So what makes a razor worth looking into? Well, this 1905 Gillette advertisement from the December issue of Scientific American don’t actually answer that question, but implies that the Gillette has those qualities that makes it worth looking into. It also makes some claims that are strangely familiar to what P&G says about their plastic cartridge monstrosities today…
Continue readingSo I was rummaging around the internet again, when I spotted a pair of interesting old photos.
Beau Brummell was, according to Gillette, the greatest dandy of all time. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not. A dandy is, after all, a man unduly concerned with looking stylish and fashionable. So that would mean that Beau Brummell was the most foppish1 man ever – and while I enjoy a good shave, I wouldn’t say I’m unduly concerned about my looks.
I guess I get what they are trying to say; whereas a foopish dandy during the regency era2 had to resort to tweezers and a lot of time to get a BBS, the vain boulevardier of the late 1910’s may simply give himself a quick shave with a Gillette safety razor.
The ad repeats the claim that the Old Type3 was adjustable. This was a common claim in early Gillette advertisements, but I am dubious as to how well it would have worked – even with the ticker blade originally used.
Using Beau Brummell as their figurehead might not have been the brightest idea Gillette ever had, by the way. Yes, he was the arbiter of men’s fashion in England for a few years, but after a quarrel with the Prince Regent he not only went into debt but had to flee the country. And yes, his name is still associated with style and good looks, but he died insane and shabby in exile. Perhaps not the image you want in your head with you see a razor?
Wikipedia, in their article on shaving soap, sort of implies that a 1867 patent for an improved shaving mug is the first patent for a scuttle. And while I haven’t tried to verify that claim, if this isn’t the first scuttle it is an early scuttle for sure.
Continue reading…and advertise for Gillette razors at the same time.
Continue readingNeed a new travel kit? One that keep everything tidy and don’t slide around as you try to shave in an unfamiliar bathroom? Well, look no further than the utility kit patented by John E Borah in ’57.
So now that I told you to look at it, what is it? To quote from the patent:
Continue readingSo a while ago I picked up a NOS Gillette from the classifieds, and the knowledgeable gents over on the ‘Nook tentatively identified it as a airplane give-away kit. Which makes sense given the fact that it came with just two blades. For simplicities sake I’ll refer to it as the Airline Tech in this post.
One of the first things to look for on a vintage Gillette is the date code. Or, in the case of this razor, the lack of a date code. Which is okay, since the internet tells me that a lot of British Techs didn’t have them, and this razor is clearly made in England.
Continue readingEvery invention seeks to solve a problem. In the case of John T East’s shaving mug, the problem was that of unsanitary shaving mugs. Or, to use a less technical term, icky soap.
According to John, the soap would fit snuggly in a regular mug, and thus get moist and soft, and, well, icky. Or in the words of the patent;
Continue readingThere has been a great many travel brushes thought up throughout the years. They range from simple ideas like my Omega 50014, via oddities like Michel Charles Blondin’s plurality of flat elements, to neat ideas like Marcus B Berhman’s collapsible lather brush. So Archer G Jones was in good company when he patented a retractable brush suitable for shaving and make-up.
Continue readingAs you might have gathered by now, I am the lucky owner of both a Type A and two Type B Schick Magazine Repeating Razors. And given that the Schick Type D was the first Schick that were like today’s injectors, in that it used an external magazine with a key, you might wonder how to load a Type A or a Type B (or even a Type C).
Well, no worries.
Continue reading