Gillette razor blades
November 1, 2006Turns out I was right in my assumption that Gillette was the first official razor blade company, founded in 1901 as a subsidy of Proctor and Gamble. I’m going to research the history of The Gillette Company (or Global Gillette) and how the history of the company coincides with the overall history of men’s shaving.
I decided to choose this topic because there’s a lot to write about, I know I’m going to be able to fufill whatever page requirement there is. Also, I really just want to know how this whole shaving thing got started. Simply curiosity, really.
I have found a few online resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gillette_Company
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gillette.html
http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm
Allison,
Are you doing a cultural history of shaving? Or, a cultural history of Gillette ads? I think it will be very interesting to trace the mutual relationship between these two ideas, but keep in mind that you need to fine tune your approach. What will be your specific argument or angle? What does the razor blade suggest about American culture? and how does Gillette’s advertising reinforce or subvert this logic?
I think that this topic sounds very interesting. It seems like you’re formulating an argument around specific American standards of beauty.
That is a unique topic-I never would have thought of how ravor blades evolved or even how the whole crave to shave got started. It would be interesting to compare and contrast shaving ads in Europe vs. here because their shaving habits are pretty different from ours as far as the women are concerned.
Instead, you might just be able to observe razor history in the making (of a footnote, but so be it), and watch a meme change people’s daily habits. Comrade Shaveletariat’s, are you tired of getting gouged when buying mere razors? Get a jar and fill it with a half inch of mineral oil and keep your razor in it when not in use. This increases the life of the blade exponentially. The reason is because razors dull because of corrosion, NOT wear. Go figure, because the same collection of companies who make blades also make creams and gels, and the first ingredients in all of them are corrosive acids. Please tell your friends at your next shaving party, so that we may subvert the capitalist oppressor razor barons in their male hygiene monopoly. Vive le partisan! For more details, just follow the link:
http://gnomerroamer.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/the-gnome-puts-fifty-bucks-in-your-pocket/