SAFETY RAZOR QUIZ:
GILLETTE EARLY YEARS

A short quiz on Gillette safety razors In the period up to 1920. Mark your answers and then click the button at the bottom to check your answers and read up on early Gillette history facts.

1. What did King Gillette do for a living before he invented the safety razor?

    He was a fish merchant in Boston.

    He was a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army.

    He sold bottle caps.

    He was a professor of sociology.

2. What did the C. stand for in King C. Gillette's name, and where did he get this name?

    'Champion', reflecting his father's expectations.

    'Camp', which was his mother's birth name.

    'Capital', reflecting his family's entrepreneurial spirit.

    'Charles', after his father and grandfather.

3. What form of social order did King Gillette write a book about in 1894.

    A capitalist state where everyone was in business.

    A communist state where everyone worked collectively.

    A monarchy where the President became King.

    A socialist utopia where everyone was the corporation.

4. What was King Gillette doing when he first envisioned the modern safety razor?

    Walking on the beach south of Boston.

    Shaving with a straight razor in a raillroad train.

    Shaving with a Star safety razor.

    Dreaming in his sleep.

5. What was the first name of Gillette's safety razor company?

    American Safety Razor Company

    Gillette Clipping Machine Company

    Gillette Safety Razor Company

    Gillette Sales Company

6. What was the defining feature of King Gillette's patent for his safety razor?

    A double edged blade.

    A thin removable blade.

    A blade holder that firmed and shaped the blade.

    All of the above.

7. What was the advertising heading in the first Gillette safety razor ad?

    We Offer A New Razor

    No Stropping No Honing

    No Honing No Stropping

    Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be Sharp

8. In what year did Gillette sell its one millionth razor?

    1906

    1907

    1908

    1909

9. What was the year of introduction and Model name of Gillette's first razor designed specifically for women?

    1908: The Pocket Edition 'Floral' design

    1910: The Aristocrat

    1912: The Debutante

    1915: The Milady Decollete

10. How many razor sets and blades did Gillette supply to the U.S. Army in World War I?

    1,250,000 razors and 10 million blades

    2,750,000 razors and 25 million blades

    3,500,000 razors and 35 million blades

    4,120,000 razors and 50 million blades

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Information used in this quiz was excerpted and adapted from "The Man and His Wonderful Shaving Device" by Russell Adams (Little Brown 1978), "The Complete Gillette Collector's Handbook" by Phillip L. Krumholz (publ., 1992), and "The Safety Razor Reference Guide" by Robert K. Waits (publ., 1992). See our Books and Reference page for sources of these books.