Safety razor 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. 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. "Mad" magazine announced the "Trac 76", arranged as a chain of cartridges with a handle
Western Cartridge Company for these products included fabrication of sheet metal cups and filling portions of those cups with primary explosive. Rimfire cartridges bore a UCC headstamp and product packaging included a Maltese cross trademark. Purchase of Alliance Cartridge Company in 1907 allowed UCC merger into Western Cartridge Company. The company trademark morphed into "Super-X" as the Maltese cross became associated with World War I Germany. John Olin, the son of founder Franklin W. Olin, improved shotgun cartridge designs in the 1920s by using harder shot and progressive burning powder. Western produced 3 billion rounds of ammunition in World War II, and the