Safety razor

Uncommon card · No. 136321

A safety razor is a shaving implement with a protective device positioned between the edge of the blade and the skin. The initial purpose of these protective devices was to reduce the level of skill needed for injury-free shaving, thereby reducing the reliance on professional barbers. Protective devices for razors have existed since at least the 1700s: a circa 1762 invention by the French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret added a protective guard to a regular straight razor. The first known occurrence of the term "safety razor" is found in a United States patent from 1880 for a razor in the basic contemporary configuration with a handle in which a removable blade is placed (although this form predated the patent). Safety razors were popularized in the 1900s by King Camp Gillette's invention, the double-edge safety razor. While other safety razors of the time used blades that required stropping before use and after a time had to be honed by a cutler, Gillette's razor used a disposable blade with...

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