Wild caught double and single ring questions

[Domminigan]

Normally after doing my occasional round of hunting in the wild for razors, I get on here and maybe pop a couple photos up in the score section. Today I have a problem in that I'm not exactly sure what I have.
I picked up a pair of razors for about $20 each, and while I'm fairly sure the single ring is a 1906 with a serial number of 629,790, I don't quite know what to think of with the double ring.

Single Ring:



Double Ring:





The Double ring has a bit of plating loss on the main body and head of the razor with an equal amount on the inner tube where the serial number should be... but there is no serial number, and the text around the bottom of the handle reads "PAT APL'D FOR"
Just what exactly am I working with here?

[Domminigan]

My confusion over the single ring is that the box edges are tapered towards the top and bottom not squared like I've seen in other photos.

[bakerbarber]

1904

SLAM DUNK

Nice paperwork too!!

[HoosierTrooper]

Holy freakin moly.

[dougr]

Double ring....Nice buy and you are missing the metal blade cases. It appears to be 1905? The single is complete and looks great but can't tell if any handle splits? Doug

[Domminigan]

I did a more searching and from another sale of a double ring a while ago the "PAT APL'D FOR" instead of "Pat Nov 15 04" means that it's one of the first 25,424 made, but I'm not sure why it doesn't have a serial number. I've checked with my loupe and I can't find any trace of markings for the serial number. There are no cracks or breaks, just decent wear.

[Mark1966]

I did a more searching and from another sale of a double ring a while ago the "PAT APL'D FOR" instead of "Pat Nov 15 04" means that it's one of the first 25,424 made, but I'm not sure why it doesn't have a serial number. I've checked with my loupe and I can't find any trace of markings for the serial number. There are no cracks or breaks, just decent wear.

Pat app for is early 1903/04. The first 55k were produced without serial numbers according to the wiki

Great score, I have to rely on eBay at MUCH higher prices!

[sirslick]

You Sir, are a steely eyed missle man....!!!

[LiveOak]

Oh, man! That kind of stuff never happens to me.

[huck1680]

Truly an excellent find

[Domminigan]

Were the blade holders metal or cardboard, and does anyone know what they looked like?

[MacDaddy]

My confusion over the single ring is that the box edges are tapered towards the top and bottom not squared like I've seen in other photos.

I have an exact twin of this Single Ring set, missing closure strap and all, and I'm not exactly sure where to place it either. To make matters worse, my razor has a serial number on the inner barrel that starts with a "K" (it might even be a "KE" but that second character is extremely faint and could just be a "5" instead). What's weird is that by the time they were up to the K series in the normal run of things they'd long since stopped stamping the inner barrel and moved entirely to the guard plate instead.

Were the blade holders metal or cardboard, and does anyone know what they looked like?

They would have been cardboard sleeves. I believe the earliest ones were stamped "Gillette" rather than "Dull/Sharp," for example:



Although, Achim also has this ad from 1904 that appears to show blank black sleeves:



I don't know if that was just a lazy artist, or if they actually were blank. At some point in 1905 they switched over to the "Dull/Sharp" ones like you have with the Single Ring.

[BigFoot]

I have never found a single ring in the wild, let alone a double ring. Great score.

[dgilman]

Nifty score!

[Sledgehammer39]

Awesome catch!!

[Domminigan]

Excellent, Thanks Mac! The only problem I'm having with it is that I desperately want to shave with the two new razors, but I got a really close shave just before I left the house to go hunting.

[marcel]

Wow, great catch!

[Stan]

Wonderful find! As to the tapered box I have one as well but was not sure what went in it. So was it for a single ring? Thanks for the info.

[Domminigan]

Wonderful find! As to the tapered box I have one as well but was not sure what went in it. So was it for a single ring? Thanks for the info.

I guess so. The lack of the trademark Gillette arrow dates it 1908 or before... I think.

[IronHammer]

Bravo! Marvelous find on both but that ridiculously rare PAT APL'D FOR Double Ring with paperwork! Congrats!