Gillette Date Codes

In 1930 Gillette started marking their blades with date codes. A 1/2/3/4 (Letter=year, number= quarter of year). In 1950, they started marking razors with the date codes. The following chart is a list of my dated Gillette razors. Following that is a chart explaining the coding system Gillette used from the beginning.

GILLETTE DATE CODES
W4	Black Tip SS
X2	Tech
Y1	SS
Y1	President
B3	Blue Tip SS
C4	Red Tip SS
E2	Fatboy
E3	Flair Tip SS
H1	Slim
H2	Slim
H2	Travel Tech
J4	Travel Tech
N3	Black Handle SS
O4	Super 109
P1	Knack
T3	Travel Tech
U4	Super 84
W3	Black Handle SS
X3	Atra

YEAR	SERIAL NUMBERS	MODEL	RAZOR NOTES	BLADE NOTES
1903	No Serial No.s	100*	"Double Ring" handle thin cap/guard	Blades notched for "heat lots".
1904	1-25424 25425-45424	100* 100*	"Pat. appl. for" & "Pat. Nov. 15.04" (USA)	"Gillette Blade" around center hole. Year/ month/ day/ lot serial #'s
1905	45425-370424	100*	"Pat. Mar.7.05" (Canada) Single Ring Handle Introduced	"Gillette Safety Razor Company" twined around all 3 holes.
1906	370425-770424	100*/102		King Gillette's picture on blade wrappers.
1907	770425-A195424	102
1908	A195425-A675857	102	"Diamond & Arrow" Logo. Pocket Edition with solid fancy handles & matching cases.	"Diamond and Arrow" logo introduced (1-1/8" wide). Steel lot# only on blade.
1909	A675858-B222220	102
1910	B222221-B697600	102	Aristocrat Model introduced.
1911	B697601-C80508	102		3 digit code: 1=year, 2/3=week
1912	C80509-C260238	102
1913	C260239-C407806	102
1914	C407807-C578360	102	Bulldog handle intoduced.	"No" above stropping/honing
1915	C578361-C911806	102	Milady Decollette short handle (long neck)	1 1/8" diamond & Pat. #
1916	C911807-D516474	102
1917	D516475-E449207	102	Hollow Handle Pocket Edition
1918	E449208-J7344 Plus F/G/H (no I) J Series all U.S. military	102	3.5 million razors produced for US forces in WWI	35 million blades produced for US forces in WWI
1919	J7345-K927216 J Series all U.S. military	102	Big Fellow introduced.
1920	K927217-N459887	102		Diamond and Arrow reduced to 7/8" wide.
1921	N459887-P679777 1A-863912A (USA) V=Spain, W=France, Y=Britain, Z=Canada	102 102A/106	102A: "Old Style" Thick cap/guard 106: New Improved / heavy flat guard
1922	863913A-336676B	102A/106	Old Style still seen with no serial #
1923	336677B-391575B	102A/106
1924	391576B-485927B	102A/106
1925	485928B-602049B	102A/106		4 digit code: 1=decade/ RH# of 2+3=year/ 2+4=week
1926	602050B-770070B	102A/106
1927	770071B-902611B Serial No.'s end Oct. 17	102A/106
1928	Serial No.s start Aug. 28 1C-94800C	102A/106/126	126= Mod. 106 /narrow shoulders	Last year for 3-hole blades.
1929	94801C-241755C	102A/126/134	Model 134 "long slot" test marketed	"New" Gillette Long slot blade (no serial #).
1930	A 1/2/3/4 (Letter=year, number= quarter of year). Only DeLuxe models  were serial #'d, starting 1-D	134	134: New Gillette (takes slotted blade)	"De Luxe" Kroman stainless steel blade introduced/ discont'd. Year letter/ number code introduced.
1931	B No more razor serial #'s to 1951	134/148/154 160/162/164/170/175	148/154:short bar/two bar caps 160/2/4/70/5: "Goodwill" types. Handles:  ball end and new bar end.	Blue blade (plain slot and diamonds) introduced. Blades get 2x crosshatch
1932	C	134/160	160: Standard Goodwill/solid cap	Blades get 4x crosshatch
1933	D	134/160		"New" blade discontinued. Blade corners notched.
1934	E	134/160/TTO (TTO=Twist To Open )	Aristocrat One-Piece TTO with Bulldog handle & comb guard.
1935	F	134/160/TTO
1936	G	134/TTO
1937	H	134/TTO	Sheraton TTO (gold, regular handle)
1938	I	134/TTO	Senator TTO (nickel vs gold).	Thin blade introduced in Red/ Black wrapper.
1939	J	134/TTO/Tech	Tech intro'd with triangle guard slots.
1940	K	134/TTO/Tech	Regent Tech TTO
1941	L	134/TTO/Tech	Milord TTO (bar guard version of Sheraton)
1942	M	Tech	War production only	Blade  "tick marks" denote Side I/ Side II
1943	N	Tech	War production only	Limited civilian prod'n
1944	O	Tech	War production only	Camoflage blade for military use.
1945	P	Tech	War production mostly
1946	R	TTO/Tech	Full civilian production resumes.	Thin Blade black and white wrapper red print.
1947	S	TTO/Tech	"SuperSpeed" replaces Senator. "Rocket" in Canada and UK.	Center bars get notched July
1948	T	TTO/Tech	"Improved" TTO's notched for blade dispenser	Cream plastic blade dispenser
1949	U	TTO/Tech	First plastic case: red/ clear styrene.
1950	V	TTO/Tech		Blue plastic blade dispenser
1951	W 1/2/3/4 (Yr. letter code plus quarter of year)	TTO/Tech	Razors get date codes (year & 1/4)
1952	X	TTO/Tech	Tech gets parallel slots
1953	Y	TTO/Tech	Executive: heavy rhodium handle
1954	Z	TTO/Tech	Colored TTO knobs for blade angle.
1955	A	TTO/Tech
1956	B	TTO/Tech	Limited Release of the Toggle
1957	C	TTO/Tech
1958	D	TTO/Tech	"Adjustable" Dial TTO. TV Special this year only. Limited nickel toggle run.	Super Blue Blade (silicone coated).
1959	E	TTO/Tech	Adjustable TTO: short thick handle
1960	F	TTO/Tech	Toggle Adjustable produced.
1961	G	TTO/Tech
1962	H	TTO/Tech		Last year for the Thin Blade? (H2)
1963	I	TTO/Tech	Lady Gillette TTO. Men's Adjustable gets long thin handle.	Stainless Steel Blade.
1964	J	TTO/Tech	Tech notched guard ends
1965	K	TTO/Tech/Techmatic	"Techmatic" Band Blade Razor	Super Stainless Steel Blade. Techmatic Band Cartridges.
1966	L	TTO/Tech/Techmatic
1967	M	TTO/Tech/Techmatic
1968	N	TTO/Knack/Tech/Techmatic	Knack (SlimTwist in UK & Canada) knob under head. "Orbiter 4000" electric Band razor	Plus DE Blade. Super Stainless Injector Blade.
1969	O	TTO/Knack/Tech/Techmatic	TTO black handles (long and short), "Super Adjustable"
1970	P	TTO/Knack/Tech		Platinum-Plus DE Blade. Last year for Blue Blade?
1971	R	TTO/Knack/Tech/TracII	"TracII" introduced	TracII slide-on Cartridge
1972	S	TTO/DE/Tech/TracII	Knack becomes "Double Edge" (DE)?
1973	T	TTO/DE/Tech/TracII	TracII introduced as "GII" outside North America. Tech prod'n ends in US.	"Twinjector" twinned injector blades.
1974	U	TTO/DE/TracII
1975	V	DE/TracII/Dispo	"Daisy" disposible for Ladies
1976	W	DE/TracII/Dispo	"Good News" disposible for men.
1977	X	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo	"Atra" introduced	Atra clip-on pivoting cartridge
1978	Y	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo	Atra for Women
1979	Z	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo
1980's	A-J	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo	"Swivel" disposible in 1980
1983	D	TTO/DE	Super-Speed TTO production ends? D2
1985	F	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo	Trac II and Atra "Plus" Good News "Pivot Plus" and Daisy Plus disposibles.	Trac II & Atra Plus cartridges: "plus" = lubricating aloe strip
1989	J	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo
1990's	K-U	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor	"Sensor" for Men introduced in 1990	Sensor pivoting cartridge, with flexible twin blades.
1992	M	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor	"Sensor" for Women
1993	N	DE/TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor	Sensor Excel	Sensor cartridge with aloe strip
1998	T	TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor/ Mach3	"Mach3" for Men introduced. DE production ends.	Mach3 triple blade cartridge.
2000's	V-E	TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor/ Mach3		DE Blades still available.
2001	W	TracII/Atra/Dispo/Sensor/ Mach3	Venus for Women, Mach3 style razor. Mach3 "Cool Blue"	Venus for Women triple blade cartridge.