The Life of King Camp Gillette
According to Russell B. Adams, King Gillette’s biographer, King Camp Gillette presumed he would be remembered in history as an economic and social reformer.
However, most people recall him as the inventor of the disposable safety razor and founder of the Gillette Safety Razor Company. King Gillette also invented and patented other items, but none more resounding than the safety razor. This invention changed the lives of American men for the better.
Before Gillette invented the safety razor, many American men struggled with shaving.
They considered shaving a nuisance and a dangerous experience since the blades they used were dull. That changed in 1903 when King Gillette invented a safe, inexpensive, and disposable razor blade for men. Gillette was 48 at the time, and here is his story.
The Birth and Childhood
King Camp Gillette’s life began in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on January 5, 1855. His father, George Wolcott Gillette, was a newspaper editor and sometimes a postmaster, while his mother, Fanny Lemira Camp, was an author but was mostly in charge of their household.
Gillette was not blue-blooded, as his name may imply. He was part of a regular nuclear family of two parents, two daughters, and three sons, the youngest being King C. Gillette. Gillette’s father named him King to honor his friend who was a judge and o bore the same name.
Not long after Gillette’s birth, George Gillette moved his family to Chicago, Illinois, where young Gillette grew up and went to school.
His parents encouraged him and his brothers to learn how items function, not be afraid to work with their hands, and figure out ways to improve things.
This is probably where King Gillette acquired his knack for being inventive and innovative. He also developed a lifelong attitude toward efficiency – he disliked wasting time.
In 1871, a fire broke out in the city of Chicago and caused the Gillette family to lose all their possessions. Set back by the fire, George Gillette moved his family to New York, but King Gillette remained in Chicago and worked as a clerk for a hardware company.
He was 17 at the time. King Gillette worked in Chicago for two years, then moved to New York for a new position. Two years later, he relocated to Kansas City and worked as a traveling salesman for a Missouri company.
The Adult Life
Over the next 20 years, King Gillette worked many jobs as a traveling salesman. He loved inventing items and trying new things, but most of his inventions went unnoticed. Gillette also loved to read and strongly believed in a utopian society, one free of competition and where every citizen was equal.
His strong views inspired him to write his first book, The Human Drift, which relayed his vision and manifesto for a utopian world. Gillette finished his book in 1894, but it wasn’t as successful as his disposable safety razor invention.
King Gillette married Atlanta Ella Gaines in 1890. The couple had a son, King Gaines Gillette, whom his father loved to call “Babe.” The following year, Gillette started as a salesman at Baltimore Seal Company.
He met William Painter, the company’s president, who had invented a disposable crown cork bottle top, which became the standard in the sealing and bottling industry. Painter’s invention made him so rich that it stirred Gillette’s curiosity.
During one conversation in 1891, Painter assured Gillette that the most successful inventions are those that can easily get replaced after use. He encouraged this aspiring inventor to focus on developing a disposable product.
A product like this would keep customers coming back for replacements and thus generate sales and profits for his business. Painter’s words became an obsession for Gillette.
He tinkered with different unsuccessful inventions until one day in 1895, when he enjoyed his lightbulb moment.
Successes
Gillette’s first significant success came in 1895 when he came up with the idea for a disposable safety razor.
This idea was inspired partly by the frustration of shaving with a dull blade. Despite not having a background in metallurgy, Gillette was determined to make this idea a reality.
He immediately conceptualized his new invention and began searching for a scientist or engineer to develop it. Most experts told him that his concept for a disposable razor was impossible and impractical to produce at a commercial scale.
Undeterred by the scientists’ discouraging words, Gillette kept searching for an expert. One day, in 1901, he met William E. Nickerson, an MIT-trained engineer, who agreed to try developing the disposable safety razor.
The two partners got to work, with Gillette focusing on forming the company and raising capital and Nickerson working on the concept. Gillette founded the Gillette Safety Razor Company this same year. However, the entity remained solely in name until 1903, when Nickerson developed the necessary equipment to mass produce disposable razor blades.
In 1903, Gillette’s company sold only 51 razors and 168 blades. This number soared to 123,648 razorblades and 90,884 razors the following year.
King Gillette became known all across America and overseas, partly because his photo was on every Gillette blade wrapper. People loved his disposable safety razors. Some commented it made shaving simpler and quicker, and you could easily replace the blades each time they got dull.
Despite the success of the Gillette Company, King Gillette frequently argued with John Joyce, the other company shareholder. The two disagreed on many decisions, such as whether to grant patent rights to overseas companies.
Gillette resigned from active management in 1913 and took up the role of company president. He then turned his focus to writing more books about the economic and social system in the United States. A few of his books include The Ballot Box (1897), The People’s Corporation (1924), and World Corporation (1910).
Failures
King Gillette remained the president until 1931 when he officially resigned from the company. By this time, he had lost most of his wealth because Gillette’s stock had dipped from $125 to $18.
The company had also garnered a bad reputation for overstating financial statements. The 1930s were not glamorous years for the Gillette Safety Razor Company.
The Death of King Camp Gillette
King Camp Gillette died at 77 years in July 1932, a year after resigning as Gillette’s president. His death may have been due to old age or ill health. Gillette’s wife and son were beside him at the moment of his death.
The Gillette Safety Razor Company still stands strong. The company has manufacturing plants in more than 60 countries and a market in over 200 territories and countries.
Lifetime Achievements
Gillette’s most significant achievements are his safety razor invention and his company, which still bears his name today. His political and economic notions of a utopian society have, for the most part, gone unnoticed.
Despite the government embracing some of his economic ideas, most of them never became a reality. People were more interested in his disposable safety razors than his social philosophies.
Character Traits
Here are a few personality traits of King Camp Gillette:
- Opinionated
King Gillette had strong opinions about his envisioned utopian society. He wanted America to be a country free of competition where all citizens were equal.
At one time, he proposed condensing all American cities to one gigantic city powered by Niagara Falls. Gillette stayed with his extreme views and opinions for most of his adulthood.
- Inventive
King Gillette had the creative ability to develop new items and solutions. This character trait is what enabled him to invent the disposable safety razor.
- Go-Getter
Despite how long it took him to develop the disposable safety razor, King Gillette never lost his determination to make his idea a reality.
His go-getter attitude is also observable in his willingness to change the economic and social status quo in America by making it a more uniform society.
Lessons
The one vital lesson we can pick up from the life of King Camp Gillette is to never give up on our dreams. Gillette’s ambition to invent a disposable item started in 1891, lasting four years until he found the perfect product.
And once he stumbled upon the safety razor idea, it took him eight years to turn his invention into an actual product.
Gillette didn’t let his lack of experience in metallurgy or the negative feedback from experts prevent him from developing the disposable razor.
1855
King Camp Gillette is born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, U.S. 1871
1871
A devastating fire burns the Gillette family’s possessions to the point
1890
King Gillette marries Atlanta Ella Gaines.
1891
Gillette holds a crucial conversation with Painter, who encourages him to focus on inventing a disposable item.
1895
King Gillette comes up with the idea to invent a disposable safety razor.
1901
Gillette starts the Gillette Safety Razor Company and partnered with William Nickerson to develop his invention.
1903
Gillette’s company develops the equipment and machinery to mass produce disposable safety razors.
1913
King Gillette resigns from his company’s active management and becomes company president.
1931
King Gillette resigns as president of his company.
1932
 King Gillette passes away with his wife and son by his side.
Quotes
“I didn’t know enough to quit.” ~ King Gillette
“I was a dreamer, and in search of the gold at the foot of the rainbow.” ~ King Gillette
“I dared where the wise ones feared to tread.” ~ King Gillette
“Every individual… is absolute master of his own destiny, his progress being limited only by his ambition and intelligence.” ~ King Gillette
“Like attracts like.” ~ King Gillette