What the heck is this?

Gents,

I kind of accidentally won an auction last week when I was testing the speed of bidding while preparing to snipe another auction. Oh well, .99 cents for a surprise ain't bad. Serial is M15867.

Anyway, it came today and I can't find anything anywhere that looks like it.





Ivroid bottom (interesting)

Seemed to have a pivoting lid at some point


And what's really interesting to me is this. It says the razor shouldn't be sold for less that $5, but back then (I'm assuming this is around 1920 as the other M designation is 1942 and they only had war production at that time, and it has the old style head) that was a ton of money! I'm wondering if this was mismatched with the lot, but it sure seems to look like some other paper pieces and fonts from that time.


I'll be cleaning it as soon as the ultrasonic cleaner comes in (don't rub that one in, alright?) so expect some pics with this and some other goodies soon.

Any ideas? Thanks as always guys.

Milady Decolletee the true one marketed by Gillette. It's in the Krumholz but I don't know the page offhand.

Not a bad deal for .99 cents and I don't see them that often. I think I did see that one though some time back so this was probably a relist. Congrats!

As far as the price is concerned Gillette did have some high end items. Their gold plated Cavalier travel kit from the same era sold for $75.00!! That certificate of acceptance was strictly enforced by Gillette and policed by a phalanx of travelling salesmen he retained who would visit merchants in the field to see if they were honouring their agreements. Violators were punished by having the right to resell Gillettes withdrawn. Best not to incur the wrath of K.C. Gillette!!

Nice find indeed!

The Serial Number M15867 puts it's production in 1920.

Ooooh, I feel so feminine! We'll see if SWMBO warms up to it.

Check this though-- the inflation rate from Jan 1920 to Jan 2007 is calculated as 948.79%. THAT'S ALMOST $50 for this thing! I can't think they sold too many at that price! Man, and we feel we're getting ripped off by M3's today.

What did you mean, though, about a "true" Milady? I've seen two others since you've given me that name, but neither of them look like mine. Were those ones made by another manufacturer?

What I meant was that is the one I know Gillette gave the MiLady nomenclature to. The others like the short MiLord we were discussing the other day were ones that have been given the MiLady designation by the wetshaving faithful as far as I know.

The Ebay listing you hyperlinked is unfamiliar to me although I do seem to recall a Gillette called the Parisienne but the MiLady wasn't a part of its title though.

As far as there not being too many sold at that price that may be true but remember there were a lot of wealthy people in this country before 1929 and no one paid income tax back then.

paydepst said:

What I meant was that is the one I know Gillette gave the MiLady nomenclature to. The others like the short MiLord we were discussing the other day were ones that have been given the MiLady designation by the wetshaving faithful as far as I know.

The Ebay listing you hyperlinked is unfamiliar to me although I do seem to recall a Gillette called the Parisienne but the MiLady wasn't a part of its title though.

As far as there not being too many sold at that price that may be true but remember there were a lot of wealthy people in this country before 1929 and no one paid income tax back then.

Click to expand...

Good point, though still amazing when you check the price on this razor with more metal mass and better function

Point taken Zach!