My trip to a antique flea market.

**polod** · 09-03-2007, 03:37 PM

On Sunday, I went to this massive flea market, tables and tables set up everywhere with all kinds of old stuff, large and small. I did score about 4 razors, one guy gave me one for free in this box of junk, an open comb older style 3 piece Gillette made in the 1920s, maybe early 30s. The handle was different and didn't have any cracks. I scored a really nice 1959 Fatboy, date code E 2. It was also in an open box with other junk, price $3.00 (that's more like it). It needed some cleaning but by looking at it, I could tell it was in excellent condition and lightly used. Sure enough, it cleaned up super nice, at first it didn't lock down, but with lighter fluid, WD40, boiling, electrosonic cleaning and mineral oil, it freed up nice, works like new. Then I got a 1940's Gillette Super Speed if nice condition, it was gold plated, but most of the plating was worn off so I didn't care if I boiled that one. It's not a beauty razor, but besides the gold plating being in poor condition, otherwise, it's a very good razor with no problems. Then I got another 3 piece razor in good condition, open comb with an aluminum fat handle.

But the thing that got me really disappointed was; there was hardly any razors to be found at that big flea market, most dealers at the tables said they had lots of them, but they didn't bring them to the show. The guy I bought the Fatboy from for $3, said he had a whole box of them, but again they were at his home, not at the show. Basically there were several dealers who had old safety razors, but nobody really brought any to the show.

I don't understand why they have them, but they don't bring them to show? Some said they didn't have room to bring them, but gee, you could fit several razors in a small box, a lot of these tables had glassware, furniture, records, lots of bigger stuff, but I guess a small box of razors takes up too much room? Another dealer said, he sells razor boxes, but throws the actual razor out, he said the box is worth more than the razor!!!???. I don't get it, but that's what he said. So if some of those guys would have brought those razors sitting at home, I would have scored big, but no luck this time. But the odds of several tables having razors, but at home seemed odd because you'd think a few of them would have brought them to the show. I bet the next show they have in some other town, they will all bring them, but at this particular show, they didn't. So close, yet so far. The impression that I got and what some antique dealers said was, there isn't a lot of money to be made selling safety razors and nobody is interested in buying them these days. So I left almost empty handed, nobody even had shaving mugs.

**Straight Arrow** · 09-03-2007, 03:50 PM

I've noticed the same sort of thing. Those dealers are right and they know from experience that old razors just don't sell. The average guy has absolutely no interest at all in shaving with an old relic. We tend to lose perspective because we get on this forum and everyone is all excited and talking about their latest scores and all that crap and we forget that we are just an extremely tiny group of geeks.