Gillette Canada serial numbers

MacDaddy · Sep 17, 2012

Just got another one in:

Prefix	Serial Number	Description
	153084	Thin-handled ball end; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; two-rivet shell case w/ nothing on bottom; silver Gillette diamond label; cigarette-pack blade case

I wonder if we can narrow down the punched-up or down collar to a particular time frame over on the American side of things, not that the Canadian plant necessarily made the shift at exactly the same time, but I would bet that it'd be similar.

Sled Dog · Sep 17, 2012

Would like to see a picture when you have the time

MacDaddy said:
Just got another one in:

Prefix Serial Number Description
153084 Thin-handled ball end; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; two-rivet shell case w/ nothing on bottom; silver Gillette diamond label; cigarette-pack blade case

I wonder if we can narrow down the punched-up or down collar to a particular time frame over on the American side of things, not that the Canadian plant necessarily made the shift at exactly the same time, but I would bet that it'd be similar.

alex2363 · Sep 17, 2012

MacDaddy said:
Just got another one in:

Prefix Serial Number Description
153084 Thin-handled ball end; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; two-rivet shell case w/ nothing on bottom; silver Gillette diamond label; cigarette-pack blade case

I wonder if we can narrow down the punched-up or down collar to a particular time frame over on the American side of things, not that the Canadian plant necessarily made the shift at exactly the same time, but I would bet that it'd be similar.

Sled Dog said:
Would like to see a picture when you have the time

Porter......pics pleez :001_wub:

MacDaddy · Oct 2, 2012

I had another Canadian Pocket Edition waiting for me in the mail when I got back from my vacation. Like the last thin-handled one, this one came from a seller in the UK.

Prefix	Serial Number	Description
	175702	Gold "true ball-end" handle; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; four-rivet plain case w/ patent numbers on bottom; logo label missing; cigarette-pack blade case

What's particularly curious about this one in relation to the previous thin-handled one I posted is how near it is in serial number after that one, and yet it uses what I would otherwise think of as an older case style. Just spitballing here, but I wonder if we could put these both right around the time that Gillette was switching away from using the ABC sets to the internally made ones. Since the gold sets were significantly more expensive than the silver ones it could make sense that they would have had older style parts in inventory for the gold sets longer.

I'll try to get some pics of both sets up this evening.

MacDaddy · Oct 3, 2012

Here we go. Pics of these latest two sets, as promised:

alex2363 · Oct 3, 2012

MacDaddy said:
I had another Canadian Pocket Edition waiting for me in the mail when I got back from my vacation. Like the last thin-handled one, this one came from a seller in the UK.

Prefix Serial Number Description
175702 Gold "true ball-end" handle; "Made in Canada" (left) and large Gillette diamond (right) stamped on guard plate; bullet-style cap studs; punched-up collar; four-rivet plain case w/ patent numbers on bottom; logo label missing; cigarette-pack blade case

What's particularly curious about this one in relation to the previous thin-handled one I posted is how near it is in serial number after that one, and yet it uses what I would otherwise think of as an older case style. Just spitballing here, but I wonder if we could put these both right around the time that Gillette was switching away from using the ABC sets to the internally made ones. Since the gold sets were significantly more expensive than the silver ones it could make sense that they would have had older style parts in inventory for the gold sets longer.

I'll try to get some pics of both sets up this evening.

Maybe it was due to inventory overload. Gillette was known to use every single part available, kinda like a chef does with his leftover ingredients, he makes up new menus using leftover ingredients.

mblakele · Oct 3, 2012

Is it the picture or are those serial numbers done in subtly different fonts? The five jumps out at me: the vertical downstroke looks shorter on the right-hand example. But the one and the zero also look different.

MacDaddy · Oct 3, 2012

mblakele said:
Is it the picture or are those serial numbers done in subtly different fonts? The five jumps out at me: the vertical downstroke looks shorter on the right-hand example. But the one and the zero also look different.

I think it may just be a combination of the perspective being slightly different from one side to the other, because of their location in the frame and the difference in the location of the strikes on the guard plates, as well as the wear/weak strike on the gold one. They didn't jump out at me as being different in person. But I'll have another look at them when I get home this evening.

Also, I have another one of those "true ball-end" handled sets somewhere that I haven't recorded here in this thread yet. I'll have to dig it up this evening, too. Here's a photo:

Sled Dog · Oct 3, 2012

Really like the looks of those "true ball-end" razors...gotta get me one of those :biggrin1:

Great razors, thanks for sharing!!

MacDaddy · Oct 4, 2012

MacDaddy said:
I think it may just be a combination of the perspective being slightly different from one side to the other, because of their location in the frame and the difference in the location of the strikes on the guard plates, as well as the wear/weak strike on the gold one. They didn't jump out at me as being different in person. But I'll have another look at them when I get home this evening.

OK, as best as I can tell, looking at them side by side, they're the same. The fact

MacDaddy said:
Also, I have another one of those "true ball-end" handled sets somewhere that I haven't recorded here in this thread yet. I'll have to dig it up this evening, too.

OK, I found that one and here are its particulars:

Prefix	Serial Number	Description
PC	42298	Gold "true ball-end" handle, no stamping on bottom of guard plate, ABC-style cap studs, punched-down collar, four-rivet shell case w/ patent dates on bottom, match-strike blade case

I think it's safe to assume that this is the oldest of the three sets we've most recently been talking about here.

Sled Dog · Nov 11, 2012

Serial numbers 486987 and 502259 posted here http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...dian-Old-Type-smooth-ball-ends-(lots-of-pics)

Domminigan · Jan 17, 2013

I'm glad I stumbled back on this thread. I dropped the ball on getting clear pictures. I'll update with clear pictures when I get home.

alex2363 · Feb 23, 2013

Domminigan said:
I'm glad I stumbled back on this thread. I dropped the ball on getting clear pictures. I'll update with clear pictures when I get home.

You still not home? :laugh:

update?

ironfist · Feb 24, 2013

One of my canadian single rings, on the comb has C141071, any ideas?

mblakele · Feb 24, 2013

For Canada the serial number alone does not help much. There was probably an early series with serial numbers on the barrel and later series with numbers on the guard plate. If so yours would be in that later series. At a guess that puts it after 1910, but that is not much help.

But there can be clues in how the razor was constructed and marked, plus its case. So post photos if you can. Try to capture any other markings at all, and the case if you have one.

mulligano · Mar 25, 2013

I hope I'm going about this the right way.

I got a Canadian old type set recently and can't seem to find an exact match anywhere! I have put pictures in another thread here.

It has serial number 314644.

Thanks.

mblakele · Mar 25, 2013

This is the right thread. We may or may not have answers, but the data is piling up.

I will quote your other thread for reference, so we have the photos in front of us. I see yours has the smooth ball, and that extra stamp is interesting.

mulligano said:
Hi guys,

I picked up this Canadian old type the other day and set about cleaning it up. It turned out very nice!

What's strange is that after cleaning I came cross this unusual stamp on the bottom plate, does anyone have any clue as to what it is?

I've also been unable to find a similar razor set on any of the reference sites and thought I would link to this thread in the Canadian serial number thread here.

Here is a picture of the set (I suspect the blades are not the originals!):

And of the serial number:

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

mulligano · Mar 25, 2013

mblakele said:
This is the right thread. We may or may not have answers, but the data is piling up.

I will quote your other thread for reference, so we have the photos in front of us. I see yours has the smooth ball, and that extra stamp is interesting.

Thank you. I wonder if it may be a replater's mark?
Great compilation of data and some good research involved in this thread btw. Well done!

alex2363 · Mar 25, 2013

mulligano said:
Thank you. I wonder if it may be a replater's mark?
Great compilation of data and some good research involved in this thread btw. Well done!

Never seen this before , what does it say?

mulligano · Mar 25, 2013

alex2363 said:
Never seen this before , what does it say?

I really can't make it out.
If I was guessing I'd say "F,8,B, then a symbol/logo of some kind, I, then another logo.

I can't see it any clearer "in the flesh" either. Might take it to a jeweller's when I get the chance and see if they can make anything out with their magnifying glass!

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Gillette Canada serial numbers

MacDaddy

Sled Dog

alex2363

MacDaddy

MacDaddy

alex2363

mblakele

MacDaddy

Sled Dog

MacDaddy

Sled Dog

Domminigan

alex2363

ironfist

mblakele

mulligano

mblakele

mulligano

alex2363

mulligano

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