The Schick Injector Razor is a rather popular wet razor. If you watch TV or read popular glossy magazines, then you will have seen it repeately advertized. But why is the Schick injector razor such a phenomenon?
Development of the Schick injector razor
The Schick injector razor all came about when Col. Jacob Schick served in the US Army and learned how to use the repeating rifle. So inspired was he by a rifle that didn’t need manual reloading, that he designed a razor that didn’t need to have its blades changed. The Schick Repeating Razors were manufactured for the Magazine Razor Repeating Company, by the American Chain and Cable Company in 1926. Colonel Schick went on to design a successful dry shaver, and sold his shares in the company, to American Chain and Cable, and they went on to manufacture the wet razor until 1945.
The Eversharp Co. bought the rights to the Schick Repeating Razor in 1946 and renamed it the Schick Injector Razor, to differentiate it from the Schick Dry Shaver. After a lackluster advertising campaign, the company was sold yet again to the Warner Lambert Company in 1969, which held the rights until it was taken over by major pharmaceuticals player Pfizer. Despite the ups and downs, the Schick injector razor has lasted for more than 70 years, and is still the razor that is highly popular for collectors and wet-shave enthusiasts alike.
Why is the Schick injector razor so popular?
A cursory search through Google will bring up a large number of auction sites selling the Schick injector razor, with e-Bay leading the pack. What makes the Schoick injector razor so sought after is that, as many surveys say, this mass-produced shaving tool works better than any other wet shaver ever produced.
Each stainless steel blade is electronically metalized, with durable chromium, and polymer coated to ensure closeness and comfort, every time you use your Schick injector razor.
The brilliance of the injector concept is that it uses narrow blades, which are stored in an injector device, with which they are inserted, directly into the razor, creating a safe way of blade-changing.
Although the Schick injector razor is no longer manufactured, the blades are still being produced, and the Schick injector razor is widely available on the internet, and highly sought after.
Unfortunately for collectors, the fact that the blades and head haven’t changed, also means that the Schick injector razor is very hard to date. It is only in the little details, that make it a collector’s item or a usual, run of the mill razor that is practically worthless.
The original 1936 razor, for example, was equipped with a Bakelite handle, and basically looked the same until the 1950s. After some changes were made to the physical appearance (basically the Bakelite handle was swapped out with a look-alike, lower quality plastic), it again looked the same until the 1960s, with no changes again until the 1990s. Since manufacturing codes were placed on the razors only in 1960, it’s a little easier to date the ones produced after that. But the manufacturing codes only apply to the razors, and not precisely to their corresponding cartridges.
So, collectors beware. Dating the Schick injector razor is exact within a few years only. However, if you’re buying the Schick injector razor for personal use, try to stick to the original razor with the Bakelite handle, as you’ll never get a better shave.