Gillette date codes.
Thanks for the welcomes , one and all ! I date coded the TTO and it appears to be from the years, 1948 to 1950. I cleaned it up and it looks brand new.
Welcome! You got a great razor, 1948-50 Super Speed, the seller didn't lose his family photos, everybody wins. That's an excellent razor. You may never need another, or it may get you interested in trying many others. Either way, good luck and good shaving.
Welcome to TSD! That's a great Super Speed you picked up. My Super Speed shaves as well as any razor I own, you had a great find. The blades you have are both stainless steel, so should be just fine to use even being somewhat old. I know the Gillette blades are really good and last longer for me than newly manufactured blades. I don't have personal experience with vintage Wilkinson blades, but I've never heard anything bad about them. What you haven't mentioned yet is if you're using a shaving brush and lathering cream or shave soap. If not, I'd highly recommend picking up a brush and soap. Let us know if you need some help on that front.
That is a nice case you got there and a nice razor as well. Welcome to the Den - it is a great place to learn and share!
Nice Super Speed and the case is reaaly in a good condition. Do you know that you have to sanitize the razor before start using it?
Sorry about the delay in replying (work...the never ending pain the arse!) I have a sister who lives over seas (England) and she brought me over some Erasmic and I love using it. As for a brush I'm using a cheapy brush and bowl set I got at Walmart, for the time being. Eventually I'll get a better brush. Any recommendations? As for cleaning the razor , it was a bit dirty and I used a product from Barbicide called "Ship Shape". Left the razor in there for a few hours and it came out looking brand new. The blades that came with it are obviously old but never used. I did pick up a new pack of Personas which I've been using with great success.
Nice score! The old British Wilkinsons are lovely blades. I buy them whenever I see them in collectable shops, and I use them regularily. goshawk
Probably the well known Van Der Hagen starter kit, right? QC is a bit spotty on those, but sometimes those brushes work out well. If not, you can get decent Omega boar brushes for less than $15, or a Tweezerman badger for around the same.
It is the Van Der Hagen kit. So far it's not too bad. I don't care for the shaving soap much (Once I started using Erasmic, I can't seem to use anything else). Thanks for the suggestions regarding brushes, I'll look into some of those mentioned.
