Pre-World War II Razors Capable of Delivering a Fine Shave

[noelekal]

I've been reading the posts of the Forum as I have opportunity for the past several weeks. There is so much to digest here about shaving and the products marketed through the years.

Generally speaking, if it's older, I appreciate it more. I like old guns, cars, coins, books. When my wife had her 40th birthday I said: "That's all right, honey. I like old stuff." That really was an unfortunate way of wording a compliment in case someone was wondering.

With firearms, I greatly enjoy owning and using firearms that were produced or at least were designed prior to World War II. I appreciate blue steel and walnut, having no use for modern guns made of composite materials, aluminum alloy, cheap molded plastic (euphemistically termed "polymer) or even stainless steel. I esteem John M. Browning designs along with the best products that came out of American and European arms companies of that era.

It would be interesting to see what kinds of safety razors the Forum considers to be the very best of the pre-war era. Do some of you still use these razors regularly? Do any of them have particular features or characteristics worth mentioning? Could anyone recommend any particular brand or model as being equal or even better than any razor produced since World War II?

This may have been discussed in an earlier post but I haven't discovered it yet. I apologize if this question is a rehash.

One other small question I have is about the prominent combs featured on many of the older razors. What advantage were combs thought to have? Did combs mostly fall by the wayside as development of razors progressed. Apparently there are a few imported razor models that still feature combs. They don't seem to be quite as long as some of the combs seen on the really old razors.

[T-Dog]

I own and use two 1930's era Gillette "New" long combed razors. It is one of the best shavers Gillette ever made:

[Copierguy]

Everyone has their likes and dislikes and I tend to be drawn to the Gillettes of 1940-1960. While I do love one modern razor (Feather AS-D1) if you are going to talk vintage, that 20 year window was the zenith for Gillette in my book. Someone else may tell a different story....YMMV as they say.

1941 Ranger Tech

[jmacak]

Don't forget the single edge Gems, e.g. the 1912. They can give a wonderful shave.

Joe in seattle

[tomjr]

they are just to many to name. but i like my old gilette's over the single edge and such but YMMV.

[bob.e]

I've not had a bad shave from any of the vintage razors

[Slivovitz]

The original post may just have had DE razors in mind, but didn't say so. Some of my favorites were either made before the first world war (Gem Junior Bar, Kampfe SCS Lather Catcher), or designed before it (Gem 1912). Injectors came around a bit later, but the early repeaters (late 1920s through early 30s) and the E1, around 1935 are all excellent.

I guess my favorite DEs are mostly from later than that, but the 1930s Gillette New is a reliable standby.

Oh, about the OP's question on combs. You'll find debates on the pros and cons of an open comb design, but one suggestion I've read is that the closed guard bars were less expensive to make. Don't know if that's true, or if it contributed to the decrease in OC models, but it seems plausible.

[whavens]

I love my Gillette NEW Open Comb. I have heard speculation that the comb allows some of the lather to remain on the face in front of the blade, as opposed to the guard bars on newer designs that wipe the lather off.

[HoosierTrooper]

The 1912 Gem, Star and Ever-Ready's, the 1914 and 1924 Ever-Ready, the open comb Micromatic and the E type Schick injectors are all wonderful.

[redbike]

Do some of you still use these razors regularly?

Absolutely. Some of then need to be used carefully since the corner teeth on the open comb razors can be bent if handled carelessly, and the handle barrels on some models are susceptible to splitting, but otherwise they work very well. The NEW is a great model to start with. Another favorite of mine is the ball-end Old Type, which is easy to come by and shaves quite closely. If you dig around the forums enough, you'll find most of the answers to your questions. If you don't, ask.

jim

[TheVez2]

Any of the Gillette DE razors, GEM/Ever-Ready SE razors, or Schick DE/Injector razors are all great shavers. Pre-war or Post-war doesn't matter they all work well. One good place for you to start would be to look at the Gillette Timeline to see which razors were made during the time period you are interested in. Have a look here:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/US_Gi...ng_Information

[Copierguy]

I love my Gillette NEW Open Comb. I have heard speculation that the comb allows some of the lather to remain on the face in front of the blade, as opposed to the guard bars on newer designs that wipe the lather off.

The guard bars are like the bumper on a car. If you scrape the paint off things with your bumper then you may wish to adjust your angle when parking.

We will now return to the regular scheduled program...

[bowlturner]

I now use ONLY pre-war razors. Gem 1912, Gem Damaskeene, Gillette NEW long comb, and Ever-Ready 1914.