The Shaving Industrial Complex

Perhaps we’ll never know another discipline as technologically advanced as that of men’s grooming, nor one for which research funding is so virtually inexhaustible. But the Shaving Sciences are not, by nature, any more complicated than, say, sanding a picnic table for refinishing. Yet even the woodworking arts have enjoyed the same curious technological glorification over time. Indeed, it’s not the difficulty level which propels this rocket science. The common paradigm between these two practices arises from their practitioners – men.

A Concise History of Men’s Razors

On the glorious day of November 15, 1904 a patent was granted to Mr. King Camp Gillette for his invention, the safety razor. The man already possessed four patents, but apparently, that wasn’t enough. Consumed by capitalist greed and ambition, Mr. Gillette patented every blade he legally could. He even attempted to patent the broadsword, which had existed for centuries, but being practically unknown in America at that time, he almost got away with it. And he would have too, if it weren’t for the meddling kids of Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Schick who were tirelessly attempting to undermine Mr. Gillette’s every business and patenting venture with their time traveling dog and selective knowledge of history.

In the beginning, there was The Blade

In the beginning, there was the Blade.  The man saw the Blade, and the Blade was good.

The man said, ‘Ug.  Good.’  The Blade was One and it was straight.  At times the Blade dulled but could be coaxed back to attention with a leather rub.  And the Blade was then returned to its wits, its uncanny ability, able to parry any follicle.