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TECH Tuesday

The Gillette engineer who created the Tech should be in some shaving Hall of Fame somewhere. It is a perfect shave every time (IMO, of course). Blade, cream, brush...they all work in/with the Tech. No wonder there are so many copies and so may Gillette razors based on it. I know it is mild but what is not to like about a razor that can be placed in almost any position anywhere on the face at the proper angle? Joseph Spang was Gillette's CEO from 1939 through the 1950's, just after the introduction of the Tech through its heyday. Probably as close as we get to someone related to the razor. Next to Gillette himself, probably the companies most influential CEO in terms of product development and marketing. He started Gillette's association with various sports. He looks like a man who shaves with the Tech, satisfied!

Today....Tech with a Weber handle, Feather blade and support cast in the photo. Really liking the AOS Ocean Kelp and unscented shave balm.

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and Joseph Spang

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Tech Tuesday's Shave: 7/10/12

Pre-Shave: Hot Towel Prep
Brush: C&E Super Badger
Shave Cream: Taconic Tequila Lime
Razor: Post War Ball End Tech w/ Feather Blade
Shave: 3 passes and a little touch-up at the jawline
Post-Shave: Cold Water Rinses, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Nivea ASB
Result: Fantastic

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We could start here. I believe the man behind the Tech was Samuel C. Stampleman: http://www.google.com/patents/US2270388. The illustrations are of a fat-handle Tech, and the patent is essential to the Tech design.

Yes. Stampleman was President of the Company at that time (1934 to December, 1938). Ex-Auto Strop executive. Don't know if he was an engineer by background. He is the listed inventor and assigned the patent to Gillette....The Company seriously declined in sales under his leadership only to be revived by Spang who served from December of 1938 until 1956, the height of the Company's market share. Spang was a marketing genius. The Tech patent was submitted in August of 1938 and granted in 1942. Wonder if it is still in force and if Gillette has/can renew it. What a great razor! And still influencing razor design. Let's put them both in the Hall. And thank them next Tuesday when we shave...or everyday, as the case may be.
 
Thanks, I thought his name sounded familiar but I neglected to research beyond that patent. Now that I have, there is little information available about Stampleman. The name is not very common, which helps. His obituary at http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...ORaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LnwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6593,6965521 says that he emigrated to the USA from Vilna, Poland. He moved to Miami Beach, FL in 1953, after retiring as chairman of Gillette, and died in 1978 at age 89. I also found http://ssdmf.info/by_birthdate/18870107.html and http://www.ellisisland.org/search/F...20&BN=P50050-2&sship=Majestic&lineshipid=3400 which seem to corroborate this, saying that he was born 07 January 1887 and went through Ellis Island in 1924 at age 37. The Ellis Island record mentions Switzerland and England rather than Poland, but that may have been a misunderstanding.

That obituary claims that Stampleman "spent 25 years as an executive with the Autostrop Razor Co." - but I think they meant his total time at AutoStrop and Gillette. Otherwise he would have been an executive at Auto Strop in 1905. The company existed then, but it had just been founded and at that time Stampleman was only 18 years old and had not yet come to the USA. So that seems unlikely. They also have him exiting as president in the late 40s, but probably meant the late 30s.

In 1933 a pair of con-men extorted $5,000 from him, according to http://books.google.com/books?id=pH_lZXP9LaMC&lpg=PA97&ots=hc4N_ajeWA&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false and http://time-demo.newscred.com/article/71b8051b25dad69742b45e17c882fd76.html/edit. In the same year, The Cornell Alumni bulletin included a notice for the wedding of his daughter Lucy to a Cornell alumnus: http://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/27071/1/035_34.pdf. From http://www.archive.org/stream/listofresidentst194105bost/listofresidentst194105bost_djvu.txt it appears his wife was named Anna.

Besides the Tech patent, he was named as inventor on a blade patent http://www.google.com/patents/US2384051 and a blade magazine patent http://www.google.com/patents/US2363908. Interestingly those were filed in 1943 and 1944, when he was chairman. At http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/autograph-photo-john-kennedy-radio-218439715 I see a photo reportedly signed for Stampleman, which describes him as "inventor, president" of Gillette. At some point he gave a few thousand dollars to Harvard: http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/viewtext/2580922?op=t&n=12550&s=4 - but to a teaching fund rather than a business school. I think it unlikely that he was an alumnus of Harvard, and possibly he had little formal education, but I cannot find any evidence either way. From these hints I tend to think he really was the inventor for his three patents, though.

In http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...AUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N9QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4273,6475917 there are some 1938 quotes in a Florida paper, which gets his name wrong - twice, in two different ways. The article quotes him speaking favorably of FDR while defending large corporations, and mentions a grandson aged 3. There is an interesting quote at the end for the "Gillette model" debate. Stampleman mentions that razor handles are sold at cost or for a small loss, which is orthodox enough - but he begins by saying "It may be surprising to lots of people", which I found surprising.

These pictures might be of his Florida home (warning: last one may be NSFW): http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c09809/ http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c09807/ http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c09808/
 
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I'm a big fan of my Tech on a fat handle. I can't promise, that I'll be using it this tuesday because I'm a every second day shaver, but as long I'm testing different blades with it, I'll do it on some tuesdays, that's for sure :001_smile

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I started out this Tech Tuesday a little differently. I have decided to try and master the straight razor so i did my first very gentle passes with that and after making a very poor job of shaving but not cutting myself of doing any damage I change to the tech to finish. Talk about the extremes of aggression.
Bengall Straight by Cadman
English ball handle Tech / Astra SP / Arko /Alum / Nivea balm
:thumbup:
 
Razor: English Gillette Fat Handled Tech
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Soap: Nivea classic shave cream
Brush: Simpson COMMODORE X1 best badger
AS: Alum, Pashana splash

:thumbup1:
 
Gold Contract Tech w/ Personna 74 (7)
Muehle 23mm Silvertip Fibre Brush
Mama Bear Ye Olde Barbershoppe Soap
Witch Hazel & Clubman AS
Speick Cologne

Nice 2-pass CCS. :thumbup:
 
My First Tech Tuesday, my first Tech ever.

Received Gold fat handled Tech last week from the BST. Polished it a smidge though it barely needed it.
Shaved with Rapira Platinum Lux (1), Mystic Waters Rosalimone, SOC Boar

This is a nice razor. Light, smooth and smoother. Angle easy to deduce, barely know the razor cutting.
Yet cut it does. Effortless, irritation-free close comfortable shave.
Will keep participating!
 
First time shaving with a Tech for me.

Razor: Ball end Tech
Soap: Razorock King Louis
Brush: Semogue 1438

Fairly decent shave. I found that I could use some pressure to get a closer shave without cutting myself; this is very different from other DE's that I have.
 
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