Posted: 6/13/2024 11:07:16 PM EDT
I'm the proud but sad re-owner of a 1920's silver Gillette Bostonian with case and blade holder. Literally this package: Found one in great shape cheap, no blades but silver plated blade case. Cleaned it up, gave it to a friend, he died, it's mine again. Holy SHIT this is a nice razor.  Personna blades, arko soap. I usually use a cheap and ugly 30's-ish short comb, fat handle "new" with the same blades and soap. Have for a good few years. The Bostonian is a good deal heavier, just gotta let it float, but it's an absolutely gorgeous razor. Everyone should have one.  Don't be afraid of old gillette toothy razors with modern blades. They're as safe as straight bars and don't clog up a half as fast if you haven't shaved in a few days. New open comb razors may be similar but I've only really used old Gillettes extensively. 
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The trick with the 30's News is that there were two heads and two handles. On the handles, there was the ball handle and the fat handle.  The ball handles are pressed together and prone to splitting along the length and generally falling apart. The fat handles last. As for heads, there's the short comb and long comb. The long comb's supposedly a touch gentler, but the tines are so thin as to be very easily damaged. It's harder to find them unbroken/straight and they're easier to damage yourself. I don't think there's enough of a difference between the short and long combs in use though, and the short combs are pretty tough. They all work just fine with modern DE blades. |
Randomness Manster, Knower of Things (GreyWlf52)
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Condolences for your friend. Fine item to have back. Work of art (deco). Beyond one Lifetime design. You're going to use/try it, yes? Those blades of cleave look thick, wonder if enterprising Roaring Twenties men sharpened them for longer life. Big fan of Wartime and USGI items, crude compared to that jewel ETA that priority 
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Something really awesome... in Latin (Wes-WMD) - WWII Historian - MGD - Task Force Dagger -
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
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Originally Posted By WWIIWMD: Condolences for your friend. Fine item to have back. Work of art (deco). Beyond one Lifetime design. You're going to use/try it, yes? Those blades of cleave look thick, wonder if enterprising Roaring Twenties men sharpened them for longer life. Big fan of Wartime and USGI items, crude compared to that jewel ETA that priority https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JmC9NPq/0/DhtvXdnJ49rfm4nDRB5qdfhwwqpnkHSWcxRdJm9XH/X2/i-JmC9NPq-X2.jpg Cleaned it again and used it, yep. I was surprised that it worked as well as it did with the thinner modern blades but it's perfectly fine with modern Personnas. It's perhaps a bit more aggressive than the New but that might also be getting used to the weight. What's in the box? Mil razors are always cooler than civvie razors, but only if you use em. 
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Randomness Manster, Knower of Things (GreyWlf52)
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Originally Posted By WinstonSmith: Cleaned it again and used it, yep. I was surprised that it worked as well as it did with the thinner modern blades but it's perfectly fine with modern Personnas. It's perhaps a bit more aggressive than the New but that might also be getting used to the weight. What's in the box? Mil razors are always cooler than civvie razors, but only if you use em. Originally Posted By WinstonSmith: Originally Posted By WWIIWMD: Condolences for your friend. Fine item to have back. Work of art (deco). Beyond one Lifetime design. You're going to use/try it, yes? Those blades of cleave look thick, wonder if enterprising Roaring Twenties men sharpened them for longer life. Big fan of Wartime and USGI items, crude compared to that jewel ETA that priority https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JmC9NPq/0/DhtvXdnJ49rfm4nDRB5qdfhwwqpnkHSWcxRdJm9XH/X2/i-JmC9NPq-X2.jpg Cleaned it again and used it, yep. I was surprised that it worked as well as it did with the thinner modern blades but it's perfectly fine with modern Personnas. It's perhaps a bit more aggressive than the New but that might also be getting used to the weight. What's in the box? Mil razors are always cooler than civvie razors, but only if you use em. Good to hear. Bet those blades will slice atoms. They're NOS razors and cartons. Did a WWII "Personal Effects" display once (no guns) at a Show. Surprised everyone how many Women loved it and asked questions about the era, items, history.    
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Something really awesome... in Latin (Wes-WMD) - WWII Historian - MGD - Task Force Dagger -
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
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Originally Posted By WWIIWMD: Good to hear. Bet those blades will slice atoms. They're NOS razors and cartons. Did a WWII "Personal Effects" display once (no guns) at a Show. Surprised everyone how many Women loved it and asked questions about the era, items, history. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gVqZ5rV/0/D4Qb82j9ZxS23bWqWKwV8dMpzF5QVj2gN2jQdNx7G/X2/i-gVqZ5rV-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-b8qWqRT/0/kM7PDLX2kFtD5TXZ98NTqWcSxHtg6cLVt4SjZmbL/X2/i-b8qWqRT-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pZgFk4b/0/DcxdZjLtc76Lf9FWw7gQGjp5tmZ8F7HxNCmB7Zg2g/X2/i-pZgFk4b-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TJBhWWK/0/ktp4629zW636pmjHQ9R6W5SJKvchS26GHQx9zQ3k/X2/i-TJBhWWK-X2.jpg That is an absolutely STUNNING collection, I'm glad you're taking it to shows! What do you shave with though? I'll have to dig through my collection. Got into all this just a year or so ahead of the trend so I bought a lot of stuff in batches cheap as nuts. If there's anything historically useful you're welcome to it but I can't think of anything ww2 off the top of my head. Anymore I just care about a good, cheap shave. 
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Randomness Manster, Knower of Things (GreyWlf52)
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Originally Posted By WinstonSmith: That is an absolutely STUNNING collection, I'm glad you're taking it to shows! What do you shave with though? I'll have to dig through my collection. Got into all this just a year or so ahead of the trend so I bought a lot of stuff in batches cheap as nuts. If there's anything historically useful you're welcome to it but I can't think of anything ww2 off the top of my head. Anymore I just care about a good, cheap shave. Originally Posted By WinstonSmith: Originally Posted By WWIIWMD: Good to hear. Bet those blades will slice atoms. They're NOS razors and cartons. Did a WWII "Personal Effects" display once (no guns) at a Show. Surprised everyone how many Women loved it and asked questions about the era, items, history. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gVqZ5rV/0/D4Qb82j9ZxS23bWqWKwV8dMpzF5QVj2gN2jQdNx7G/X2/i-gVqZ5rV-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-b8qWqRT/0/kM7PDLX2kFtD5TXZ98NTqWcSxHtg6cLVt4SjZmbL/X2/i-b8qWqRT-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pZgFk4b/0/DcxdZjLtc76Lf9FWw7gQGjp5tmZ8F7HxNCmB7Zg2g/X2/i-pZgFk4b-X2.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TJBhWWK/0/ktp4629zW636pmjHQ9R6W5SJKvchS26GHQx9zQ3k/X2/i-TJBhWWK-X2.jpg That is an absolutely STUNNING collection, I'm glad you're taking it to shows! What do you shave with though? I'll have to dig through my collection. Got into all this just a year or so ahead of the trend so I bought a lot of stuff in batches cheap as nuts. If there's anything historically useful you're welcome to it but I can't think of anything ww2 off the top of my head. Anymore I just care about a good, cheap shave. Many thanks. Have dads 1960's version of yours, still works well. Been trimming for years, beard no shave. Before that, the heresy of Lectric for speed, mobility and no water. Have an Apollo Program pull-cord gyro shaver for when no Batt or Lectric available. Very kind offer, its WWII we study, the items came later. But this... after obtaining, haven't had the heart to strop it  Last shaving cycle, |
Something really awesome... in Latin (Wes-WMD) - WWII Historian - MGD - Task Force Dagger -
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff