August 2026
Intermediate
304 pages
6h 48m
English
While shaving one morning at the turn of the twentieth century, King C. Gillette became frustrated with his razor. It was a straight razor, an old-fashioned design even then, and it needed sharpening (see figure I-1A). It always needed sharpening—a task that was a nuisance and if done incorrectly, added more danger to the already dangerous task of shaving. Gillette realized the core value of a razor is its sharp edge. Why couldn’t he disconnect the edge from the handle and replace it instead of sharpen it? These insights led Gillette to design a double-edge, disposable blade made from sharpened pieces of steel sheet that attached to a reusable handle. Gillette’s “safety razor” hit the market in 1903 and ...
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