King C. Gillette

King Camp Gillette (January 5, 1855 – July 9, 1932) was an American businessman, popularly, but incorrectly, known as the inventor of the safety razor. (The Encyclopædia Britannica, among others, has falsely so credited him.) While Gillette did improve the design of the safety razor (patent US775134), his true invention was an inexpensive, high profit-margin stamped steel disposable blade and a unique business model. This beat out competitors and became the most popular razor of its time. Image File history File links King_C._Gillette. ... Image File history File links King_C._Gillette. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Collection of Modern Safety Razors - Gillette Fusion Power, Gillette m3power, Mach3Turbo, Schick Quattro Chrome, Schick Quattro Power, Gillette Mach3, Gillette Sensor, Schick Xtreme3 System, Schick Xtreme SubZero, and Schick Xtreme3 Disposables A razor is an edge tool primarily used in shaving. ... The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with the æ ligature) is a general encyclopedia published by the privately held Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ...

Biography

Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and raised in Chicago, Illinois, King Camp Gillette's family was devastated by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Location of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Lakeside Park entrance Agnesian HealthCare Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Artists rendering of the fire, by John R Chapin, originally printed in Harpers Weekly The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Oct. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

While working as a traveling salesman for the Crown Cork and Seal Company (the first major disposable product) to support his family in the 1890s, Gillette hit upon an idea. Earlier razor blades needed continuous sharpening, becoming worn out quickly and making them expensive. He realized that a profit could be made by selling a safety razor at a reduced price and then making a profit margin on the inexpensive disposable blades. He developed a blade made out of very thin sheet-steel. Once the blade became dull, it was discarded and replaced by a new one, using the same holder. This has been called the Razor and blades business model, and is an example of a "loss leader". The Crown Cork, the first form of bottle cap, was invented by William Painter in 1891 in Baltimore. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... The razor and blades business model (also called the bait and hook model or the tied products model) works by selling a master product at a subsidised price, and making the profit on high margin consumables that are essential to the use of the master product. ... In marketing, a loss leader is an item that is sold below cost in an effort to stimulate other profitable sales. ...

Safety razors had first been developed in the mid-1800s, but still used a forged blade. In the 1870s, the Kampfe Brothers introduced a type of razor ([1]) along these lines. Gillette improved these earlier designs of the safety razor and also introduced his true innovation of inexpensive, high profit-margin stamped steel blades (along with his unique business model). Gillette's razor retailed for a substantial $5 (almost $134 in 2006 dollars) — half the average workingman's weekly pay — yet it sold by the millions. A blacksmiths forge For finery forges (making iron) see finery forge. ...

The most difficult part of the development was making the blades, as cheap thin steel was very difficult to work with and very difficult to sharpen. This accounts for the long delay between the initial idea and the first production.

In order to apply his idea, Gillette co-founded the American Safety Razor Company on September 28, 1901. The company's name was changed in July 1902 to Gillette Safety Razor Company. Gillette obtained a trademark registration (0056921) for his portrait and signature on the packaging. Production began in 1903 when he sold a total of 51 razors and 168 blades. The following year, 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades were sold, thanks in part to Gillette's low prices, automated manufacturing techniques, and good advertising. By 1908 the corporation had established manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, England, France and Germany. Razor sales reached 450,000 units and blade sales exceeded 70 million units in 1915. In 1918, when the U.S. entered World War I, the company provided all American soldiers with a field razor set, paid for by the government. The Gillette brand logo The Gillette Company (NYSE: G) was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Gillette brand logo The Gillette Company (NYSE: G) was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul von Hindenburg...

Gillette was also a Utopian Socialist, publishing a book The Human Drift in 1894 advocating that all industry should be taken over by a single corporation owned by the public, and that everyone in the US should live in a giant city called Metropolis powered by Niagara Falls. A later book, World Corporation (1910), was a prospectus for a company set up to create this vision. He offered Theodore Roosevelt the presidency of the company. His last book, The People's Corporation was written with Upton Sinclair and later inspired Glen H. Taylor. Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern Socialist thought. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Auckland Berlin Chicago Hong Kong Istanbul Johannesburg London Los Angeles Madrid Melbourne Metropolis Katowice Moscow Mumbai New York City Osaka Paris Santiago de Chile São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Sydney Tokyo Toronto Warsaw A metropolis (in Greek μήτηρ, mētēr = mother and πόλις, pólis = city/town) is a major city... For other uses, see Niagara Falls (disambiguation). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... Upton Sinclair I never met a Socialist, or a Socialist cause, that I didnt like. ... Glen Hearst Taylor (April 12, 1904 - April 28, 1984) was a United States Senator from Idaho and the vice presidential candidate on the Progressive Party ticket in the 1948 election. ...

In his later life he travelled extensively, and was universally recognised from his picture on the packets of razor blades. People were surprised that he was a real person rather than just a marketing image. A Gillette company history stated that in non-english speaking countries people would often ask for "the kind with the Man's Face" blades. Marketing is a social and managerial function that attempts to create, expand and maintain a collection of customers. ...

Gillette died in Los Angeles, California, and is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. He was almost bankrupt at the time of his death, due both to his having spent large amounts of money on property, and to his having lost much of the value of his corporate shares as a result of the Great Depression. Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Area    - City 1,290. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname The Jewel City Location Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The Great Depression was an economic downturn which started in 1929 (although its effects were not fully felt until late 1930) and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

The Gillette Company continued to thrive and sells products under a variety of brand names including Gillette, Braun, Oral-B, and Duracell until 2005, when the company was sold to Procter & Gamble for $57 billion. The Gillette brand logo The Gillette Company (NYSE: G) was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer. ... Braun (German pronunciation BROWN) is a German electric appliance company known for its design style. ... Oral-B is a brand name of toothbrush and other dental care products (such as dental floss) manufactured by Procter and Gamble who acquired Gillette in 2005. ... A pair of Duracell AAA batteries. ... Procter & Gamble Co. ...

See also

• Main : Razor, The Gillette Company, List of corporate leaders
• Timeline of invention : Razor and blades business model, 1855 in science
• Other : Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery

Collection of Modern Safety Razors - Gillette Fusion Power, Gillette m3power, Mach3Turbo, Schick Quattro Chrome, Schick Quattro Power, Gillette Mach3, Gillette Sensor, Schick Xtreme3 System, Schick Xtreme SubZero, and Schick Xtreme3 Disposables A razor is an edge tool primarily used in shaving. ... The Gillette brand logo The Gillette Company (NYSE: G) was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer. ... List of corporate leaders: Joe Ackermann - Deutsche Bank William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook- newspaper magnate Arthur Andersen - Arthur Andersen Kunitake Ando - Sony John Jacob Astor - Fur trading and real estate Nitchell Baker - Mozilla Corporation Percy Barnevik - Investor Bernard Baruch - Financier, Investor, Presidential advisor Andy Bechtolsheim - Sun Microsystems Silvio Berlusconi... This is a chronological list of inventions. ... The razor and blades business model (also called the bait and hook model or the tied products model) works by selling a master product at a subsidised price, and making the profit on high margin consumables that are essential to the use of the master product. ... See also: Other events of 1855 List of years in science . ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ...

External links and references

Information

• Patent for Safety Razor Issued November 15, 1904. Gillette's invention initiated line of world-famous grooming products
• Inventor of the Disposable Culture King Camp Gillette 1855-1932. Tim Dowling. ISBN 0-571-20810-X

Patents

• "US775134". USPTO. (15 November 1904)

Images November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

• King Gillette via Google.
• Kampfe Brothers razors (complete with patent dates)