Thread: Gillette Prison Razor

Hi All,
Would anyone have any info on the Gillette prison razor. I have 4 with a key still in the origional box. They have never been used and are still wrapped in the origional tissue paper. I was thinking about selling them. It would be interesting to know when and how long they were in production. I have never seen any of these for sale, so I wouldn't know how to price them. I bought these about 25yrs ago.
thanks
J

Jay, SRP discourages appraising value on razors on the forum. Do you have Phil Krumholz's 'Complete Gillette Collectors Handbook' ? That will give you all of the info you need on the history. The author sells the book on ebay from time to time under the screen name of 'razorman2'.

For the value keep your eye on ebay. I have a pair of those myself and a key with one of the two. Not sure how rare they are but they come up from time to time.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Seen some on the bay awhile back, they seemed a bit pointless since they only had one key, and who needs several of the same razor?

.

O_S, in the jailhouse only the guard would have the key. If a prisoner requested a new blade the guard would have the option of opening the razor and supplying the blade or not. That is why multiple razors were sold to institutions with only one key. The hard thing to find with those razors are the keys. They are a Gillette Tech and a good shaver ..... if you have the key.

I think he meant that for those of us who are (a) not working for a prison procurements office (b) might be inclined to buy such a razor off of ebay, the extra razors are pretty pointless.

Agreed that multiples are pointless to the average shaver but to a collector the more the merrier.

Photo is coming

Could someone post a pic of the real prison razor? Thanks

Here's my pair. Note the one top is smooth with a # engraved. The other has the familiar Gillette logo embossed. The key is inserted in the end of the handle to unscrew the top. No key and it is impossible to get to the blade.

Isn't there a movie where it shows a guard changing the blade in one of those? I can picture it but can't recall the movie.