I didn’t post an SOTD today as my day started very early and didn’t end until about 8p tonight. Suffice to say I am worn out. But as the same time I am totally elated! Let me explain why…
Initial plans for today were to shoot over to South Haven to check out the Blueberry Festival. For those that don’t know, South Haven is a touristy marina town with a couple of really nice beaches. SW Michigan in general is know for its fine sand beaches. Anyway once we arrived and had our fill of the Blueberry Fest (Art Fair inthe park, Farmers market in another park, live music, walking the boardwalk and downtown area) we decided to visit the beach. The weather was superb. Long story short, we decided to do a beach/marina tour! So we hit Blue Star Highway, which runs parallel to Lake Michigan, and were off!
Had no idea just how twisty and convoluted Blue Star Highway is. But beautiful scenic wise. Although mostly lined with gorgeous lake front property, there were spots that afforded spectacular unobstructed views of Lake Michigan. We found a couple of marinas in small towns along the way. And a couple of small but nice, secluded beaches that I will definitely have to re-visit sometime soon. Ended up in Holland at Holland State Park beach. One of SW Michigans premier beaches. And it was PACKED today. Even so, the beach is so huge that we still found a spot near the water. Very enjoyable experience. The water is still a tad cold for me. In the low 60s or so.
That aside, the real reason for my excite wasn’t the beaches. See, on our way down Blue Star Highway we stumbled upon a dilapidated old building with a weathered “Antiques” sign out front and what looked like a junk yard in the front yard. So of course we pulled in. After digging through all kinds of stuff (the guy had some really strange items also), I found some cases in an out building off to the side. The second case I looked in had these:
Only $5 each! So of course I wanted them. After a preliminary function check, I snatched them both up. As you can see they were both pretty grungy and beat up, but both were mechanically sound! Once I finally got home, I gave them a preliminary soaking and cleaning. They didn’t turn out too bad:
Turns out I found a ’37-38 Gillette Senator and I think a ’40s Gillette Super Speed. Nice right? Like I said they both have a decent amount of plate loss, the Senator the worse of the two, but they both work perfectly.
I did notice that the Senator doors open in a slightly different fashion than the Super Speeds. You unscrew the knob a bit, then push it “in”, then the doors open. It closes securely and smoothly. So I’m very happy with this find. Thats back to back finds two weekends in a row! I think my luck is changing 😉
That Shave Life 