I can understand why young men today are opting to have facial hair. Shaving can be a pain. I personally like the clean shaven look but in talking to my family, the majority like the new style of having facial hair.
I have seen amazing changes in the tools that men use to shave. When I was a boy, my father used a straight edge razor. These were truly weapons! Dad would sharpen it with a razor strap (that also could be used as a tool to discipline bad behavior.) He would expertly run the straight edge up and down the strap or strop until it was extremely sharp. It was very easy to cut yourself by just touching your face with the razor so you had to be very careful. You would frequently see men with little wads of dampened toilet paper on a cut to stop the bleeding.
Then something very significant occurred. A gentleman named KING GILLETTE saw the mayhem caused by the straight edge and invented what he called the "Safety Razor." This was about 1901 but it took some time to wean men away from the straight edge. Gillette had a very limited range of products until 1934 when he introduced the "Aristocrat" model. This the one I saw my father transition to. Gillette had a great idea. He would practically give the safety razor away for free. He knew he would make his money by selling the razor blades that had a very limited use life. They would have to be replaced after one or two usages.
I would frequently go to the store to buy my father his needed blades. There were two styles offered. The Gillette Blue Blades were the best. They were sharper and would last for maybe three shaves. The Gillette Red Blades were cheaper. As I recall the Blue Blades sold for five for a quarter. The Red Blades were ten cents for five but they were painful to use and lasted for one usage,
Those prices seem very, very cheap but keep in mind this was 70 years ago. What a contrast to the blades I use today. I use the Fusion ProGlide Power razor. The blades last for 20-30 shaves (or more) and have eliminated "razor burn". They are also very expensive! My ProGlide is a special model and has a AA battery in the handle that causes vibration to the blades and produces a very excellent final result.
Yes. I have seen major changes in many products in my long life. Its amazing the giant strides in technology and creative thinking and innovation.
Life is so much easier today and I see dramatic improvement in so many facets of life. Shaving and razors is just one of many improvements but was brought to mind this morning when I discovered I had used my last Fusion cartridge and need to go to the store and get a new supply. (I hope I won't need to get a mortgage on my home to make the purchase.) King Gillette was absolutely right. Get the razor in mass distribution and make oodles of money selling the much needed replacement blades.
Where do they sell your Fusion ProGlide Power razor? And the cartridges? I have a picky, dissatisfied man who hates to shave.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ball, there is now something called "The Dollar Shave club". Here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dollarshaveclub.com
It is something you'd appreciate. It will remind you of the quality of life when your father was alive, as well as save you time and money because the blades are fine quality, but lower cost than the store, AND they come in the mail. You saw I wear a neatly trimmed beard myself at Valter's Osteria when we met. But I'm a well groomed man and use this service, and their shave blades and cream myself.
And not to be foul in my comments, but we are currently spending time in the john, are we not? Well I love these little stories of historic products and how they came about, along with other trivia of this type. There is a series of books called "Uncle John's Bathroom Readers". They are full of little articles and stories such as your story on King Gillette that take from one to approximately eight minutes to read, depending, uh, on the time you're currently caught up working hard in the john. They're in large print format too. I highly recommend the series to you, or anyone interested in such trivia or other fascinating tidbits of History, Science, or Pop Culture. Thanks for sharing, Sir. I now know one more story than when I awoke this morning.