Monday, April 20, 2009

Then And Now #38 - Gillette Razors

The Gillette Company began as American Safety Razor in 1901, founded by King C. Gillette. He first patented his safety razor in 1904. The following are two magazine advertisements from 1939:

And here are three original Blue Blade packages, with the replacement razor blades inside:
This ad from 2004 featured their first battery-powered shaving system:

"Now", of course, they offer a whole host of products!
Speaking of shaving - this is a great book. "A Stiff Drink and a Close Shave, The Lost Art of Manliness" by Bob Sloan and Steven Guarnaccia. I love these types of books, full of the vintage ads, items and packaging that I so enjoy. It would make a great birthday or Father's Day gift for the special man in your life if he is a fan of vintage, too:
It reminds me that we don't have quite as long a wait now until "Mad Men" will be back on AMC. Still, I hate waiting!

4 comments:

Tina Dawn said...

Interesting story, and he had an interesting name: King. There must be a story behind that. Love T

yosemite faith said...

i agree with annette also - there must be a story!

Unknown said...

I agree too! I want to know the story!

Pearl said...

As always, I so enjoy seeing the Vintage advertising... Thanks for the head's-up on the neat sounding book... have to keep that in mind for a gift!