Alright, who got the New Deluxe Criterion?

[tnsplayer]

Well I haven't studied Spanish since I was in high school so I can't read much of anything in that text but it seems more plausible that he might be the right John M. Weatherwax and it was given as a gift unrelated to working for the Gillette company.

I almost think these never received serial numbers as they were never intended for retail sale but rather gifts. Almost like some of the early single ring old type sets start with the serial number G and an out of sequence serial number which seemed to specify a higher end set than the normal production silver single ring sets.

Thanks again for your assistance, it is interesting to speculate on the history of these sets.

[the beav]

I glanced through the Krumholz book and will take a guess here. The fact that it's a Presentation set would probably date it before Gillette's death in 1932. The lack of new patent dates would indicate the same. One strike against this is that there is no serial number, and serial numbers were used on these sets up to about February 1, 1931. However, there is one clue that perhaps best dates this set as one of the earlier ones.

Looking at the photos above, this set (according to Krumholz) has the rare variant extended inner barrel. I have one also and the serial number on it is 21392. I can only guess that these razors were initially introduced with the extended barrel, then it was eliminated in order to save in manufacturing costs. But that's just a guess. If anyone knows about these rare variant barrels I'd like to know more.

[ras120]

Looking at the photos above, this set (according to Krumholz) has the RARE VARIANT extended inner barrel. I have one also and the serial number on it is 21392. I can only guess that these razors were initially introduced with the extended barrel, then it was eliminated in order to save in manufacturing costs. But that's just a guess. If anyone knows about these rare variant barrels I'd like to know more.

I think this is just the standard barrel design for the De Luxe models. I have owned 7 of these (Criterions and Big Boys), and they all had this same type of barrel.

[the beav]

I think this is just the standard barrel design for the De Luxe models. I have owned 7 of these (Criterions and Big Boys), and they all had this same type of barrel.

Thanks--that's interesting, and it seems Krumholz might be incorrect about that. I'd still like to know the origin of that idea, though.

I wonder on this particular set if the razor was a post Feb. 1931 razor and they put it in an extra Presentation case that was left over. That might be another possibility. I do like the idea that they pulled some razors before they were serialized, but it seems like that might depend on when the razors were serialized in the production process.

[cwnidog]

I extend my most sincere jealousy.