Bostonian Help

Hokay

My first Ebay purchase, meets two of my criteria ( English, TTO, Boxed ).

Put in a minimum bid and was the only bidder

Made me wonder if there was something about it that I didn't know.

RAD is BAD !

What can anyone tell me about this ???

Razor made in England

The case says "Case made in USA", not just "Made in USA"

I know some will say it's a mismatch, but there a similar one here

The top lining is upside down, when I purchased thought that it might have just have fallen out and been put in upside down, but it's glued in. It was obviously the right way up at one time as you can see the wear marks from the head.

Case looks like it never had a plating on it. Mechanism ( with a bit of fiddling ) still works fine.

Razor itself looks like any plating has worn off main handle and head ( see the head piccie )

Top of head has 184316Y on it, and on the bottom of the handle PAT 133963-1917.

No cracks in the handle. Teeth all present and straight.

Looks like everything should clean up nicely.

Nice heft razor too, just what I like.

Any information greatly appreciated.

the upper felt came out and was put back in bacwards.

D.Irving79 said:

the upper felt came out and was put back in bacwards.

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Sorry to disagree Dave, but I think it's specially put upside down for the Down Under Market

Any info still appreciated........

Here it is after a cleanup.

I reckon that one cleaned up nicely mate!

The bostonian is not twist to open, and it looks like most of the plating has come off, which looks like gold to me.

Nice one Ian! That one seems to be in much better condition than the one I bought last year...

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=89251

Good thing it got fixed and is now in a loved home!

Nice before and after shots!

RagingRazor said:

The bostonian is not twist to open, and it looks like most of the plating has come off, which looks like gold to me.

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Yep, as I said TWO of my criteria and yes, a lot of the plate is off the main handle ( by comparison to under the head ) , but there's still a layer there that's cleaned up really nice and shiney. Oh and yes, it's gold.... just bad lighting. This gives a better idea, and you can see the "original" plating under the head

Luc said:

Nice one Ian! That one seems to be in much better condition than the one I bought last year...

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Ummm, yep , certainly is Luc. And the missus rumbled me when she got home. Even the 11 year old tried to trick her saying it'd been in the cupboard but we'd only just got a chance to clean it up ( one of her "old" tricks ) He's learning !

Can any one tell me about what year it is ??

There's more than two letters and I've looked in the Wiki but can't make head nor tail of how to date it....

fidjit said:

Yep, as I said TWO of my criteria and yes, a lot of the plate is off the main handle ( by comparison to under the head ) , but there's still a layer there that's cleaned up really nice and shiney. Oh and yes, it's gold.... just bad lighting. This gives a better idea :

Ummm, yep , certainly is Luc. And the missus rumbled me when she got home. Even the 11 year old tried to trick her saying it'd been in the cupboard but we'd only just got a chance to clean it up ( one of her "old" tricks ) He's learning !

Can any one tell me about what year it is ??

There's more than two letters and I've looked in the Wiki but can't make head nor tail of how to date it....

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Look at the number at the bottom of the barrel where you twist the handle. There's a number. I see a 17, so it might be 1917...

Luc said:

Look at the number at the bottom of the barrel where you twist the handle. There's a number. I see a 17, so it might be 1917...

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Yeah, it's in the top post PAT 133963-1917 , but that's just the patent date isn't it, not the manufacture date ????

184316Y would indicate British manufacture, 1921. First year of the New Improved head design. Very nice score indeed!

PaulX608 said:

184316Y would indicate British manufacture, 1921. First year of the New Improved head design. Very nice score indeed!

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Paul, is there an online resource for dating the British Gillettes?

T Rick said:

Paul, is there an online resource for dating the British Gillettes?

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In general, I don't know. But for this particular piece, my source was here. It would seem from this that for at least this first year of the New Improved heads' production, they used the letter suffix to indicate the country of origin. This is by no means gospel, but it seems to be the most consistent info I've found.

T Rick said:

Paul, is there an online resource for dating the British Gillettes?

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Rick, It's outlined in the Geocities file.

1()-863912() where () is Y=England, W=France, Z=Canada, V=Spain starting in 1921

Len

According to Krumholz, New Improved razors produced in England had a "Y" suffix and "were to be numbered #1-Y through #999,999-Y". Less than one million were produced throughout the English run. There is no record of how many were produced in any given year as there is for the Boston plant. "184316Y" could place it in 1921, but it could just as easily have been 1922 or 1923 or later based upon annual production numbers.

Thank you gentlemen.

Ian, your New Standard is simply one of the greatest razors ever made. It sparkles. What did you use to clean it up with? Some consider the New Deluxe the sweetest of them all, for me however, the New Standard (yours) is in the #1 slot. Enjoy it.

Darjeeling Express said:

Ian, your New Standard is simply one of the greatest razors ever made. It sparkles. What did you use to clean it up with? Some consider the New Deluxe the sweetest of them all, for me however, the New Standard (yours) is in the #1 slot. Enjoy it.

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Just lsoap soak, toothpaste, toothbrush followed up with some Silvo ( and obviously lot's of Elbow power ).

I was considering taking it down to my watch maker mate to get it in the ultrasonic but I'm a bit worried it might take off some of the left over plating.

Didn't get a chance to shave with it this morning as I had to help the old man round his garden and got up late.

I'm pretty sure it should be good as it's nice and heavy which I like

I actually started a correspondence with the Ebay Seller and found out from her that it'd been in the family for years.

I almost sent back to buy it back off me now it was clean and shiney and keep it as a family heirloom.........ALMOST !

Fidjit, if you sent it back to her in its shiny splendor to keep as an heirloom that would be an incredibly noble act. But I suspect you appreciate it more than she does. Now the razor is in its new home, to become an heirloom for your family!

Darjeeling Express said:

Fidjit, if you sent it back to her in its shiny splendor to keep as an heirloom that would be an incredibly noble act. But I suspect you appreciate it more than she does. Now the razor is in its new home, to become an heirloom for your family!

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Yeah, I"m guessing if you put something like this up on Ebay when it's been in the family for years then you're not really that sentimental about it, it's a pity really.

It's funny these days though, the boys when they were younger have said things to me like "when you die, can I have your motorbike/mobile phone/television" etc.

Everything we own these days is so "disposable" and short term.............

Hopefully they'll appreciate the "legacy" of these razors when I pass on.

THat being said, I must admit I'd never really given much though to "legacy" items in my family until this damned razor obsession started

My three boys aren't gonna have to fight too badly between themselves, at this current time they'll be getting at least 4 each !!!