The Gillette Comapany 1901 to 1976

This special issue of Gillette News commemorates the 75th anniversary of the founding of The Gillette Company in 1901. For those of you who don’t know, here is a brief history of the Gillette Safety Razor Company story:

One summer morning in 1895 an ambitious traveling salesman found that the edge of his straight razor had dulled. King Camp Gillette (1855–1932) later said that the idea for an entirely new kind of razor with a disposable blade flashed into his mind as he looked in irritation at his dull blade. Gillette envisioned an inexpensive, double-edged blade that could be clamped over a handle, used until it was dull, and then discarded. Gillette spent the next six years trying to perfect his safety razor. The scientists and toolmakers he consulted were pessimistic and thought the idea was impractical. Nickerson developed production processes to make Gillette's idea a reality while Gillette formed the American Safety Razor Company to raise the estimated $5,000 they needed to begin manufacturing the razor. Production of the razor began early in 1903.

The renamed Gillette Safety Razor Company began advertising its product in October 1903, with the first ad appearing in Systems Magazine. During the years leading up to World War I (1914–1918) Gillette steadily increased earnings through print advertisements that emphasized how with his razor men could shave themselves under any conditions without cutting or irritation. During World War I the U.S. government ordered 3.5 million razors and 36 million blades to supply all its troops. After the war ex-servicemen needed blades to fit the razors they had been issued in the service.

In 1921 Gillette's patent on the safety razor expired, but the company was ready for the change. Gillette also gave away razor handles as premiums with other products, developing customers for the more profitable blades. Expansion and growth continued. In the early 1930s Gillette made a bold advertising move: the company admitted that the new blade it had brought out in 1930 was of poor quality. The Blue Blade kept Gillette the leader in the field, but profits remained disappointing throughout the Great Depression (1929–1939), as men increasingly turned to bargain blades. In 1939 the company began heavy broadcast sports advertising and purchased the radio broadcast rights to the 1939 World Series for $100,000. Although it eventually included college football's Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl, and horse racing's Kentucky Derby, in addition to the World Series and baseball's All-Star Game, the Cavalcade of Sports became best known for bringing boxing to U.S. audiences. Sports programs continued to remain an important vehicle for Gillette advertising. During World War II (1939–1945) foreign production and sales declined, but domestic production more than made up for those losses. The backlog of civilian demand after the war led to consecutive record sales until 1957. The company changed its name to the Gillette Company during the 1950s, at the same time when it began diversifying its product line. The company's products were sold in more than 200 countries and territories, with more than 60 percent of sales occurring outside the United States.