In
1909 Gillette presents these new line
of models, the "Pocket
edition".
These
models have a metal case, sometimes made
of "gun" metal (in order
to spend the metal of the war), that is plated in three finishes: gun metal,
triple silver or 14 karat gold, with four styles of ornamental designs (plain,
basket, shell and flowered), matching
the razor and the case.
Between 1909 and 1918 Gillette reduced the stock on sale, taking out of
the catalogue on first place the "gun metal" options, then the #503 and
the
#504 models,
selling on 1918 just the models #500 and #501 (with a more plain design,
removing the ornamental lines), maybe the most popular and better sold
ones.
Without
any doubt, the most beautiful line
of razor sets ever
seen before (at the moment) for all public.
One
interesting information is that in
1915 the safety
razor handle was re-designed, loosing
its
ornamental
lines, probably
to make the manufacturing of this model
cheaper, trying to keep the same popular
price than six years before. On December of 1915 we can find an
advertising on "The saturday evening
post" where it is called "no
501 Basket Pattern Pocket edition" and
probably the first time that it is
announced on paper.
This is
the introduction of the regular "old
type ball end", we can see it
in the 1916 models for the U.S army,
using
the same
name than the older pocket edition staff,
announced as "U.S service set" on 1916,
or "pocket edition 501 / 502" on the
catalogue of
1918.