American Safety Razor Company American Safety Razor Company "For the company of the same name that was founded in 1901 and renamed as the Gillette Safety Razor Company, see Gillette (brand)" 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. 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. The company produces a
Razor 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. These new safety razors did not require any serious tutelage to use. 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