Industry | Personal care |
---|---|
Founded | January 1906 (as Personna American Safety Razor Company) |
Headquarters | Verona, Virginia, U.S. |
Products | Razor, Shave brush |
Parent | Edgewell Personal Care |
Website | Personna |
American Safety Razor Company is a personal care brand founded in the early 20th century (1906) by a merging of the Gem Cutlery Company & Ever-Ready and has been a principal competitor to Gillette for a century and more. It is unrelated to the Gillette company which also used the name 'American Safety Razor Company' in 1901 until 1904 before it was renamed for its founder, King C. Gillette. [1]
The company produces a wide range of personal care, medical, industrial blades and cutting tools with international manufacturing operations in the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Mexico, and the United States. [2]
In 1870, Frederick, Otto and Richard Kampfe immigrated from Saxony, Germany establishing a tool and die shop in Brooklyn, New York. After becoming frustrated with shaving, Frederick modified a straight razor by shortening the blade and setting it in a frame. The device became known as Kampfe's rake and was produced for friends and customers at the New York shop. In 1875 the brothers formed the Star Safety Razor company and on June 15, 1880 were granted a U.S. patent for the Star Razor, the first safety razor produced in the United States. [3] [4]
After 23 years working for the Kampfe Brothers Jerry Reichard starts the Gem Cutlery Company in 1898. Its first product, the Gem Safety Razor, borrowed heavily from the Star Razor in design but soon outpaced the Star in sales. [5]
In 1903 Jerry Reichard leaves Gem Safety Razor Company to form yet another razor and blade producer, along with August Scheuber the company was briefly named 'Reichard & Scheuber Manufacturing Company' [6] before it became 'The Yankee Company'. The Yankee Company made wedge-blade razors under the name Yankee, Mohican & Winner. The Yankee Company, is renamed Ever-Ready in 1905. Gem & Ever-Ready merge in 1906 and is incorporated as the American Safety Razor Company. In 1906, abandoning the wedge-blade design, they introduced the standard single edge rib-back blade that is still used today. [5] In 1915 Ever-Ready Shaving Brushes were first introduced and continued to be produced until the early 1990s.
In December 1919 The Safetee Soap Corporation formed as a subsidiary of American Safety Razor Corporation and produced a line of shaving soaps, creams, powders, talc and aftershave lotions to complement the safety razor business. [7] The Safetee Soap line was cross-promoted in pamphlets included in other ASR products. [8]
Gem & Ever-Ready merged with Star to become the American Safety Razor Corporation in 1919. It was chartered in Virginia, while razor and blade production remained in Brooklyn. By 1921, it had produced 1,800,000 safety razors; 110,000,000 razor blades; 1,000,000 shaving brushes; 2,000,000 cakes of shaving soap. [9] By 1942, it had introduced and popularized the phrase five o'clock shadow . In 1953, it acquired the Pal, Treet and Personna brands after purchasing the Pal Blade Company. These latter two product names continue to be made today. In 1954 the factory relocated to Staunton, Virginia, after the Brooklyn City Planning Commission's planned civic center encroached on the factory with plans to redevelop the industrial area into office and residential use. [10] The American Safety Razor factory building at 333 Jay Street then became the new campus for the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.
Seeking diversification, Philip Morris acquired American Safety Razor in 1960. In 1963 American Safety Razor became the first maker of stainless steel blades, which were sold under the Personna brand name. In 1968, Philip Morris purchased the Burma-Vita Company, makers of Burma-Shave. In 1970, the first blade made with tungsten steel was introduced, the Personna 74. In 1974 American Line Brand of industrial products was introduced, expanding the company into industrial blades. In 1977, executives purchased Personna American Safety Razor Company from Philip Morris in a management buyout.
American Safety Razor filed for bankruptcy in July 2010, after declining earnings since 2008 and the loss of its largest customer Walmart earlier in 2010. [11] [12] [13] Energizer Holdings bought American Safety Razor in November 2010 for US$301 million. [14] In 2015, Energizer Holdings spun off the personal care division as Edgewell Personal Care. [15] The company also announced its intention to cut back its industrial blade production or completely sell the personal care division. [16] Edgewell announced the sale of its Personna Industrial Division to an investment group, which renamed it AccuTec Blades. [17]
Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down—to the level of the skin or otherwise. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair. A man is called clean-shaven if he has had his beard entirely removed.
King Camp Gillette was an American businessman who invented a bestselling safety razor. Gillette's innovation was the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel. Gillette is often erroneously credited with inventing the so-called razor and blades business model in which razors are sold cheaply to increase the market for blades. However, Gillette Safety Razor Company adopted the business model from its competitors.
A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors.
A safety razor is a shaving implement with a protective device positioned between the edge of the blade and the skin. The initial purpose of these protective devices was to reduce the level of skill needed for injury-free shaving, thereby reducing the reliance on professional barbers.
EvereadyEverready, or Ever Ready may refer to:
Energizer Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and one of the world's largest manufacturers of batteries, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces batteries under the Energizer, Ray-O-Vac, Varta, and Eveready brand names, and formerly owned a number of personal care businesses until it separated that side of the business into a new company called Edgewell Personal Care in 2015.
Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gillette Company, a supplier of products under various brands until that company merged into P&G in 2005. The Gillette Company was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer.
Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication.
An electric shaver is a razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade. The electric shaver usually does not require the use of shaving cream, soap, or water. The razor may be powered by a small DC motor, which is either powered by batteries or mains electricity. Many modern ones are powered using rechargeable batteries. Alternatively, an electro-mechanical oscillator driven by an AC-energized solenoid may be used. Some very early mechanical shavers had no electric motor and had to be powered by hand, for example by pulling a cord to drive a flywheel.
Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, by Henry Nock in London in 1772.
A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced by craftsmen from Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom. Solid gold and copper razors were also found in Ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC.
Schick is an American brand of personal care and safety razors which was founded in 1926 by Jacob Schick. It is currently owned by Edgewell Personal Care.
DOVO Solingen, DOVO Steelware, or simply DOVO, is an independent German company, based in Solingen. They are a manufacturer of scissors, shaving equipment such as straight razors and safety razors, as well as manicure tools. Shaving equipment and razors are produced by Merkur Solingen, a subsidiary of DOVO.
HeadBlade is a head shaving razor brand produced by The HeadBlade Company. Founded by Todd Greene, a 1989 graduate of Bowdoin College, HeadBlade is headquartered in Gardena, California.
Personal care or toiletries are consumer products used in personal hygiene, personal grooming or for beautification.
The Segal Lock and Hardware Company of Manhattan, New York, was a leading manufacturer of hardware merchandise and razor blades in the 1920s and 1930s. Established in Connecticut and Manhattan, the firm relocated to Brooklyn, New York, in the mid-1920s. The Segal Safety Razor Corporation was a subsidiary of the Segal Lock and Hardware Company. The business was at first known as the Burglar-Proof Lock Company.
Edge is an American brand of shaving gel manufactured by Edgewell Personal Care. The line includes Sensitive Skin, Extra Moisturizing, Extra Protection, Ultra Sensitive, Clean and Refreshing, and Soothing Aloe.
Harry's is an American company that manufactures and sells shaving equipment and men's personal care products via online and retail channels. The company is known for their subscription service where customers receive new razor blades, shaving cream, and other grooming products by mail. Harry's is based in New York.
The Edgewell Personal Care Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut. It was formed in 2015 following the corporate spin-off from Energizer Holdings. Edgewell Personal Care was formed by the renaming of the original Energizer Holdings; Energizer's battery business was then spun-off as Energizer Household Products and then renamed Energizer Holdings.
William Emery Nickerson was an American engineer and inventor. He worked with King C. Gillette at the onset of the The Gillette Company and was later elected to Gillette's board of directors. Nickerson has been called “the mechanical genius behind the safety razor,” and received patents for hardening and sharpening the blades.