In 1946, was the only TTO Gillette an Aristocrat, or was there a Rocket or SS? And in 1959, was the only TTO the FatBoy?
For US models in 1946, there was also the Ranger Tech and Milord razors that were the direct predecessors to the 1940's style Super Speed.
In 1946, there was a fairly rare version of the Ranger Tech, and the Milord went in to production. In 1959 there was also a flare tip superspeed and flare tip Rockets. I am not sure which if any Aristocrats were produced that year.
The Ranger Tech and the Milord are very nice shavers. They are slightly more aggressive than a Superspeed in my experience, but very nice. Flare tip Superspeeds are one of the most common Gillette razors. They were very popular and provided great shaves. Personally I prefer the Rocket, which is basically a made in England version of the Superspeed because I think they have a more solid feel to them, but either would be a great shaver.
The colored series was available in 1959, the blue tip the regular and the red tip Super Speed's along with the Fat Boy and Tech's.
Interesting, I thought they discontinued production of those when the Fatboy was introduced. Was 59 a phase in/out year?
What is the first double edge twist to open? What inovations did the super speed introduce? Or was it simply a name change?
What is the first double edge twist to open? What inovations did the super speed introduce? Or was it simply a name change?
The Super Speed was the first high production TTO. The notched positioning bar introduce on the Super Speed in 1948 enable "super speedy" loading from the newly introduce blade dispensers. In fact, in 1947 they hadn't even settled on a name for the no notch version with some of them sold as Aristocrat Juniors and some of them sold as Super Speeds. The 1941 Ranger Tech was very similar to the 1947 Super Speed, but featured a smooth band just above the TTO knob and lacked the familiar end caps. The 1946 Ranger Tech had the same smooth band but included the end caps. The safety bars were also slightly different, although there were some Ranger Tech/Super Speed hybrids made with the Ranger Tech head and the new Super Speed handle.
Interesting I have a minicromatic that I sort of have a love hate relationship with. I was unaware of the fact that the minicromatic came that far before the super speed. I knew the minicromatic came before the super speed but I was unaware that it came that far before. Still on the topic of razor history but a different questions: What was the first safety razor? What was the first double edge razor? Which came first the single edge or the double edge? (I believe the answer is the single edge)
Rick has one. It looks just like a RT with end caps, cool razor. Edit: in fact the pictures are in post #2 in this thread.
Oh.. geez, thanks Chris! Funny.. I actually have a set of instructions for the Milord with endcaps.. not sure how I ended up with it?
It must have fallen out of my pocket. Sorry to have bothered you. PM me and I'll give you my address so you can release yourself of this burdensome worry. :angelic007