Most people realize that the real genius of King Gillette’s invention was not the safety razor itself but the disposable blade which required ongoing purchases. This made him a very wealthy entrepreneur and a celebrity. Nevertheless, Gillette was an outspoken opponent of capitalism (decrying competition to be the “root of all evil”). He was a social-engineer as well having presented detailed plans for pollution-free cities and grand communal living complexes encased within massive glass domes as early as 1894. Take that Bucky.
Coincidentally, less than a week ago I bought a vintage Gillete Safety Razor – just so I can stop buying and throwing away plastic cartridges every week. Yes, Gillette created an endless money stream with his inventions, but I think they perfected the shave decades ago and have since only perfected the money machine with disposable plastics (ughh).
I will be receiving my newly purchased 40 year old razor in the mail within a couple of days, will have one less instance of plastics in my life, and may even get a better shave out of the deal.
I love my basic metal-and-plastic version, and I wish we’d all use them so that we could reduce the amount of silly plastic waste going into the earth.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Most people realize that the real genius of King Gillette’s invention was not the safety razor itself but the disposable blade which required ongoing purchases. This made him a very wealthy entrepreneur and a celebrity. Nevertheless, Gillette was an outspoken opponent of capitalism (decrying competition to be the “root of all evil”). He was a social-engineer as well having presented detailed plans for pollution-free cities and grand communal living complexes encased within massive glass domes as early as 1894. Take that Bucky.
December 25th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Coincidentally, less than a week ago I bought a vintage Gillete Safety Razor – just so I can stop buying and throwing away plastic cartridges every week. Yes, Gillette created an endless money stream with his inventions, but I think they perfected the shave decades ago and have since only perfected the money machine with disposable plastics (ughh).
I will be receiving my newly purchased 40 year old razor in the mail within a couple of days, will have one less instance of plastics in my life, and may even get a better shave out of the deal.
December 29th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I love my basic metal-and-plastic version, and I wish we’d all use them so that we could reduce the amount of silly plastic waste going into the earth.
May 7th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Looks good next to the Old Spice, Jade East, and Canoe bottles.
August 25th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
the best shaver all the time but they will be rusted anyway..