History

How it all began: "the History of Shaving"
The original idea of shaving is not clearly dated in history. The oldest razor is from prehistoric times. With some imagination you will see that in all probability it was used to remove facial stubble. There are also two crescent-shaped blades made of metal that were classified as shaving instruments.

An important point in the history of shaving was the invention by Jean-Jacques Perret of a straight razor with a safety guard over the blade. In 1770 he published a book that among other things showed a straight razor the blade of which was protected at the top and side with a wooden guard. Now it would be possible for every man to use an instrument for shaving without making their faces a bloody battlefield! Perrets apparatus was the predecessor of the safety razor by nearly a hundred years .

The American inventor King Camp Gillette had, at the beginning of the 20th century, an idea for making disposable blades which would be manufactured from very thin steel sheets. These stamped disposable blades, which needed no sharpening by the user, were quickly distributed throughout the world, especially by the American soldiers who were fighting in Europe during world war 1. From that introduction came hundreds of firms which got involved in blade making.

A tough market of competitive blade makers arose, using all sorts of names, different brand names and blade shapes. Only a few companies survived this hard rivalry and after their disappearance, thousands of blades in the small, beautifully shaped changed wrappers became very collectible objects.

These disposable blades were very successful. In a short time some inspired businessmen began earning a lot of money from the sale of these blades. They advertised heavily in many areas such as sport locations greatly boosting the sale of Stroppers and Sharpeners. A considerable new market source grew which brought about a wealth of models as well as a many new manufacturing methods and thousands of new patents. Today there are not many new razors or blades invented and introduced to the world market of razors. But the beautiful old razors and blades created a very fascinating and large field in collecting.