WW2 Gillette Tech Info Please

Mike Smart

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Hi Lads i’m looking for a bit of info on this razor if anyone can help and it’s a wonderful story to this one
well in my eyes.As a lot of you know i’m out working in Norway just now & iv pretty much worked here the last 10 years,
Iv actually worked here more than i have in the u.k. in that time scale.
A bit of a drawn out story but last week i got speaking to one of my Norwegian gaffers and off course the conversation arose about shaving,
He told me he does wreck diving and had actually found a Razor in a silver box with blade holder in a locker room just outside the engine room on a german boat.
This is that Razor.
I told him what it was but i couldn’t date it so any help would be good.

The ship was a German ww2 bulk carrier as he called it, sorry i don’t really know what that means but it was sunk in Norwegian waters during ww2.
The Ship was called Frankenwald.
i haven’t yet had time to do any research on it myself but i’ll try.
I have actually been offered the razor free of charge but declined his kind offer
but think i’ll change my mind more for the story.
What’s your thoughts Lads.
I’m thinking at the end of the day it’s only a tech worth peanuts but would be good to own.

If info would be good thanks
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That ain’t no Tech, it’s an Old Type. Earlier than WW2. Any branding on it I.e country of manufacture? I can almost make out a Gillette rhomboid logo but I could be dreaming. ‘Tis quite early for me after all.

What matters here is the story - sunken Treasure! That’s like, even more exciting than dug up treasure from the gairden but alas I’ve never dug up a razor before.

One of the most exciting stories I’ve read on a forum anywhere!
 
Just a little update guys
but what i can understand is a ww2 razor or before found in a sunken german ship but the razor was made in the usa.
I don’t think there’s any further info i can get.
apart from the gillette sign & the made in usa there is no other markings
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With you there, sir. A 100 year old, U.S. made Gillette razor found in a German ship that sank during WW2. It may not be a Darwin or double/single ring plated with whale’s knob cheese but how many of us have or know a razor with a story, a provenance like that? I mean it’s not Sweeney Todd’s murderous straight but still what an amazing find and thrilling story.
 
With you there, sir. A 100 year old, U.S. made Gillette razor found in a German ship that sank during WW2. It may not be a Darwin or double/single ring plated with whale’s knob cheese but how many of us have or know a razor with a story, a provenance like that? I mean it’s not Sweeney Todd’s murderous straight but still what an amazing find and thrilling story.
Definitely agree i couldn’t believe my ears when he was telling me.
i know the guy is 100% genuine however in a sale or auction there is no physical proof unfortunately
 
Not to pop the bubble, but it's a pretty bog-standard American 'Old' type. What is good about it is, it's "gold" so will polish up to raw brass just lovely. Blob of Peek Polish and give it a massage. No that! The razor, man! The razor! The other good thing is it does not appear to have any cracks or splits in the central part of the handle.

You've got the thicker cap, so this puts it after 1921. While the so-called Military Set had a screw in chuck in the handle and was presented as a two-piece, the Khaki Set was indeed a ball-ended three-piece like yours.

... and that's about it.

There are a million and one ways that such a razor could have ended up on a German ship, but here's a tale I was told by an older neighbour (another time, another place) who was stationed in Arctic waters beyond Norway. He said that for most of the day, they lay about sunbathing. He told me that there was a part-sunken wreck near their ship which was between them and a German ship. They'd often play cards with the Germans on this wreck between the two ships. There was an uneasy agreement between the ships that if either was ordered to engage, they'd recall their sailors in a quite obvious fashion and engage after a reasonable time thereafter.

Salvaged from a wreck at the time? Won in a game of cards? Stolen as proof of a bet sneaking aboard the enemy ship? Simply given as a gesture of naval friendship? Maybe ... simply, the German chap bought it.
 
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