Ever Ready 1924 (AKA 'Shovel Head')

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Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
Lost in the forum changes ...

The 1924, despite its name, can be found as far back as just prior to the 1919 merger between ASR and GEM, conceptually replacing the 1914 (or 'Little Lather Catcher') and with this model, ASR's lather catching past was swept aside to bring the new streamlined future!

The 1924 nomenclature refers to the Sears & Roebuck catalogue of that date in which the model was popularised.

Production would have been through to the late 1920s, perhaps just beyond ... made extinct with the introduction of the GEM Micromatic, GEM Junior (a revamped 1912) and Ever Ready New Improved (another revamped 1912 model); wherein it appears that the 1912 won as a design, which we can read as "easy to produce", I guess, like Gillette with their Tech.

The 1924 (or 'Shovel Head') is relatively easy to find; in good condition, less so, which almost all nickel plated will have deep scratches and dings due to a design oversight where the cap flips straight over and smacks into the handle and gold, almost all are in horrible condition - it was a cheap and light wash, fading and tarnishing easily.

As a shave, we tend to regard these as one of the more aggressive. Personally, I put it as more aggressive than the fabled GEM Micromatic Open Comb and would probably put this as my third favourite from the GEM/ASR stable: 1914 and 1912 being 1st and 2nd.

Collectable models are the Wall Cabinet, the Cigarette Case and the Deluxe. The latter must be in perfect gold and cased. For a shaver, there are two main working end versions: a squared comb and a curved comb; aesthetically, two versions also, one with a regular 1912-style handle and one with a shortened top and pillar base on the cap. All will say "Patent Pending" under the cap.

Left to right: Brass (former Gold) with Squared Comb, Squared Comb, Rounded Comb, more Rounded Comb with Pillar Base & Pillar Base with Short Handle (for Wall Cabinet & Cigarette Case models).

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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-..._I/AAAAAAAA0ic/TiC4v8vOMvg/s1440/IMG_7535.JPG

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https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...WI/AAAAAAAA0ik/bn8qTHwfb54/s1440/IMG_7537.JPG

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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...mI/AAAAAAAA0is/CSfxKLAME6U/s1440/IMG_7543.JPG

Detail on the comb curvature:

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Cheers for the clarification! Great stuff.
I think I bought one from yourself a few months ago, I must have forgotten as I thought it was a 1919. Its a great razor, I use it 99% of the time.
 
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