From a simple salesman, he became one of the entrepreneurs and innovators of the United States. At that time, he achieved the status of one of the world's millionaires.
(Gillette) The worldwide company 'Gillette' is one that most
of us are at least slightly acquainted with. Gillette has a stronghold in the
market for body care products despite being originally renowned for shaving
cream and razors. Gillette has introduced a variety of cosmetic products,
including fairness creams, soaps, and deodorants.
The 'king' of our story is none other than the founder of
this 'Gillette'. King Camp Gillette.
Yes, he developed a strategy to introduce a unique product
out of pure desperation. And that 'wonder' product is the razor and blade.
While blades are integral to our daily lives in the 21st century, a hundred and
fifty years ago no such item existed in the world. But how did Gillette
discover the blade? Let's go back to that story.
The only available shaving instrument up to the turn of the
20th century was the razor. However, the issue is that bleeding is unavoidable
if you use this gadget carelessly. Infections can sometimes spread from wounds
and cause some people to pass away. If you delve into history, there are
further occurrences that may be described. The same thing occurred with
Gillette. The scars originate from there. Due of the scar, clients used to
close the door on his face. He had considered growing a beard to hide the
scars. Yet it was useless.
After that, Gillette started to feel down. The illustrious
businessman was known for talking to himself while shaving in front of the
mirror. In this approach, he coined the term "Safety Razor". But how
does this gadget function? With that, his study got underway. Additionally,
Gillette created the device's blueprint. Essentially, he separated this razor
into two parts: the stand and the blade. Although the stand may be recycled,
the blade, i.e. the sharp metal part is disposable or single-use.
Gillette made this blueprint in 1895. Even still, it took him six difficult years to put it into practice. Bacause even though he designed the device's blueprint and is not a technician. He can't create the instrument himself, therefore he must rely on others to do it. And there therein lays the issue. Is it a mouthful to describe a machine that no one has ever seen or heard of? Additionally, Gillette asserts that it should be inexpensive to produce its blade. That is thrown away. Customers won't purchase at high costs as a result. Of course, the majority of technicians went back to Gillette. William Nickerson, a graduate engineering student at MIT, finally consented to try to execute his suggestion.
The earliest Gillette razor and blade prototypes were made in 1901 by Nickerson. Made of carbon-steel, the sharp blade was only one and a half inches by one inch. Then some more changes were made to it. The middle of the metal sheet is attached to the hole for the screw. Because this blade had to be attached to the stand or razor with screws. But what did this blade look like? Many people may have this question! The blade we use today was the exact same shape and size as the Gillette blade. Or, to put it another way, Gillette blades have been in use for over 120 years with no changes. Later on, we'll talk about the subject.
Anyway, King Gillette erected a facility in South Boston the next year, in 1903. Start of safety razor manufacture on a commercial scale. He had already filed for a patent by that point. However, the first year's results weren't exactly encouraging. 150 blades and 51 razors in all were sold throughout that year. However, that was the beginning of the revolution. In 1904, 91,000 razors and 1.5 million blades were sold. In 1906, his business spread to all the powerful countries of the world including Canada, Germany, England, France. For the soldiers' protection, the United States even purchased razors and blades in bulk from Gillette during World War I. A Gillette safety razor was given to every soldier. The army alone utilized 32 million blades.
In a few of years, this firm had made him a billionaire. He
also rose to prominence as Boston's richest guy. Since he had no competition in
this sector. In 1904, the patent for the safety razor is next to his name. As a
result, it becomes impossible for other companies to reproduce the device. On
the other hand, Nickerson was granted the blade's patent. A number of
businesses began manufacturing blades after buying his ownership of the
product. Although the Gillette razor was the only item that used a blade. So
when they make the blade, they also use Gillette's design. Which remains
unchanged even today.
Gillette died in 1932. After that, other manufacturers made
their debut in the world of safety razors. To put it simply, King Camp
dominated the shaving industry for approximately three decades. From that point
of view, it is not wrong to call him a king.
