Store Display with Gillette, Valet and Probak Blades, ca 1930

This is an amazing store display. It gives a snapshot of shaving history. In the early 1930s, Gillette, Valet and Probak merged. This counter display is a razor blade dispenser for all three brands and would have to date from very early in the merge. The blade boxes attached to it are shrink-wrapped, empty, dummy boxes. The display area in the bottom is only branded Gillette, so it may have been adapted from an earlier Gillette-only display, but I've not seen one of those. I assume this bottom area would have been used to display one or a few razors. It would hold two or three in cases. More loose. This would be a super addition to any shave setup or display. You could display your favorite razor(s), and store your blades.

As you can see in the photos, the condition is stunning. The paint on the metal parts is nearly perfect. The finish on the wood is as well. The Gillette paint on the front is probably a little faded from the original, but is still crisp and bright. The display has been in the sun, and the Probak wrappers show it the worst. The red ink is fairly faded. The Valet wrappers are also faded, but not as bad. Surprisingly, the Gillette Thin packages aren't very faded. They must have used a better quality ink. The clear celluloid cover for the razor display area is a bit finicky. If you touch it wrong, it wants to pop out of the groove. It is also very slightly yellowed. If I were going to use this as a shave stand, I would probably replace that (and keep the original around).

Unique piece of shaving history to use or collect.