An Ever Ready 1912?????

JohnnyO said:
At least whilst you are searching you'll be enjoying great shaves with a really nice piece of kit.

JohnnyO. o/
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I completely agree. I had my first SE shave tonight with a 1912 and GEM Stainless blade and it was fantastic in every way. Close, safe and comfortable. I find that a SE blade lets you know exactly where you stand with its rigidness and no flexing during the shave, and I like that.

It shaves like a beast with the GEM blade, I imagine it's even better with a hollow ground blade. :eek:
 
Thanks chaps, first test run tomorrow, will check in with results.

Historical based question: I know these were patented by a US based firm, but who actually made them in Britain, and were these a luxury item for their time or a tool for the common man?
 
I have both "GB" and "US" Ever Ready 1912's. You can tell them apart because they're clearly marked with the country of manufacture.

I don't know if anyone else made them in Britain, or who used them at the time, sorry.
 
Tman10 said:
Thanks chaps, first test run tomorrow, will check in with results.

Historical based question: I know these were patented by a US based firm, but who actually made them in Britain, and were these a luxury item for their time or a tool for the common man?
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There was an Amalgamation of companies around 1919....Ever Ready, Star & Gem etc...The 1912 patent came from the Original Gem Cutlery Damaskeene ..The Damaskeene was the Original 1912 although they were referring to the blades & not the razor...After the Amalgamation in 1919 It was Advertised as the Damskeene for the first time..British New Improved 1912s were not made until the around 1930...The USA Factory had been making them since the early 20s..In short the New Improved 1912s were all made by the same Company under different Brand names...o_O

Billy
 
Scratch said:
I have both "GB" and "US" Ever Ready 1912's. You can tell them apart because they're clearly marked with the country of manufacture.

I don't know if anyone else made them in Britain, or who used them at the time, sorry.
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Do you find there is any significant difference between US and GB models?
 
Fergiebilly said:
There was an Amalgamation of companies around 1919....Ever Ready, Star & Gem etc...The 1912 patent came from the Original Gem Cutlery Damaskeene ..The Damaskeene was the Original 1912 although they were referring to the blades & not the razor...After the Amalgamation in 1919 It was Advertised as the Damskeene for the first time..British New Improved 1912s were not made until the around 1930...The USA Factory had been making them since the early 20s..o_O

Billy
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Cool info Billy, thanks!
 
Tman10 said:
Do you find there is any significant difference between US and GB models?
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The British made 1912 flat top design was never changed..Its far more aggressive than most USA Variants...The early GEM curved or round top was a lot smoother than the British one but quite aggressive...It had a round top with a New Improved Frame..As the USA 1912s went through the timeline they changed them because they were designed to take a stropping blade with a thicker spine...They tried to tone them down somewhat and made many changes...The Gem Junior was the last variant and they went through many changes as well..Quite sadly some of the later Gem Juniors were just junk to be honest...Mass produced cheaply in desperation to compete with Gillette.:eek:

Billy.
 
I'm a big fan of the aggression of the '30s British 1912s (generally, ones with the "chain link" handles) and find the later British (into the '50s and often with the handle as shown by Tman10 tonight) to have smoothed that aggression without losing the efficiency. It's all in the minute detail, of course, but those minute details do seem to make a world of difference.

I concur with Billy over the US made razors. They're okay, but they're not the best. The earlier ones were of a much better quality and give a smoother shave, but I still prefer the '30s Brit over all of them.

I've seen Star mentioned ...

Star were also made in the US and GB. Generally, and this is a big generalisation, the ones marked "Made in USA" were made in the US (no, never!) and the ones marked "Safety Razor" were made in GB largely for the French market. Quality and shave is akin to the British 1912. If you want some real weirdness, there were some "Made in England" GEM 1912s. These are rare and I think were for the Australian market, a guess based on how few of them you see come up for sale and how often those are from Aus. It's a guess.
 
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