Does Anyone Here Remember?

[Ricky]

I have always wondered what the buying experience was like to purchase a new Gillette safety razor back in the 1920's-1960's.....how were these razors sold in stores? Were they behind glass cases? or out on display racks & what kind of stores sold them? Drug stores only? Were they presented as fine pieces of shaving equipment or just another commodity? I would love to hear any first hand stories of what it was like to go out & buy a new razor back then.

[rupertbear]

Trying to remember things in the last century strains my brain but it seems to me that mine were in plastic boxes with a clear top. You could see the razor and a pack of blades that came with the razor, and the boxes were just stacked on the shelf. Most times, the box broke the first or second time you opened it

They were just a commodity, the same way cartridge razors are now.

[IronHammer]

I would think that the purchase of a fine Gillette like the Bostonian or 1930's Aristocrat would have required some careful deliberation as these weren't cheap back then. I imagine that stores had the finest Gillette they stocked in a closed display case like some piece of fine jewelry, beckoning the shopper.

[Ricky]

I guess thats why i was hoping for some actual accounts of what it was like......i guess it's been a fantasy of mine to be able to go back in time & walk into a store and buy my very own brand new vintage Gillette razors.

[franz]

There are members here who were of shaving age in the 1940s and '50s. Maybe one of them will chance on your thread.

[StuMcB]

I remember going into Boots the chemist with my Dad when I was about 5 or six maybe younger (early 70's) and we walked past a giant Razor...one of those band types. It seemed massive to a young kid but I destinctly remember my dad buying one and looking very pleased. Cannot remember him ever shaving with it though. Just remember him usuing what I now know to be his army issue DE, or so my mother says.

[4hits]

Along the same lines, did the shavers of the 40's rush out and buy the new Superspeed, then did they rush out in the the 50's to buy a red tip, then buy a Fat Boy, then in the 60's a Slim, etc.

Or did a young man in the 40's stick with the same razor for the duration?

[BlackBard]

Well, I started shaving with a DE in the latter part of the 1950's. I bought what is now known as a Gillette Fat Boy, probably in a drug store, but I do not really recall exactly. But, consider that the razor sold for only $1.95, so it certainly was not something that would be kept behind glass, to be handled by only the anointed few. This was an "everyman" shaver.

Check out the B&B wiki entry here.

[BlackBard]

Along the same lines, did the shavers of the 40's rush out and buy the new Superspeed, then did they rush out in the the 50's to buy a red tip, then buy a Fat Boy, then in the 60's a Slim, etc.

Or did a young man in the 40's stick with the same razor for the duration?

They (we) did buy the "next great thing." When cartridge razors came along, we bought those, too. Otherwise, why do you think DE's went out of favor?

[Stroker]

Along the same lines, did the shavers of the 40's rush out and buy the new Superspeed, then did they rush out in the the 50's to buy a red tip, then buy a Fat Boy, then in the 60's a Slim, etc.

Or did a young man in the 40's stick with the same razor for the duration?

I can remember my Dad had a Star SE (like the GEM 1912) that he probably bought in the 30's. He then had a GEM MM Clog Pruf he probably bought in the 40's. Then he bought a Gillette Fat Boy in 1959 and gave his GEM MM to me. I would say men would pretty much use what they had everyday for a decade or so. They didn't buy every new razor that came along. (Money was tight back then!) The progression of razors as noted above was the manufacturers way of improving and marketing their products to new buyers rather than hyping it to men who already had a good razor. Just my take on it. I would have to agree that they were sold in drug stores as an everyday tool and not kept behind locked cases. I can remember the Gillette's being on the shelf in the old drug stores of the late 40's and early 50's.

[4hits]

They (we) did buy the "next great thing." When cartridge razors came along, we bought those, too. Otherwise, why do you think DE's went out of favor?

Not sure. Maybe because new shavers in the 70's went after the latest and greatest, with a resulting decrease in demand for DE's, which resulted in the DE being no longer produced.

So you went from a Fat Boy, to a Slim, to a black-handled Slim, to a cartridge?

[Pioneer]

I remember using the Schick stick as my first razor. People where I lived must've used Schicks more than Gillettes as I don't recall seeing any Gillettes, but the Schicks were hanging on a peg in the neighborhood drug store. All my buddies also use injectors.

[bakerbarber]

Great thread.

Interesting read.

I love it.

I'm too young to comment. My first razor was a Sensor. My dad has worn a beard since before I was born, and my older brother had a Trac II, so I was fancy for my time. Until they mailed me a free Mach 3 on my birthday one year....

[cactusbrush]

I can remember my Dad getting me a Fatboy in a case when he got himself one also. I still have it and it still works fine. I was using a SuperSpeed (still have that one too.) He had been using a GEM SE (still have that one.) and decided to change to double edge blades. This was about 1963-64. I had no idea about the more expensive Gillette razors, don't think I ever even saw one in a store. The big adjustable was a pretty big deal in itself.

[BlackBard]

Not sure. Maybe because new shavers in the 70's went after the latest and greatest, with a resulting decrease in demand for DE's, which resulted in the DE being no longer produced.

So you went from a Fat Boy, to a Slim, to a black-handled Slim, to a cartridge?

Actually, I started with a three piece Gillette of some kind, maybe a ball tip, Gillette Foamy and Noxema canned goo. Then I bought the Fat Boy. Next I got a Gillette Techmatic, followed by a Track II and then a Mach3. I tried the Fusion when I received a free handle and two cartridges, but did not like it as much as the Mach3 (Turbo). Now, I'm back to a DE (Slim and an EJ DE87). Been using soap and a badger brush for over 45 years, though.

[spindlecone]

In the early 60s they actually meant nothing,just tools for doing a chore.
My dad would buy a new razor,I would get his old one,than I would give it to my brother,that was the one my sister could use to shave her legs and whatnot.

[burky1]

No different than going to a drug store and buying a Fusion or any other cartridge razor on the rack in the shaving section of your local drug store today. They came in plastic cases if I remember right. My experience is from about 1959 to the early 70's. Nothing was locked up. If I remember right, I used the slim adjustable and went to the black handled adjustables later when they came out. Then somehow I bought the hype on the cartridge razors and just went back to DE shaving about 3 months ago at 67 years old.

[garyg]

In the early 60s they actually meant nothing,just tools for doing a chore.
My dad would buy a new razor,I would get his old one,than I would give it to my brother,that was the one my sister could use to shave her legs and whatnot.

That's it - wish I had some grand recollection of a trip to shaving nirvana or such, but what I recall are piles of plastic cased razors at the drugs store, when I started shaving at 12 or 13 I got a hand me down ..

[Copierguy]

I was raised in the country and in a family of modest means. A trip to town in the 50s was a very big deal. I would marvel as a child at all the variety store shelves had. I remember FatBoys in blister packs hanging at the 5 & 10 cent store as well as other Dept. stores. The only razor I can remember behind glass was a Toggle in a display case in the pharmacy dept. of a family run store. They had the display case floor covered with cotton to suggest snow. I have a wonderful image of a very shiny gold Toggle laying there under a light in a snow drift of cotton.

Thanks for starting this thread........

[diamondtim]

I remember that a razor was often received as an affordable Christmas or Birthday gift, like a new pipe or tie. The kids may get Dad some new blades.

Him: "Look, a new razor! Thanks, Hon. You know that old one was getting pretty worn out."
Her: "Well the man down at Woolworth's said this was the latest model and it would give you the best shaves ever!"