Was fortunate enough to buy this today after no one bid on it and the seller sold it to me off eBay.... The only thing missing is the cleaning brush that was originally included. Gillette's first attempt to take on dry/electric razors and take on Colonel Schick, who by this time had left his injector razor company and started his dry/electric razor company. This razor didn't do too well for Gillette because it was a heavy monster and it cost $20.00. The following year, in 1939, Gillette came out with a smaller dry/electric razor called the Gillette Kumpakt and it could be had for $10.00. at the same time, they dropped the price of the larger model from $20.00 to $15.00 After dismal Christmas 1939 sales figures for their 2 dry/electric razors, they got out of the dry/electric razor business until the 1960s when they purchased the Braun company. My mint 1938 Gillette Dry Shaver, renamed in 1939 to the Gillette DeLuxe Dry Shaver: 1938 ESQUIRE Magazine advertisement: 1939 magazine advertisement showing both of Gillette's dry/electric razors:
Thanks Achim. No, that's a card instructing the retail sales person how to display for sale the dry shaver. It does appear from the instruction booklet that the set did come with a small cleaning brush and there is a small metal holder for it in the case... but the cleaning brush is missing from the set. Also I was surprised to find a specific date inside the instructions booklet. It says "Printed 9-30-1938". I think it's reasonable to assume that this was out to a store and available for purchase in October - my birth month - so that's the story and I'm sticking to it. lol! Never thought I'd get a Gillette Dry Shaver much less in this fine shape and even much less from my birth month. Also on the dry shaver itself, it says Model G. A neat side note... in the instruction booklet it tells the user that sometimes people won't get a good shave using a dry shaver, even from such a fine precision tool as the Gillette Dry Shaver. It goes on to tell the user that if this is the case for the user, return the Gillette Dry Shaver to Gillette, Boston and Gillette will replace it with a current double edge safety razor model of your choice and double edge blades up to the full $20.00 purchase price of the Gillette Dry Shaver. So, for example, in 1938, if you didn't like the dry shaver, you could send it to Gillette and choose a Gillette Aristocrat or Sheraton or Senator or black handle Gold Tech - whatever safety razor models were available at the time - replacement and I guess as many blades as would equal the $20.00 you spent on the dry shaver.
"Backed by years of shaving experience!" it says in the booklet... Just not years of electric shaving. What a complete failure this was for Gillette, proven by the fact that these are quite rare as you never ever hardly see one for sale which means practically no one purchased one, and the fact that they got out of making and selling them very quickly. 2 years. Gillette was the king of DE razors. Schick was the king of electric shavers. And speaking of rare, I have never ever seen their second model, the Kumpakt, except pictures in old advertisements.
Wow... what a find. I've never even heard these referred to until now. Tho, I think "Kumpakt" is a pretty odd spelling for "bakelite beast."
Bakelit Biest in German. Since I assume Kumpakt is German, which makes it even more odd coming from Gillette.
i only know what other fine gillette collectors have posted over the years here and on other forums..so i am just a steward of previously found info..but i have learned that they are capable of anything....
Awesome Achim! First time ever seeing the Kumpakt model not in an advertisement. Very nice specimen too with full kit and shipper. Thank you for sharing!