"If I had been technically trained, I would have quit, or probably would have never begun."
King Gillette, American businessman
Before the safety razor was invented, the dangers of shaving were evident in the description of the traditional instrument as a "cut-throat" razor. Shaving was a tricky operation, typically carried out by barbers or trusted family members rather than individuals.
To protect the skin while shaving, a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, introduced one element of the safety razor in the late eighteenth century namely a guard. Inspired by the design of a carpenter's plane, he used a wooden sleeve around the blade so that only the leading edge protruded. However, the first true safety razor, combining both a guard and a removable blade, was introduced in the United States in 1875 by the German Kampfe brothers (Frederick, Richard, and Otto). The Star Razor featured a hoe-type razor with a wedge-shaped blade with only one sharp edge.
In 1901 the American inventor King Gillette (1855- 1932) and his colleague William Nickerson introduced the next innovation, the disposable blade. Defying skeptics who believed it impossible to create such blades, Gillette's ultra-thin, carbon steel, double-edged blades were a great success. This was reinforced when Gillette struck a deal to provide safety razors and blades to every member of the U.S. Army during World War I.
Later innovations included the introduction of longer-lasting stainless steel blades by the British company Wilkinson Sword (1965). This was followed by the even safer replaceable blade cartridge (1971), and the entirely disposable razor (1974). Environmental concerns have now prompted experiments with recyclable and biodegradable razors.
