Shaving - Wikipedia

Before the advent of razors, hair was sometimes removed using two shells to pull the hair out or using water and a sharp tool.[citation needed] Around 3000 BC when copper tools were developed, copper razors were invented. The idea of an aesthetic approach to personal hygiene may have begun at this time, though Egyptian priests may have practiced something similar to this earlier. Alexander the Great strongly promoted shaving the beard for Macedonian soldiers before battle because he feared the enemy would grab them.[4] In some Native American tribes, at the time of contact with British colonists, it was customary for men and women to remove all body hair.[5]

Straight razors have been manufactured in Sheffield, England since the 18th century.[6] In the United States, getting a straight razor shave in a barbershop and self-shaving with a straight razor were still common in the early 1900s. The popularisation of self-shaving changed this. According to an estimate by New York City barber Charles de Zemler, barbers' shaving revenue dropped from about 50 percent around the time of the Spanish–American War (c.1898) to 10 percent in 1939 due to the invention of the safety razor and electric razor.[7]

Safety razors have existed since at least 1876 when the single-edge Star safety razor was patented by brothers Frederick and Otto Kampfe. The razor was essentially a small piece of a straight razor attached to a handle using a clamp mechanism. Before each shave the blade had to be attached to a special holder, stropped with a leather belt, and placed back into the razor. After a time, the blade needed to be honed by a cutler.[8]

In 1895, King Camp Gillette invented the double-edged safety razor, with cheap disposable blades sharpened from two sides. It took him until 1901 to build a working, patentable model, and commercial production began in 1903.[9] The razor gained popularity during World War I when the U.S. military started issuing Gillette shaving kits to its servicemen: in 1918, the Gillette Safety Razor Company sold 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades. After the First World War, the company changed the pricing of its razor from a premium $5 to a more affordable $1 (equivalent to $88 and $18 in 2024, respectively), leading to another big surge in popularity.[10] The Second World War led to a similar increase in users when Gillette was ordered to dedicate its entire razor production and most blade production to the U.S. military. During the war, 12.5 million razors and 1.5 billion blades were provided to servicemen.[11]

In 1970, Wilkinson Sword introduced the 'bonded blade' razor, which consisted of a single blade housed in a plastic cartridge.[12][13] Gillette followed in 1971 with its Trac II cartridge razor that utilised two blades.[14] Gillette built on this twin blade design for a time, introducing new razors with added features such as a pivoting head,[15] lubricating strip,[16] and spring-mounted blades[17] until their 1998 launch of the triple-bladed Mach3 razor.[18] Schick launched a four-blade Quattro razor later the same year,[19] and in 2006 Gillette launched the five-blade Fusion.[20] Since then, razors with six and seven blades have been introduced.[21][22]

Wholly disposable razors gained popularity in the 1970s after Bic brought the first disposable razor to market in 1974. Other manufacturers, Gillette included, soon introduced their own disposable razors, and by 1980 disposables made up more than 27 percent of worldwide unit sales for razors.[23]