Matthew Wild
1920's Gillette Old Type - cleaned and polished
This Gillette Old Type razor is 80 years old – looks fantastic for its age, doesn’t it.
OK, so I cheated. I cleaned and polished it.
It was made sometime in the 1920s – I can’t date it exactly, but definitely sometime during that decade. It pre-dates the Great Depression, and the turbulence of the ‘30s, Second World War, etc. . .
It’s clearly been used; I’d say throughout the Depression and WWII. Maybe longer.
It suffers from the typical ball handle malady – cracks. These handles were made in three parts, press fitted together. Being different thicknesses, they contract at different rates.
I wish I’d taken a before picture, because I’ve made it shine. I first sprayed it in a bathroom tile cleaner to remove the residue of soap scum and calcination from hard water. Then it was doused in Lysol and washed with a toothbrush and dishwashing detergent. Then I gave it various aluminum foil / baking soda baths, which is the best way to bring tarnished silver back up to a shine – it doesn’t re-plate, but turns the black areas back into silver. I polished it after that.
Excessive? Naturally.
I’m at Wild West Communications if you want to use my photography or talk about my writing and communications work.
1920's Gillette Old Type - cleaned and polished
This Gillette Old Type razor is 80 years old – looks fantastic for its age, doesn’t it.
OK, so I cheated. I cleaned and polished it.
It was made sometime in the 1920s – I can’t date it exactly, but definitely sometime during that decade. It pre-dates the Great Depression, and the turbulence of the ‘30s, Second World War, etc. . .
It’s clearly been used; I’d say throughout the Depression and WWII. Maybe longer.
It suffers from the typical ball handle malady – cracks. These handles were made in three parts, press fitted together. Being different thicknesses, they contract at different rates.
I wish I’d taken a before picture, because I’ve made it shine. I first sprayed it in a bathroom tile cleaner to remove the residue of soap scum and calcination from hard water. Then it was doused in Lysol and washed with a toothbrush and dishwashing detergent. Then I gave it various aluminum foil / baking soda baths, which is the best way to bring tarnished silver back up to a shine – it doesn’t re-plate, but turns the black areas back into silver. I polished it after that.
Excessive? Naturally.
I’m at Wild West Communications if you want to use my photography or talk about my writing and communications work.