Bought 9 (mostly) Great Razors, and I Didn't Even Spend $50! Gotta Love Flea Markets!

[Markfinn]

I took a trip down to Canton, Texas this morning for the First Monday Trade Days flea market to see what I could find, and was pleasantly surprised when I stepped into a dealer's stall who was selling, of all things, comic books and related merchandise. Up on a shelf between a set of Monster Energy promo magazines and superhero lunchboxes were three great looking little Gillette DE safety razors, priced as $10 apiece.

After quickly grabbing the King Gillette Pocket Edition set and the Khaki set I asked the dealer if he'd cut me a deal and he promptly responded "I will if you buy them all!" and walked over behind me and and presented me with a minty boxed Schick Injector (I'm a Gillette guy when it comes to collecting, but it didn't look like it had ever been used), a nice looking Rolls Razor, and a boxed Gillette Fat Boy.

After I saw that Fat Boy Adjustable I knew I wasn't leaving without the collection. He said he could do $50 for the six of them, I counter-offered $45 (I didn't want to get too crazy with negotiations and kill the deal! haha), and walked away with six great razors for my collection. (More info and mediocre pictures below!)

I know what you're thinking right now, six razors? I thought you said nine! Well the other three I picked up for a buck a piece at another stall not that long after, and while they are not as stellar I can put the Gillette with my collection and the GEM Juniors to use!

Here is some info and picture of the haul! (In order of my excitement about them, least to greatest to keep things interesting )

First up are the two GEM Juniors, which are in shaveable but otherwise poor-ish condition (I think they'll clean up nicely though!), and the Gillette Tech from 1951, which is in fairly good shape except for some missing plastic at the base of the handle. It has the matte/shiny "Gillette" logo on the top, I'm not sure why that didn't show up in the photo! I didn't have one of these yet nor have I shaved with one, so I'm curious to see how it performs.

Then we have this beautiful (for a schick anyway...haha jk that's my inner gillette prejudice speaking) Schick Injector, that appears to have never been used, and the box still contains everything it did when it sat on the store shelf in the 50s. I believe this one is a G1 from around 1950, but I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to injectors, so I'll have to do a little more research before I know for sure!

This little Gillette has a mismatched case (it belongs to a Valet), but it's the only Gillette I have currently that was made in Canada. It appears to be a ball-handled "New" from the 30s, but it has no serial so dating it accurately is difficult. (the blades are from 1940, so they may be original to the razor.)

(Will be continued below! 5 images per post so I'm splitting this up)

 

[Markfinn]

I don't know much about Rolls Razors, but the only thing missing from this one is the honing stone, so I can definitely give it a try! The blade is in great shape and so is the case. The prices for these are always very high at flea markets when compared to ebay, not sure why, but that's why it's taken me so long to get around to trying one haha.

Ah, the Gillette Fat Boy, I've been looking for one of these for ages. I have two slims, but have always wanted to try this one because of the great experience I've had with the others. It's from 1961, and while the box is severely warped and a bit scuffed the razor itself looks like it was only used once then put away for the last 50 years, and the fact that it has a box at all is great.

You could probably see the surprise on my face when I opened this case up and saw a matching razor set in it. This "King Gillette" Pocket Edition set is in remarkable condition considering it's from 1911, and the only real issue it has is that the base of the box is slightly dented causing it to remain open. The velvet on the inside is even in pretty good shape!

Best for last, I think: this absolutely mint and complete (except for the khaki mirror cover :/ )Gillette Khaki set from 1918 (I think, but sadly the first letter of the date code isn't fully impressed in the metal so it could be an E or an F, maybe even a J if the J has a bar over the top in Gillette's font!) Except for a couple of spots on the outside of the case and the scratched initials on the blade case it's absolutely spotless, and I can't believe a razor set that's that old could even survive that well!

Just goes to show you that you never know what you might find out at those flea markets!

 

[SmoovD]

Nicely done. Canton can yield some treasures but you gotta be willing to work a bit.

 

[mjclark]

Congratulations! Superb, and an encouragement to the rest of us to keep looking...

 

[drifterdon]

I love Canton, I sure miss Texas

 

[Spectre]

wow great find!

 

[wazza]

Wow brilliant find. The king gillette is a real looker. Congrats on the find.

 

[RedBird]

I was going by an antique store on an out of town trip yesterday, and passed a store and decided to stop. I found a Red Tip and a flare tip super speed. The person said I could have them for $8 each. I had traded my previous red tip, and this was a very nice Red Tip with the paint still in very good shape so I wanted it. The flare tip was also in good shape, so although I did not really need it I offered $8 for the red tip or $12 for both, and the sale was made. I think with a little clean up work, the red tip is going to be very nice. There were also a lot of old Gem single edges and one Ever Ready single edge. I would not even know how to use the Ever Ready, but it was really cool looking, so I paid $5 for it. I figured I could clean it up and use it as decorative.

There were several shaving mugs, one Old Spice for $10, but I have one like it. There was another mug and brush, and I am mad I cannot recall the name. The Mug was "ok", but the brush handle was really cool and colorful. I almost bought it just for the brush handle, but I managed to keep my AD under control.

 

[craig lorence]

Great score.

 

[BSAGuy]

Great score and thanks for the pics. For $7.50 each, that's a great haul. Hope you were wearing a mask!!

Seeing these finds is my favorite part about this board.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

Amazing score indeed! Love the strange early Gillette stuff, especially when it's cased. I was trying to capture the head of my Tech a few times today as well and can't get it to show well.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Very nice!

 

[NRAM]

Wow. Very nice score. That King Gillette is pretty cool... Congrats!

 

[Markfinn]

Thanks guys! After I get these cleaned up I'm going to have to do a collection update with much better pics (These looked a lot better at midnight when I took them... haha) I'm up to fourteen now , I think, and will probably be putting a few razors or maybe even the collection up for sale sans the couple I use regularly, so stay tuned! I like to keep these moving so I can keep buying these razors to try and/or admire them on the shelf for a while before I pass them on to another collector!