Gillette created the first commercially successful safety razor with disposable blades in 1903. King C. Gillette developed the design around a thin, stamped steel blade that could be discarded after becoming dull.
Before this innovation, many men shaved with straight razors that required frequent stropping and sharpening. The safety razor’s guard reduced the exposed cutting edge, while the replaceable blade made shaving more convenient and eventually more affordable. Gillette’s early business model depended on selling blades repeatedly after customers bought the handle.
The company sold its first razors in 1903, when production was still small. Sales grew sharply after the United States military issued safety razors to soldiers during the First World War. Service members became familiar with the system and carried that habit into civilian life.
Gillette’s success helped make the safety razor a standard household grooming product. Later innovations included twin-blade and cartridge systems, but the original disposable-blade concept remains the foundation of the brand’s historical importance.