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One British Thing: The Safety Razor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2020

Paul R. Deslandes Open the ORCID record for Paul R. Deslandes [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

This essay examines the history of the safety razor in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. In so doing, it explores male shaving practices and the male investment in physical appearance in the age of industrial capitalism. In highlighting the history of a single material artifact to showcase the relationship between masculinity, good grooming, personal success, and notions of self-improvement, this essay also underscores the growing influence of American products in British life, the intricacies of the consumer economy, and the increasing sophistication of advertising practices.

Type
Original Manuscript
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 885 - 888
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Copyright
Copyright © The North American Conference on British Studies, 2020

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References

1 “History of Male Grooming,” Times (London), 16 September 1995, 3[S].

2 Nickerson, William E., “The Developments of the Gillette Safety Razor, Part 3, Conclusion—The Problem of the Razor,” Gillette Blade 2, no. 3 (1919): 6–18Google Scholar, at 11.

3 For more on these themes, see Paul R. Deslandes, The Culture of Male Beauty in Britain: From the First Photographs to David Beckham (Chicago, forthcoming).

4 Oldstone-Moore, Christopher, Of Beards and Men: The Revealing History of Facial Hair (Chicago, 2015), 174–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Sherrow, Victoria, Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History (Westport, 2006), 354–55Google Scholar; Waits, Robert K., Before Gillette: The Quest for a Safety Razor—Inventors and Patents, 1762–1901 (Raleigh, 2009)Google Scholar

6 Cohen, M. L., “Wilkinson Sword Ltd.,” in International Directory of Company Histories, ed. Grant, Tina, vol. 60 (Farmington Hills, 2004), 349–52Google Scholar, at 350.

7 Coster, Ian, The Sharpest Edge in the World: The Story of the Rise of a Great Industry (London, 1948), 23–25Google Scholar.

8 Advertisement for Rolls Razor, Picture Post (UK), 19 November 1938, 65.

9 Forth, Christopher E., Masculinity in the Modern West: Gender, Civilization, and the Body (Basingstoke, 2008), 157–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Advertisement for Vinolia Shaving Stick, Illustrated London News, 27 February 1909, 327.

11 Charles Blyth, “Clean Shaving: Should a Man, or Shouldn't He?,” Modern Man: A Weekly Journal of Masculine Interest, no. 9 (2 January 1909): 1–2, at 2.

12 Coster, Sharpest Edge in the World, 19.

13 Advertisement for Gillette Safety Razor, Manchester Guardian, 6 October 1921, 9; advertisement for Williams Shaving Stick and Cream, Observer (UK), 23 January 1927, 24.

14 Advertisement for Gillette, Picture Post (UK), 11 May 1940, 38; advertisement for Colgate Brushless Shave Cream, Picture Post (UK), 28 June 1941, 6.

15 Advertisement for Ever-Ready, Picture Post (UK), 9 July 1949, 40.

16 Advertisement for Remington, Picture Post (UK), 10 December 1956, 12.

17 “Gillette Intends to Have the Edge,” Guardian (UK), 24 August 1967, 9.