Colonel Schick Obituary
New York Times: July 4, 1937, Section GENERAL NEWS, OBITUARIES
Lieut. Col. Jacob Schick, retired army officer and inventor of the Schick Dry Shaver, died at 4 A. M. yesterday in the Presbyterian Hospital after an illness of six months at the age of 59. It was only within the last few years that Colonel Schick began to amass his fortune. For many years he had been placing various inventions on the market, but none of them had any commercial success. In 1921 he patented the "Pencilaid" and "Pencilnife" devices for sharpening pencils - which, while not successful, did provide him with enough money to experiment with a magazine razor, later commercially marketed by the Magazine Repeating Razor Company.
Born in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. Schick grew up in the Southwest. At 16 he was in charge of the building of a branch line at Los Cor- rillos, N. M., to a coal mine which his father had opened to get coke for smelter at a San Pedro copper mine.
In 1898 he enlisted at Portland, Ore., in the Fourteenth United States Infantry. From that time until his retirement in 1919, his career was spent in the army. He went to the Philippines with the first expedition several months after his enlistment, and there was made interpreter and division color- bearer of the First Division, Eighth Army Corps.
Transferred to Alaska
Commissioned a second lieutenant, he returned to the United States and was assigned to the Eighth Infantry at Fort Wayne, Mich. From 1903 to 1905 he was with his regiment in the Philippines. Sent back to the United States two years later with a bad attack of amoebic dysentery, he remained in a hospital for a year and while ill was promoted to first lieutenant.
Upon the advice of his physicians he was transferred to the Twenty- second Infantry headquarters at Fort Gibbon, Alaska, located at the Tanana and Yukon Rivers. The cold climate of the North proved beneficial to his health and he took an active part in laying out military telegraph lines covering a territory of more than 1,000 miles in the interior of Alaska.
During this time Lieutenant Schick showed his inventive ability, designing a new type of boat known as the General Jacobs, which was peculiarly adapted to the upper waters of the Yukon. This boat carried fifty tons and drew only one foot of water, pushing a barge with a fifty-ton load and in emergency could carry a company of soldiers. It was considered by the government as a distinct improvement over the existing designs, which were impractical in shallow water.
Idea for Dry Shaver
Lieutenant Schick retired in 1910 and during the next four years engaged in mining explorations in British Columbia. He also staked claims in Alaska, and while on one of his camping trips the idea came to him which later brought his fortune. With the weather hovering at 40 degrees below zero, Mr. Schick found it difficult to shave. One day he sprained his ankle, and had to remain alone in camp for several months. He killed a moose and lived on its meat during his enforced imprisonment. For weeks he worked on his problem, and finally evolved a razor that could do the job without lather or the other traditional concomitants of shaving. He sent his blue prints to an American company, but they were rejected. It was not until 1929 that these plans, now greatly improved, were practicable and were put on the market.
When the World War broke out Lieutenant Schick offered his services. A special act was passed permitting him to resume active duty, and in 1916 he was commissioned a captain. Assigned to take charge of transport of troops in England, Captain Schick was attached to the United States Embassy in London. From August, 1917, to June, 1918, he helped move 680,000 troops. He was promoted to the rank of major, but again his health broke down and he spent some time in a hospital with pneumonia. After leaving the hospital he was put in charge of the Division of Intelligence and Criminal Investigation. In 1918 General Leonard Wood came to England on a tour of inspection, and at his instance Major Schick was promoted by cable to lieutenant colonel.
Wife Mortgaged Home to Help
After leaving the army Colonel Schick tried to perfect his dry shaver and place it on the market, but without success. He used whatever money accumulated from his other inventions to carry on his venture, and at one time his wife mortgaged her house in Stamford, Conn., for $10,000 to enable the work to continue. Editors’ Picks ‘28 Years Later’ Review: Danny Boyle Revives His Monsters Be the First to Find Out the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century Can I Use Sick Leave if I’m Not Actually Sick?
In 1929 he put his invention on the market, but the idea did not get immediate response. Two years later he opened a factory in Stamford, employing about 100 persons. Today more than 1,200,000 Schick Dry Shavers have been sold. About 1,500 people are employed in the Stamford plant, and large laboratories and factories are operating in Montreal.
Colonel Schick is survived by his widow, Florence Leavitt Schick, and two daughters, Virginia and Barbara. On Feb. 23 he was brought to New York, where an operation was performed for a kidney ailment. He came again to this city for special treatment on May 23 and remained in the Presbyterian Hospital until his death.
Colonel Schick forsook his American citizenship in 1935 and became a citizen of Canada. He aroused the indignation of President Roosevelt, who charged that this had been done “to escape our income and inheritance laws.” Friends of the colonel declared that these charges were unfair, explaining that his physicians had recommended the cold climate of Canada.