It's a 1922 Old Type... I think.

I have this Gillette Old Type and tried to figure out its year of manufacture.

It's:
- Old Type cap
- Ball end (ball is solid)
- Single Ring
- Used to be nickel plated, but is now just beat-looking with lots of wear down to the brass showing through
- No Serial Number
- Diamond stamp "trade GILLETTE mark" bottom left on the guard
- Stamped "made in USA" bottom right on the guard
- No fancy handle work, just boring diamond-pattern checkering pattern on the handle



Near as I can figure, this is a 1922 Single Ring Old Type.

It's a pretty beat-up razor and nasty-looking... it needs a good cleaning.  
Regardless of when it was made, I think I'll clean it up and use it.

Because old razors are cool.

Did I guess the year right?
  :-)

Thanks,
- Bax

Nice razor, Bax. You’ll enjoy it for sure. Is the handle cracked? From what I see it appears not. Definitely clean and use it I have a NEW that’s been replated. I definitely prefer the vintage OC shaves more than the modern OC shaves. Someone will chime in with more info about its manufacture.

No cracks that I can see, Charlie... even with a magnifying glass.  It's pretty phenomenally worn, but that just kinda gives it character.  Even after I clean it up, it'll be a beater, but I don't care.  It still LOOKS really cool!

And everyone KNOWs the age-old maxim (that I just invented):  "If it LOOKS cool, it'll shave better!"

   :-)

- Bax

Finding an Old without a cracked handle is like finding hen's teeth... the way they are manufactured virtually guaranties stress cracks.

I concur that it's an Old - based on the head - and the date is after 1921 since there is no serial number. And based on experience, it should be a great little shaver.

Serial numbers began around midway through 1921; around 55,000 were produced without serial numbers in 1921.  (https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wik...nformation) 

I started looking at LATER dates, and they all seemed to have something different about 'em, like a hollow ball, fancy sculpting on the handle, double ring, etc (https://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Tech/Tech.htm). 

I couldn't find a later date that had no serial number and looked the same.  That's why I guessed that it might be one of the 55,000 made in 1921.

I guess.
What do I know?
I'm half an IQ point above "moron."
  ;-)
- Bax

Bax...great find.  All that patina, bonus in my book.  Sanitize it and shave your brains out.  Well, leave the brains.

(06-21-2022, 02:35 PM)Bax Wrote: Serial numbers began around midway through 1921; around 55,000 were produced without serial numbers in 1921.  (https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wik...nformation) 

I started looking at LATER dates, and they all seemed to have something different about 'em, like a hollow ball, fancy sculpting on the handle, double ring, etc (https://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Tech/Tech.htm). 

I couldn't find a later date that had no serial number and looked the same.  That's why I guessed that it might be one of the 55,000 made in 1921.

I guess.
What do I know?
I'm half an IQ point above "moron."
  ;-)
- Bax

I think it's a good guess.  You're probably in the right ballpark anyway.

Do clean it up and use it -- those Old Types are a bit aggressive, certainly when compared to something like the later Tech, (mine is about on a par with my Fatip Grande) but are great shavers!  And there's just something about shaving with a razor that's a century old and imagining who might have used it before you and while witnessing what events of our history...

And @chazt is right -- an uncracked ball-end handle is a truly rare find. Gillette deliberately made the ends a few thousandths of an inch bigger than the hollow tube handle so they would stay firmly locked in place when pressure fitted into the tube ends. That left the tube under constant internal pressure, and over time, most have developed stress cracks. I guess Gillette wasn't really planning on century-long working lives for its razors; for a decade-long period, the technique worked perfectly.