History of the Safety Razor

Invention

The first safety razor was invented in the late 18th century by a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, who was inspired by the joiner’s plane. An expert on the subject, he also wrote a book called Pogonotomy or the Art of Learning to Shave Oneself. In the late 1820s, a similar razor was made in Sheffield, England, and from the 1870s, a single-edge blade, mounted on a hoe-shaped handle, was available in Britain and Germany. One of the rarest European razors was made by “Comfort” and, while this was not a true safety razor, it remains a landmark in razor design. None of these razors are considered to be true safety razors.

Described as a razor where “a small blade is held in a suitable frame and provided with a guard to prevent the edge of the razor from cutting into the skin”, the first American safety razor was patented in 1880 by the Kampfe Brothers.^[1] The new razor featured a wire-skin guard along the razor’s edge. Only one side of the actual blade is used to shave, and it must be removed often for sharpening.

Gillette innovation

A modern double-edged safety razor

In 1901, the American inventor King Camp Gillette, with the assistance of William Nickerson, invented a safety razor with disposable blades. Gillette realized that a profit could be made by selling an inexpensive razor and generating a market for disposable blades. This has been called the Razor and blades business model, or a “loss leader“, and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products.To realize his idea, Gillette applied for a patent on December 3, 1901, and was awarded US patent #775,134 on November 15, 1904.^[2][3]

In 1902, Gillette manufactured its first razor and began its climb with total sales of 51 razors and 168 blades. In 1904, sales skyrocketed with total sales for the new safety razor reaching 90,000 razors and 123,000 blades. Gillette’s particular innovation of safety razors with disposable blades beat out competitors. Gillette’s thin blade was covered by the razor housing, thus protecting the skin against deep cuts. This enabled the majority of people to shave themselves safely for the first time. Before this, shaving was done often only by family members or barbers. Other razor manufacturers—such as Wilkinson, Ever-Ready, and Valet—produced similar safety razors but with resharpenable blades. These used a new version of the old leather strop or a stropping machine which the blade was passed through.

World War I

During World War I, Gillette worked out a deal with the U.S. Armed Forces which provided Gillette safety razors and blades to every enlisted man or officer on their way to Europe as a regular part of their standard-issue gear. By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation of men to the Gillette safety razor.

Switch to stainless steel

Gillette manufactured carbon steel blades up until the 1960s. These rusted quickly and required the user to change blades frequently. In 1965 the British companyWilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel, which did not rust and could be used repeatedly until blunt. Wilkinson quickly captured the British and European markets, and Gillette was forced to switch its production lines to stainless steel to compete. Today the great majority of razor blades are made of stainless steel. The older Carbon Steel type blade is still available today and has come a long way since the invention of the stainless steel blade. The typical modern Carbon Steel blade does not rust if it is rinsed in alcohol after each shave. Since Gillette held the patent for the stainless blades but had not acted on it, they were accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy the rust-prone blade.^[4]