Why do you chaps think that Gillette stopped producing Open comb razors? Would cost have been the major factor?
Why do you chaps think that Gillette stopped producing Open comb razors? Would cost have been the major factor?
I certainly don't know but I read two plausible answers to that question in another thread a few days ago. Two things were proposed:
- The teeth were fragile and tended to get bent or broken if the razor was dropped. The bar was more more robust.
- The bar is easier to manufacture, saving machining/manufacturing costs.
They made open comb razors for 40 years or so so they probably didn't suddenly see the light as to the fragile nature of them. More than likely it was related to lower cost and ease of manufacturing.
They made open comb razors for 40 years or so so they probably didn't suddenly see the light as to the fragile nature of them. More than likely it was related to lower cost and ease of manufacturing.
They made open comb razors for 40 years or so so they probably didn't suddenly see the light as to the fragile nature of them. More than likely it was related to lower cost and ease of manufacturing.
Agreed. Just like today, the actual razors were sold cheap - compared to the blades. If I dropped my razor and bent the teeth, it wouldn't have been that hard to go buy a new, readily available replacement. I doubt Gillette was ever concerned with bent teeth. It is only today that we are worried about bet teeth in our vintage razors that we can't just replace.
I think there is another factor that supported the manufacturing of the cheaper and sturdier closed bar razors.
When Gillette introduced the DE safety razor the shaving standard was shaving, or more likely go for a barbers shave, once a week. On saturday, the day before you went to church.
A lot of European barbers didn't do any haircuts on saturdays, just shaves. This was still the habbit till the late 1930's.
The daily shave for the common man became general practice after the 2nd WW and because of this you didn't need the teeth on your razor anymore. Using a safety bar razor on a weekly bases means that you need more time cleaning the razor in between passes than you need for the actual shave.
When you shave once a week the teeth have a real function (preventing the razor from clogging up) but when you shave every day the bar works just as well.
I thought WW2 might have had something to do with it, and it may have, but they had the Ranger Tech idea before the war, and that was the precursor to the SuperSpeed. What's the history of those British razors? They were in WW2 a couple of years before the US was.