Super Speed Appreciation Photo Thread

**sandmountainslim** · 09-16-2009, 06:56 PM

I thought it would be nice for any of the lovers of the Gillette Super Speed to post up a snapshot of your favorite razor and tell any story you might have behind or or explain why it is your favorite.
I will start with mine.

This is my everyday razor and has been since 1999.
This is a notched 40's Super Speed that has served my family for around 60 years, my Grandpa Potter bought it new around the time my dad was born. My earliest memories of shaving involve this razor because when I was a child (I lived with my grandparents from the age of 2) I always enjoyed watching Grandpa lather up and shave with this old razor (it looked 100 years old in the seventies). Grandpa shaved with this razor every day up until the late eighties when he grew to ill to take care of himself and the razor went into the medicine cabinet where it sat for ten years until I pulled it out and cleaned it up and decided to give DE shaving a try, I have used it everyday since.
My razor is FAR from pretty and you can see that the finish is almost completely worn from the handle and it's better days were decades ago but the shave this razor gives is still second to none.
I look at the worn finish etc. not as imperfections in the razor but as signs of its usefulness to my family since before I was born and continuing til today :)

Click To Enlarge

Now post up pics of YOUR SS and tell us yer tales!
Wp

**T Rick** · 09-16-2009, 07:32 PM

Well, I can't yet call any of these my favorites, as trying to be disciplined in learning the DE correctly, I haven't shaved with any of them yet. With the rep of the 40's style SS, one of them may well end up my favorite though!

First one is a '47, bought in a lot of five- condition hidden by the one distant group shot in the ad, I noticed the wings signifying '47 and bid. The lot included some other gems too, but this is a SS thread. If I divide the price by the 5 razors, this one cost about 7 bucks

.

The '51 black tip aluminum handle was paired with a rather ugly New (which cleaned up brilliantly). But the fine condition of this one did show, and I couldn't believe I didn't find more competition in the bidding. Divide auction by two, about 8 bucks

.

The '53 in back looked pretty good. I jumped at a BIN, paid a bit more here. This one was around $18 delivered, but still not a bad value IMHO.

**buddydog** · 09-16-2009, 07:41 PM

sandmountainslim....what a great story..I have no story,but my favorite...Sheraton.

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Favorite picture too

**sandmountainslim** · 09-16-2009, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by buddydog

sandmountainslim....what a great story..I have no story,but my favorite...Sheraton.

Is that a Tokarev posing with it??
Wp

**buddydog** · 09-16-2009, 08:41 PM

It's a P. MOD.37 7.65 Kal.

Nobody ever knows what it is.Pretty rare.

**nemo** · 09-17-2009, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by buddydog

It's a P. MOD.37 7.65 Kal.

Nobody ever knows what it is.Pretty rare.

Is it the Hungarian or German variation?

Either way, quite a collectible piece.

--Doug

**sandmountainslim** · 09-17-2009, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by buddydog

It's a P. MOD.37 7.65 Kal.

Nobody ever knows what it is.Pretty rare.

The guy who drove my school bus when I was a kid was a WWII vet who had a P37 like that with grips made out of the windshield of an aircraft. I haven't saw another one since then.
Wp

**nemo** · 09-17-2009, 07:37 PM

OK, here's a quick pic of some favorites, check the old SS on the bottom right. Looks like hell but shaves great. '66 L1 running a Croma Diamont last time I used it.

--Doug

**T Rick** · 09-17-2009, 09:51 PM

Sticking with the title (

), a couple recent additions to my Super Speed grouping. These are as received without cleanup. First is another '47 (arrived today), and the second is a D3 Flare tip (got here yesterday, '54, first year Flare Tip). I cleaned them both up a bit today, but haven't shot new pics yet.

ETA: I was thinking of my D4 Fat Boy that also arrived this day, had "D on the brain". The second one is a Z3, which is the '54, first year Flare Tip. That's why I bought it in fact.

**heirkb** · 09-17-2009, 10:19 PM

I have a 47 SS and a regular 40 SS I got as birthday gifts from my girlfriend. Those are the only SS's I've kept around

**gaj90027** · 09-17-2009, 11:51 PM

My first vintage razor - a 56' flare tip. Just had my second shave with it tonight. I won it on ebay for $20 and have no regrets. So much milder than the feather portable I started out with - I love it.

**sandmountainslim** · 09-18-2009, 06:40 AM

I talked to my dad yesterday about the SS in my photo and he says he remembers Grandpa shaving with it when he (dad) was six or seven years old so that would be around 1954 or so. He also said Grandpa had another razor at the same time which was a single edged razor but it has came up missing since then.
Wp

Jarmo P · 09-18-2009, 07:10 AM

and the second is a D3 Flare tip (got here yesterday, '54, first year Flare Tip)

That is yes a 50's flare tip Superspeed but it is not from 1954 but instead from 1958 (my birth year), july-september.

I dont have my birth year razor, but I do have Z2 Flair tip from 1954, the first year they were made. You can check the codes from this page:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index...ng_Information

**luvmysuper** · 09-18-2009, 07:19 AM

A few of mine. For the purpose of this threads title, please ignore the fatboy in the last picture.

**buddydog** · 09-18-2009, 08:53 AM

Man do I love this thing......

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**Larry T** · 09-18-2009, 09:12 AM

My favorite SS is a 1956, B2, Red Tip. I picked it up at an outdoor flea market in Utica, MI, for $2. It was a little dirty, but it cleaned up beautifully. This is a birth year razor for me, same age, but it's much better looking than I am.

I really fell in love with it when I used it for the first time. I had been using a Merkur 23C, and was happy with it, till I tried the big Gillette. I have several dozen razors now, but the Red Tip SS still gets the bulk of the work.

Larry

**T Rick** · 09-18-2009, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Jarmo P

That is yes a 50's flare tip Superspeed but it is not from 1954 but instead from 1958 (my birth year), july-september.

I dont have my birth year razor, but I do have Z2 Flair tip from 1954, the first year they were made. You can check the codes from this page:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index...ng_Information

Well, actually I had "D" on the brain (just wrote a post referencing my D4 Fat Boy that also arrived yesterday, and I was born in Nov. '58). But the flare tip actually is a Z3, not a D3 as I stated. So, still '54 first year Flare Tip. (In fact, I bought it from Amishmotorboat on eBay, and we've posted in a thread here about it). That's probably why it didn't need much in the way of clean up

. I'll throw an edit into the post with my typo...

**Swampfox** · 09-18-2009, 02:31 PM

You gents are causing me to want a Super Speed......

**T Rick** · 09-18-2009, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jarmo P

...but I do have Z2 Flair tip from 1954, the first year they were made.

I now have a nice looking Z2 coming also. Wondering, has anyone ever seen a Z1 in 50's configuration, or were all the Z1's 40's style? Anyone seen a Z2, Z3 or Z4 that was a 40's style? I think I did on eBay a while back, but I'm not sure.

ETA: Well, I was just reading AsylumGuido's Super Speed Identification thread again, it turns out the '40's style TV Specials were from '54, Z3 and Z4 date codes. No mention of a Z2 40's style. Anyone seen one? And what about the 50's style? Anyone seen a Z1? Seems they made both at various parts of the year, but I've yet to run across a Z1 '50's or a Z2 '40's in my short search.

**Zumkopf** · 09-18-2009, 06:33 PM

Oddly, the only one of my razors that has really bitten me to date is the '40s SS.

Even more oddly, I still love it. It's pure function defining form, having exactly what it needs, stripped of anything it doesn't, and polished to a purposeful metal sheen.