razor blade

Straight razors were the most common form of shaving before the 20th century and remained common in many countries until the 1950s.^[3]Barbers were specially trained to give customers a thorough and quick shave, and a collection of straight razors ready for use was a common sight in most barbershops. Barbers still have them, but they use them less often.

Straight razors eventually fell out of fashion. Their first challenger was manufactured by King C. Gillette: a double-edged safety razor with replaceable blades.^{[citation needed]} Gillette's idea was the use of the "loss leader" concept, in which the razors were sold at a loss, but the replacement blades earned a high margin and provided continuous sales. They were immensely successful because of advertising campaigns and slogans denigrating the straight razor's effectiveness and questioning its safety.^{[citation needed]}

These new safety razors did not require any serious tutelage to use.^[8] The blades were extremely hard to sharpen, and were meant to be thrown away after one use, and rusted quickly if not discarded. They also required a smaller initial investment, though they cost more over time. Despite its long-term advantages, the straight razor lost significant market share. And as shaving became less intimidating and men began to shave themselves more, the demand for barbers providing straight razor shaves decreased.^[3]

Around 1960, stainless steel blades which could be used more than once became available, reducing the cost of safety-razor shaving. The first such blades were made by theWilkinson firm, famous maker of ceremonial swords, in Sheffield.^{[citation needed]} Soon Gillette, Schick, and other manufacturers were making stainless-steel blades.

These were followed by multiple-blade cartridges and disposable razors. For each type of replaceable blade, there is generally a disposable razor.