Help identify Goodwill

I just won a Goodwill razor and haven't seen others with pat # 1815745. Can someone explain why this one has an extra pat #?

Thanks

Thanks for the link but that's not what I'm looking for. All of the Goodwill guards that I saw did not have the PAT. NO. 1815745 on them.

Here's a pic of what I'm referring to.

I suggest wait patiently till Edgar or DrAwkward are on line.

Nice razor. Congrats.

JanZ said:

Patent # 1815745 was issued July 21, 1931.
This would mean your Goodwill was produced after that date.
Younger NEWs bear this patent #, together with patent # 1858316 (May 17, 1932).

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Yup ... I don't think it has any special meaning either. The dates are all here.

That particular patent covers the reinforced corners of the cap.

It's a Goodwill #175 btw, nice score. Here's another example, a #160 with the same patent numbers:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/403445-Unknown-Gillette-poss-War-prod-Tech

I apologize if this is already familiar history to everyone on this thread, but I wanted to expand a little on the different patents seen on Goodwill and NEW razors. The classic three NEW patents are listed at http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Gillette_NEW_Razors and Patents on the wiki. US1815745 is one of them, but the other two that sometimes appear on Goodwill razors are different and have some history behind them.

• US1633739: Gaisman, applied 1922-11-21 issued 1927-06-28.
• US1639335: Gaisman, applies 1924-06-24 issued 1927-08-16.

The difference is easy to miss if you just glance at a Goodwill and a NEW, because "16" and "18" look pretty much alike. A third Gaisman patent US1658435, filed 1923-10-06 issued 1928-02-07, became "REISSUE PAT. NO. 17567": reissue application 1929-11-19; reissued 1930-01-14. Together these are, I think, the Probak patents that led to the merger of Gillette and Auto Strop.

The Gaisman patents preceded the Gillette (Thompson) patents, which is why Auto Strop won the patent fight. The earliest NEW razors were probably made before and during the patent fight, so they only featured the 1921 New Improved patent and sometimes "other patents pending" referring to the Thompson patents. Probak razors featured the Gaisman patents. Once the fight was over, Gillette could use the Gaisman patents too. At the same time the company went forward with the Thompson patents and reissue of one Gaisman patent, and eventually those three appeared on all the later NEW razors. But I do not know exactly how or when this process unfolded.

The mid-1931 date on US1815745 matches well with what we know about the Goodwill. In Advertising & Selling, vol. 17, iss. 7-13, p21 and p58, the Goodwill was mentioned in an article "Whither Gillette?" dated 1931-10-14.


"Whither Gillette?" also gives us an exact date for the announcement of the Gillette NEW: March 6, 1930. However the author also states that the last three-hole Gillette blade was made 1929-10-15. Possibly there was enough inventory of old blades to cover the gap? If the 1930 announcement went like the 1921 New Improved rollout, many dealers may have been ready to sell NEW razors and blades on the first day. Several months later in August 1930, Autostrop filed a patent suit against Gillette. The $30 million merger was announced in November according to this article, but McKibben says October 16.

This same 1931 article confides that Gaisman was spending much of his time traveling, not actively managing the company. That was left to "Gerard B. Lambert, formerly president of the Lambert Pharmacal Company" — an interesting character in his own right. Meanwhile Pelham and Keeley had left the company and joined Segal, which had recently brought anti-trust complaints against Gillette.

Anyway I hope that was not too boring and maybe sheds some light on the chaos around the early Gillette NEW and Goodwill razors.

More than likely the last of the Goodwill guards made by Gillette, 1927 or later going by the PAT. NO. 1633739 and 1639335. Later on in production, left over production Goodwill guards had added the groove which explains the PAT. NO. 1815745 being added.

I would estimate this razor to be a Special Goodwill #175 with a #160 cap.

This razor was produced in extremely small quantities only in 1931.

mblakele said:

Anyway I hope that was not too boring and maybe sheds some light on the chaos around the early Gillette NEW and Goodwill razors.

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On the contrary Mike, thank you very much for posting all this info.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Does anyone have the same Special Goodwill #175 and a #160 cap just as in the pics I provided? So far, I haven't come across one.

Can't wait to see how it shaves, so glad I got it.

preston1000 said:

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Does anyone have the same Special Goodwill #175 and a #160 cap just as in the pics I provided? So far, I haven't come across one.

Can't wait to see how it shaves, so glad I got it.

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All Goodwill #175 have that cap. The Goodwill #160 doesn't have the slot as the regular NEWs and the #175, that's the only difference.

Goodwill #160, same cap, just doesn't have the slot.

Still waiting to see one. Slot and added PAT. NO. 1815745 on a Special Goodwill #175.

preston1000 said:

Still waiting to see one. Slot and added PAT. NO. 1815745 on a Special Goodwill #175.

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One extra stamp doesn't exactly make it a different razor. Apart from that, all #175 are like yours. Here's two purchased within the last week or so:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...azor-Acquisition-Thread?p=6847761#post6847761

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/431555-Question-about-a-Goodwill

Here a a few of my less common Goodwill razors. My #175 has the cut diamond cut out cap.

From the left: #170 made in USA, #175 Made in Canada, French Market Goodwill Made in England.

xillion said:

Here a a few of my less common Goodwill razors. My #175 has the cut diamond cut out cap.

From the left: #170 made in USA, #175 Made in Canada, French Market Goodwill Made in England.

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3 super cool Goodwills.

That Canadian #175 has the same patent dates as my Canadian #77.

An extra stamp makes it unique to me until I see another, LOL.

Chris, thanks for posting those Goodwills, I really like the middle one. What does the the other side of the cap look like in the middle?

I'm pretty sure they didn't make only one. At least two were made, because Achim also has one ...

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/116968-Goodwill-cap-numbers

Here is the photo of the top cap of the Canadian 175

preston1000 said:

Chris, thanks for posting those Goodwills, I really like the middle one. What does the the other side of the cap look like in the middle?

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Like this. It doesn't have the ornate cap of the Old Type Goodwill. There was a couple New Type Goodwill razor with the ornate #162 cap posted here and here. But we weren't sure if the cap was original of they were frakenrazors. Also, check out some more Goodwill info in this older thread.

Thanks Edgar, at least it has family now.

I think another Goodwill will be on my want list, different looking razors with some interesting history.

Thanks Chris and Roderick for posting those pics.