Shaving Through The Ages

For centuries, men have gone through the daily grooming ritual of shaving their facial hair. Did you know that if a man spends five minutes a day shaving and does so for 50 years, he would have spent over 63 days of his life shaving? Thanks to vast improvements in razors and shaving techniques over the centuries, it is today a quick, safe, and blood free process. The millions of men around the world today who shave should be very grateful for the ease with which they can achieve a smooth chin.

The earliest methods

The earliest know razors date back to prehistory. These were slivers of flint that provided an extremely sharp shaving edge but dulled quickly. Such razors were used by cavemen and can really be considered the first disposable razor as the old dull ones were soon discarded. Later on, between 3000 and 1200 B.C. razors differed from culture to culture depending on available resources. Men of the Pacific Islands used sharpened clam shells and shark teeth, while Aztecs shaved with sharp edged slivers of volcanic glass.

Later methods

With the discovery of the secret of metal working was introduced the idea of permanent razors. Soon, copper and bronze razors became available in Indian and Egyptian markets. The Egyptians prided themselves on smooth chins and carried their axe head shaped razors about with them in neat leather cases. Later, in Roman households, some men had a skillful servant employed to shave them each day. If they couldn’t afford this luxury, they visited the neighborhood “tonsor” or barber to have their faces shaved with one of the dangerous iron razors of the time. This was because the iron razors used corroded quickly and almost always caused deep cuts and bruises. However, the shaven look was so important in society that men continued to suffer this torture daily for centuries.

Middles ages

In the 18th to 19th centuries, long flat razors that folded safely into their wooden handles became popular in Europe. These extremely sharp razors, called cutthroats, required a great deal of precision and dexterity to use safely. Consequently, this process was nightmarish for the unaccustomed, less skillful young man.

Early Improvements

In the late 1700s, a French barber by the name of Jean Jacques Perret manufactured a new type of razor with a cheek guard to prevent the deep cuts associated with cutthroats. His is acknowledged as the first design of a safety razor and made the idea of shaving much less formidable for many Victorian men. Then, in 1847, English inventor William Henson invented the world’s first razor with its blade perpendicular to its handle, forever changing the way hand razors would be shaped. These razors were safer and easier to use than all their predecessors, so, though they frequently required special sharpening, they were immensely popular for decades. Men became more particular about their personal grooming in the late 1800s, and shaving soaps and lotions became far more popular as the trend took hold.

With the turn of the 20th century, came revolutionary ideas for the improvement of this common practice. One man named King Camp Gillette visualized a safety razor with a disposable blade which would eliminate sharpening. In 1901, Gillette teamed up with an engineer named William Nickerson to modify the existing design of the safety razor to include a disposable double edged blade. Thanks to its high quality and low pricing, Gillette’s new razor is a big hit. However, the real launch of his product on a worldwide front only came when Gillette struck a deal with the U.S. Military during the WW1. A Gillette hand razor was supplied to every fighting man as part of his standard issue of supplies. After this, his brand of razor gained consumers worldwide.

Since the last half of the 20th century, there have been constant upgrades and improvements to razors. The major accomplishments that have shaped today’s popular razors are: the first dry shaver, the first electric razor (wind up), the invention of the totally disposable razor, the auto-reloading disposable blade razors, and razors which promised increasingly less time required to use.

Today

Today’s razors have double and even triple blades for the ever desired closer and quicker shave. Men can stay clean shaven with minimal effort compared to, say, the Roman man. Through the centuries, the contributions of many people have made today’s experience almost pleasant for the millions of men who shave daily.