EMG’s Gillette Shave Through the Ages

[EMG06]

Hey Cadre,

I’ve been at the wet shaving game for a decade. Over that time I’ve managed to collect a large number of Gillette razors.

Spoiler: Gillette List

1910s-1920s

1919 - Old Type 102 Single Ring “K206132”

1921 - New Improved Tuckaway “364629A”



1930s

1930 - NEW De Luxe 17mm “13770D”

1931 - Goodwill Empire Set

1933 - 36 : British RFB #77 “Early Variant”

1934 - Aristocrat Open Comb

1936 - 38 : British RFB #44 “Late Variant”

1938 - Senator

30s - NEW Long Comb

30s - NEW Short Comb



1940s

Early 1940s - US Triangle Slot Tech

Early 1940s - Canada Triangle Slot Tech

1946 - Milord

1948 - 50 : Aristocrat

Late 1940s - No Date Code Oval Slot Tech

1940s - Flat Bottom Tech (x 2)

1940s - 4 piece Travel Flat Bottom Tech

1947 - Hybrid Tech

1948 - 1952 : 3rd Gen Aristocrat





1950s

1953 - President (Y1)

1956 - No. 58 Aristocrat Jr.

1958? - Red Tip Superspeed

1959 - $1.95 Adjustable “Fatboy” (E1)



1960s

1960 - Toggle (F4)

1964 - Slim Adjustable (J1)



1970s

1976 - Spiral Handle Tech (W4)

1978 - Psycho Tech (Y4)



1980s

1983 - Super Adjustable 109 (D3)



2020s

2022 - Super Blue Tech

So I’m going to shave through the ages, starting with my American made Single Ring Old Type razor from 1919 and ending with my Chinese made Tech from 2022.

I’ll try to post some information that I’ve found about the razors, pictures, and my personal opinions about the shave.

 

[EMG06]

Gillette Single Ring

Gillette started making razors in 1903 with the “Double Ring”

After 1906, they slightly changed the model to the “Single Ring”

This 3 piece razor came in a variety with a long screw that ran up through the handle (which was attached to the baseplate) to lock with the razor cap.


It also came as a 3 piece with a separate cap, baseplate, and handle that is often referred to as the “brownie” model with a ball end handle.

My model dates from 1919, and has a thin cap with thin baseplate.

After the introduction of the Gillette New Improved, they continued to make the “Old Type” in the 1920s, but with a thick cap and thick baseplate.

 

[EMG06]

I spent the month of October with my 1919 single ring. It was a revelation.

I found this instruction booklet online from the 1908 Single Ring which had some advice.



Looking at how the blade was sitting in the razor when fully clamped down, I figured that I would need to hold the razor at a neutral to shallow angle.





And so, With an extremely light touch (shaving off the lather not the whiskers), a neutral to shallow angle, and some skin stretching I set off.

It was quickly apparent that a shallow angle was not the way to go for me. With the handle nearly perpendicular I was not feeling the blade edge and was tempted to press into my skin.
So, I tried neutral and steep angles and was much happier. I got wonderfully close and irritation free shaves. I used short strokes.

I was rewarded with 2-pass DFS+ (or BBS) shaves for the whole month that lasted 24 hours easily. Stubble grew back “differently” than I’ve experienced before, seemed to grow back at an angle and just a unique experience compared to the other razors I’ve used. Hard to explain and I wonder if other Old Type users have felt the same thing.

Some drawbacks: you need to pay attention to the position of the blade before tightening the handle down, so that meant some fiddling each morning. The razor felt delicate and I was apprehensive about dropping it and bending the teeth.


EMG06 Single Ring Assessment (totally subjective criteria I’ll be using in this series):

Shave efficiency: 2 pass DFS+/BBS

Shave aggression: Unlikely to bite with a light touch and good prep. 2/5

Everyday ease: Had to fiddle with blade each morning and needed to pay attention so that I didn’t drop the razor inadvertently. 2/5

Did I like to shave with it? Bottom line YES!

Historical Cool Factor: 4.5/5 (a 106 year old razor working amazingly well).

 

[heysi]

After reading that list......I'm in for this PIF!!!!

 

[heysi]

I'm curious why you're not using a Gillette blade with these razors? They were made with these razors in mind.

 

[EMG06]

I'm curious why you're not using a Gillette blade with these razors? They were made with these razors in mind.

So I looked into this. There are no current production 3 hole 0.06” blades and I don’t have any 100 year old Gillette blades to use.

So the closest I got was a Carbon Steel blade that’s 0.04” thickness.

 

[supertrunker]

Are you missing a zero in there? Those seem awfully thick.

T

 

[EMG06]

Are you missing a zero in there? Those seem awfully thick.

T

Yup you are 100% correct.

Old 3 hole blades were 0.006” thick and it seems like nearly all modern production blades are 0.004” thick.

If anyone knows of a modern blade (ideally carbon steel, but stainless too) that is the old thickness of 0.006” I’ll get some and go back to try it out with these razors.

 

[heysi]

Are you missing a zero in there? Those seem awfully thick.

T

Eric has very epic facial hair.....requires a much thinker blade. He used to shave with plate steel.