History time: The Big Fellow

The Big Fellow.

A new – in 1920 – Old Type. Even if no one called it an Old Type back then, because the New Type wasn’t even a twinkle in Gillette’s eye.

So what is a Big Fellow, and how did I learn about it? Especially seeing as how I’ve not heard the term before, at least not used on a razor?

Well, to tackle the last question first; I learned about it because I found an advertisement that appeared in the Literary Digest in 1920.

This advertisement, in fact:

1920 advertisement for the Big Fellow

In short, it is a Gillette for guys with big hands. Meaning, as far as I can understand, it has a longer handle than the other Old Types.

Realising that, I also realised another thing.

I actually do own a Big Fellow. I found it at a flea marked a little over six years ago. And after a clean-up, it has stayed in my rotation ever since. I misidentified it at the time, but comparing it to the drawing… it’s a Big Fellow.

It’s a funny old world… I learned about an unknown-to-me subset of the Gillette Old, and it turns out I own and use one. How cool is that?