Vintage Ever-ready Radio Steel Shaving Razor ~ Original Box, Complete W/ Inserts
Current Price: $ 300.00
VINTAGE EVER-READY RADIO STEEL SHAVING RAZOR ~ ORIGINAL BOX, COMPLETE with ADVERTISING INSERTS. Original Blade in factory sealed wax paper. read: This blade is guaranteed triple tested and sealed keenest cleanest made. Extra Blades at all dealers or from American Safety Razor Corporation. Brooklyn New York. Made in U.S.A. [EVER*READY HONEST SHAVING BRUSHES] Patent No 932137 Series D The word "RADIO" is TRADE marked Taken out of the box only to provide images. Condition: As you can see the shelf display box is pretty beat up, but all in tact. Inside items are all mint, never used. No Rust, do wear. Factory original. A safety razor is a shaving implement with a protective device positioned between the edge of the blade and the skin. The term was first used in a patent issued in 1880, for a razor in the basic contemporary configuration with a handle attached at right angles to a head in which a removable blade is placed (although this form predated the patent). Its edge was protected by a comb patterned on various types of protective guards that had been affixed to open-blade straight razors during the preceding decades. Some safety razors in present-day production retain a comb but the more common protective device is now a solid safety bar. 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 for providing that service and raising personal grooming standards. Prior to the introduction of the disposable razor blade by K.C. Gillette in 1901, however, safety razor users still needed to hone and strop the edges of their blades. These are not trivial skills and remained a barrier to the ubiquitous adopting of the be your own barber ideal. Gillette is a brand of Procter & Gamble currently used for safety razors, among other personal care products. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was one of several brands originally owned by The Gillette Company, a leading global supplier of products under various brands, which was merged into P&G in 2005. The original Gillette Company was founded by King Camp Gillette in 1895 as a safety razor manufacturer. On October 1, 2005, Procter & Gamble finalized its merger with The Gillette Company. As a result of this merger, the Gillette Company no longer exists. Its last day of market trading—symbol G on the New York Stock Exchange—was September 30, 2005. The merger created the world's largest personal care and household products company. In addition to Gillette, the company marketed under Braun, Duracell and Oral-B, among others, have also been maintained by P&G. The Gillette company slogan is "The Best a Man Can Get". The Gillette Company's assets were initially incorporated into a P&G unit known internally as "Global Gillette". In July 2007, Global Gillette was dissolved and incorporated into Procter & Gamble's other two main divisions, Procter & Gamble Beauty and Procter & Gamble Household Care. Gillette's brands and products were divided between the two accordingl Trademark The Gillette brand is synonymous with shaving and personal care products. As such, trademark protection becomes invaluable to distinguish a company's products and services from its competition to the public. King Gillette sought protection of his fledgling business for safety razors when he applied for the trademarks for razors and razor blades, soap, and shaving brushes on Wednesday, May 27, 1908. King C. Gillette filed trademark applications with the USPTO simultaneously in separate goods and services classes. King C. Gillette filed trademark applications under the early company name, Gillette Safety Razor Company, and while trademark applications were filed at the same time, each registration was granted on a different date. Registration for the Gillette trademark was assigned to razors and razor blades and was granted on October 13, 1908 with a serial number 71034984. Trademark for soap was awarded on September 29, 1908, with serial number 71034985, for shaving brushes on September 1, 1908 with 71034986. First use for this early Gillette trademark is declared as May 16, 1908. All 3 trademarks for the Gillette diamond are expired. Older products Gillette double-edged safety razor series See also: King Camp Gillette Double-edged safety razors The first safety razor using the new disposable blade, were introduced around 1902. Gillette maintained a limited range of models of this new type razor until 1934 and the introduction of the "Aristocrat". The great innovation of this new model was the "Twist to Open", or TTO design, which made blade changing much easier than it had been previously, wherein the razor head had to be detached from the handle. 1947 saw the introduction of the new "Super Speed" model, also a TTO design. This was updated in 1954, with different versions being produced to shave more closely—the degree of closeness being marked by the color of the handle tip. In 1958, the first "adjustable" razor was produced. This allowed for an adjustment of the blade to increase the closeness of the shave. The model, in various versions, remained in production until 1986. The Super Speed razor was again redesigned in 1966 and given a black resin coated metal handle. It remained in production until 1986. A companion model, "The Knack", with a longer plastic handle, was produced from 1966 to 1976. Invention The basic form of a razor, "the cutting blade of which is at right angles with the handle, and resembles somewhat the form of a common hoe", was first described in a patent application in 1847 by William S. Henson. This also covered a "comb tooth guard or protector" which could be attached both to the hoe form and to a conventional straight razor.Image The first attested use of the term "safety razor" is in a patent application for "new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors", filed in May 1880 by Fredrik and Otto Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York, and issued the following month. This differed from the Henson design in distancing the blade from the handle by interposing, "a hollow metallic blade-holder having a preferably removable handle and a flat plate in front, to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch, said plate having bars or teeth at its lower edge, and the lower plate having an opening, for the purpose set forth", which is, to "insure a smooth bearing for the plate upon the skin, while the teeth or bars will yield sufficiently to allow the razor to sever the hair without danger of cutting the skin."Image[2] The Kampfe Brothers produced razors under their own name following the 1880 patentImage and improved the design in a series of subsequent patents. These models were manufactured under the "Star Safety Razor" brand.Image Gillette safety razor patent drawing A third pivotal innovation was a safety razor using a disposable double-edge blade that King Camp Gillette submitted a patent application for in 1901 and was granted in 1904.[3] The dramatic success of Gillette's invention was a result of his having been awarded a contract to supply the American troops in World War I with double-edge safety razors as part of their standard field kit (shipping over 500,000 units to the U.S. Army in 1918, alone). The returning soldiers retained their new shaving habits and the subsequent post-war consumer demand firmly established the shaving industry in its present form with Gillette remaining a dominant force ever since. Steel alloys Double-edge razor blade Gillette manufactured carbon steel blades until the 1960s. These were prone to rusting unless carefully dried and often left users to change blades frequently. In 1965, the British company Wilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel, which did not rust and could be used until blunt. Wilkinson quickly captured the British and European markets, and Gillette was forced to switch its production to stainless steel to compete. Today, almost all razor blades are stainless steel although carbon-steel blades remain available. Because Gillette held the patent for the stainless blades but had not acted on it, the company was accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy the rust-prone blade.[4] The contemporary double-edge safety razor One-piece double-edge safety razor Double-edge safety razors are being developed and produced in a number of countries, in one-, two-, and three-piece designs. Better known manufacturers include Ikon, Feather, Merkur, Mühle, Parker, Pils, and Weishi, with several of them producing razors that are marketed under other brands. Blades for them are also made worldwide including in Egypt, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the USA. Single-edge razors The first safety razors used a single-edge blade that was essentially a 4 cm long segment of a straight razor. A flat blade that could be used alternately with this "wedge" was first illustrated in a patent issued in 1878, serving as a close prototype for the single-edge blade in its present form. New single-edge razors were developed and used side-by-side with double-edge razors for decades. The largest manufacturers were the American Safety Razor Company with its "Ever-Ready" series, and the Gem Cutlery Company with its "Gem" models. Although single-edge razors are no longer in production they are readily available. Blades for them are still being manufactured both for shaving and technical purposes. A second popular single-edge design is the "Injector" razor developed and placed on the market by Schick Razors in the 1920s. This uses narrow blades stored in an injector device with which they are placed directly into the razor.[5] Here, again, although injector razors are no longer being manufactured they are easily found, and blades for them are still being produced. The injector blade was the first to depart from the rectangular dimensions shared by the wedge, standard single-edge, and double-edge blades. The injector, itself, was also the first device intended to reduce the risk of injury from handling blades. The Gillette blade dispenser released in 1947 had the same purpose.[6] The narrow injector blade, as well as the form of the injector razor, also strongly influenced the corresponding details of the subsequently developed cartridge razors. Disposable cartridge razors Basic design The reduced need for handling razor blades was taken a step further by embedding what initially was a pair of narrow blades in a disposable plastic enclosure termed a "cartridge". A flurry of competing models soon followed with everything from one to six blades, and many cartridge razors also have disposable handles. Cartridge razors are sometime considered to be a generic category of their own and not a variety of safety razor.[7][8] The similarities between single-edge cartridge razors and the classic injector razor do, however, provide equal justification for treating both categories contiguously. Twin-blade cartridges Circa 1971, Gillette introduced the Trac II, designed by Francis Dorion, which was the first mass-produced multi-blade razor available in the United States. Rather than accepting standard razor blades, this razor was fitted with a proprietary disposable blade cartridge containing two separate blades. It was claimed that research showed the twin-blade design to give a closer shave than a single blade, because of a hysteresis effect. In addition to the cutting action of the first blade, it also pulls the hair out of the follicle into which it does not fully retract before the second blade cuts it further. The extent to which this is of practical consequence has, however, been questioned.[9] By controlling patents on the Trac II razor, Gillette was able to assure repeat sales of its multi-blade cartridges. This was a natural extension of the razor-and-blades sales philosophy. Gillette was able to sell these cartridges at a higher price than the single blades, leading to higher profits. Competitors Schick and ASRCO were quick to follow this change, introducing their own multi-blade razors. Gillette subsequently introduced the Atra twin-blade razors (known as Contour in many parts of the world), which featured a pivoting razor head that the company claimed would more closely follow the shape of the face. The Trac II Plus and Atra Plus blades introduced later incorporated a "lubricating strip" made of polyethylene glycol. Gillette followed the Atra system with the Sensor system, which featured twin blades that were individually spring-loaded to adjust to the contours of the face. The Sensor system was later modified as the SensorExcel system. Disposable razors The next innovation came with the introduction of the Bic disposable razor in 1974. Instead of being a razor with a disposable blade, the entire razor was manufactured to be disposable. Gillette's response was the Good News disposable razor which was launched on the US market in 1976 before the Bic disposable was made available on that market.[10] Shortly thereafter, Gillette modified the Good News construction to add an aloe strip above the razor, resulting in the Good News Plus. The purported benefit of the aloe strip is to ease any discomfort felt on the face while shaving. Plastic disposable razors and razors with replaceable disposable blade attachments, often with one to three cutting edges (but sometimes with four and as of recently, five cutting edges), are in common use today. Three- and four-blade cartridges Gillette introduced the first triple-blade cartridge razor, the Mach3, in 1998, and later upgraded the Sensor cartridge to the Sensor3 by adding a third blade. This escalated the competitive race with rival Schick/Wilkinson Sword. The marketing of increasing numbers of blades in a cartridge has been parodied since the 1970s. The debut episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975 included a parody advertisement for the Triple Trac Razor, shortly after the first two-blade cartridge for men's razors was advertised. In the early 1990s, the (Australian) Late Show skitted a (insert name of popular razor brand) "3000" with 16 blades and 75 lubricating strips as arrived at by working in conjunction with the help of NASA scientists - "The first blade distracts the hair...". In 2004, a satirical article in The Onion entitled "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" predicted the release of five-blade cartridges,[11] two years before their commercial introduction.[12] Schick/Wilkinson responded to the Mach3 with the Quattro, the first four-blade cartridge razor. These innovations are marketed with the message that they help consumers achieve the best shave as easily as possible. Another impetus for the sale of multiple-blade cartridges is that they have high profit margins.[13] With manufacturers frequently updating their shaving systems, consumers can become locked into buying their proprietary cartridges, for as long as the manufacturer continues to make them. Subsequent to introducing the higher-priced Mach3 in 1998, Gillette's blade sales realized a 50% increase, and profits increased in an otherwise mature market.[13] [edit] Recent developments Gillette five-blade cartridge with an additional single blade on the back. The latest razor introduced by Gillette is the Fusion, which utilizes a five-blade cartridge razor with an additional single blade for trimming. An entire line of shaving products was introduced as part of the Fusion brand system. Gillette has also produced powered variants of the Mach3 (M3Power, M3Power Nitro) and Fusion (Fusion Power and Fusion Power Phantom) razors. These razors accept a single AAA battery which is used to produce vibration in the razor; all of these provide an additional brand alliance venue for Gillette to place a battery from sister brand Duracell in Power packages (the reverse is also true for Shick with their powered razors featuring Energizer batteries packed in). This action, as advertised by Gillette, was intended to raise hair up and away from the skin prior to being cut. These claims were ruled in court as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate."[14] Schick also offers a powered version of their Quattro product called the Schick Quattro Power. In 2008 British company King of Shaves launched in the United Kingdom the 4-blade Azor, a so-called "hybrid synergy system razor" that they claimed to shave as close as rival products. The Azor uses a much simpler two-shot construction method than other system safety razors and the handle is made in the UK. The Azor has a flexible hinge instead of a pivoting head used by other razors. King of Shaves claimed that the number of blades is not strictly important, it is the sharpness and cleanliness of the blades that is important to getting a close shave. The Azor has now been launched in the USA at Duane Reade by Remington, which is known more in the market for their electric shaving products. Pace Shave is the first producer of six-blade razor cartridges. [edit] Women's razors Razors are generally marketed in men's and women's versions; the exact difference between the two varies from color only for most disposable razors to completely different design principles. By and large, men's and women's razor blades and disposable razors are interchangeable; however, there is sometimes a difference in ergonomics; women's razors either have a longer handle for longer reach or a paddle-shaped handle to allow for a lengthwise grip. Specialized handle designs also exist, for shaving such areas as the underarms or the bikini line. References ^ Waits, Robert K. (2009). Before Gillette: The Quest for a Safe Razor. J*IV*IX Publication. pp. 264. ISBN 978-0-557-05910-2. ^ US patent 228904, Frederick Kampfe, Otto F. Kampfe, "Safety-Razor", issued 1880-June-15 ^ US patent 775134, King C. Gillette, "Razor", issued 1904-November-15 ^ "The Blade Battle". Time magazine. 1965-01-29. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839192,00.html. Retrieved 2007-02-17. ^ "Blades Inject Into Razor From Metal Clip" Popular Mechanics, October 1934 ^ Krumholtz, Phillip L. (1992). The Complete Gillette Collector's Handbook. Phillip L Krumholtz. pp. 457. ISBN 0-9620987-2-8. ^ "How to Use Your Double-Edge Razor". Classic Shaving. http://www.classicshaving.com/articles/article/590351/20879.htm. ^ Greenberg, Corey (2005-1-30). "How to get that perfect shave". Today. MSNBC. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845. ^ http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/174/are-twin-blade-razors-better-than-single-blade-ones ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=YCldvmXq25EC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=good+news+disposable+razor+history&source=web&ots=a0EOvsmzYn&sig=Omqam4cU4KolkBOeaJmnSavz1Gg#PPA98,M1 ^ Kilts, James M.. "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades". The Onion. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930. Retrieved 2009-11-21. ^ "Gillette unveils 5-bladed razor. New system, available in early 2006, to have lubricating strips on both the front and back sides.". CNNMoney.com. 2005-09-14. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/gillette/. Retrieved 2009-11-21. ^ a b "Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder". Business Week magazine. 2005-09-15. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf20050915_1654_db035.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-27. ^ "Judge rules Gillette M3Power ads are false". Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8074882/. Retrieved 2007-02-17. The American Safety Razor Company, founded in the early 20th century (1906) by a merging of the Gem Safety Razor Co. and Ever-Ready, has been the principal competitor to " class="vw-link autolink" title=Gillette href="http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Gillette">Gillette for a century and more. At various times, incarnations of the ASR have produced PAL, GEM, and Bump-Fighter razors and the Treet, PAL, and Personna brands of blades. They currently own the Bond-America Israel Blades, Inc. company as well, that manufactures some of the Personna-branded DE blades. The company produces a wide range of blades and cutting tools. The Kampfe brothers, who patented the first safety razor in the US, formed a manufacturing company in 1875. They make the "Star" razor. It was the first safety razor made in the United States. The Star Razor's revolutionary design won national and international awards for design and craftsmanship. In 1898, after working for the Kampfe Brothers for 23 years, an employee, Jerry Reichard, leaves to form the Gem Cutlery company, later renamed the Gem Safety Razor Company. Its first product, the Gem Safety Razor, borrows heavily from the Star Razor in design but soon outpaces the Star and becomes one of the world's most famous razor and blades ever made. Reichard, the founder of Gem -- leaves again to form the Yankee company, which is soon renamed the Ever-Ready Company. Ever-Ready and Gem quickly re-merge as the American Safety Razor Company, in 1906. In 1919, they absorb the Star brand as well. The company purchases the PAL blade company in 1953. Philip Morris purchases the company in 1960. Philip Morris purchases Burma-Vita company (makers of " class="vw-link autolink" title=Burma-Shave href="http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Burma-Shave">Burma-Shave) in 1968. ASR bought the Burma-Shave brand from Philip Morris in 1979, after a management buyout of ASR from Philip Morris in 1976. MIB = MINT in BOX HTF = HARD to FIND
