King C. Gillette

King C. Gillette was an American businessman who founded the Gillette Safety Razor Company and developed a commercially successful safety razor with disposable blades.

Safety razor: A razor designed to limit blade exposure and reduce the risk of cuts during shaving. Gillette’s invention was a new commercial design within this broader razor type.
Double-edged razor blade: A thin razor blade with sharpened edges on both sides, mounted in a compatible safety-razor head. Gillette’s replaceable blade used both edges and could be discarded when dull.
Wet shaving: The practice of shaving with water and a lubricant such as soap, cream, or gel. Gillette’s safety razor became a widely used tool for shaving at home.
Consumer culture: A social order in which buying and using goods are central to everyday life and identity. Gillette’s razor helped make personal grooming a routine market for branded consumer goods.
William Painter: An American inventor and businessman who created the disposable Crown Cork bottle seal. Painter’s disposable-product model helped inspire Gillette’s idea of selling replaceable blades.
Blade-and-razor business model: A commercial strategy that sells a durable device alongside recurring supplies needed to use it. Gillette sold the razor handle cheaply while earning repeat sales from replacement blades.
Home shaving: The practice of removing facial or body hair without a professional barber or salon service. Gillette marketed a convenient razor that let consumers shave themselves.
Planned obsolescence: The design or marketing of products to encourage replacement before they become unusable. Frequent blade replacement made the Gillette system an early example of recurring consumption, though not necessarily planned obsolescence.
Crown Cork and Seal Company: An American packaging company founded by William Painter to manufacture crown cork bottle caps. Gillette worked as a salesman for Painter’s company before developing his razor business.
Mass production: The manufacture of large quantities of standardized goods using specialized machinery and processes. Thin, interchangeable blades required manufacturing at a scale that could lower unit costs.

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