Cartridge History Timeline

[mjclark]

I’m getting my head round the history of cartridge razors and could use some help from you guys on this forum.
Here’s the timeline as I currently understand it:

1970: First cartridge - Wilkinson Bonded Blade
1971: First twin blade - Gillette Trac II
1976: First disposable - Gillette Good News
1977: First pivoting head - Gillette Atra
1990: First spring blades - Gillette Sensor
1993: First microfin strip - Gillette Sensor Excel
1998: First triple blade - Gillette Mach 3
2004: First four blade - Schick Quattro
2006: First five blade - Gillette Fusion
2012: First six blade - Dorco Pace 6
2014: First laterally pivoting handle - Gillette Flexball
2018: First seven blade - Dorco Classic

When was the lubrastrip introduced?
Was that with the Trac II Plus or the Atra Plus? And what year?

And what other developments have there been?

Wow - it’s nearly 50 years of carts now!

 

[Sabre]

Bic produced the first disposable. Kai invented the first triple blade. The Dorco Pace 6 was available in 2008. There have been other lateral pivoting carts, the Wilkinson 3D, and one from Feather. Both in the 90's.

 

[Bogeyman]

Bic produced the first disposable...

Yes, in 1975 and it shook the very foundations of Shavedom.

 

[ajkel64]

Interesting thread, thanks for starting to compile a time line for Cartridge Razors.

 

[mjclark]

Bic produced the first disposable. Kai invented the first triple blade. The Dorco Pace 6 was available in 2008. There have been other lateral pivoting carts, the Wilkinson 3D, and one from Feather. Both in the 90's.

Thanks - do you have exact dates for the Kai triple blade and the laterally pivoting handle?

Yes, in 1975 and it shook the very foundations of Shavedom.

Great stuff! Thanks.

So when was the lubrastrip introduced?
And when were protecting wires introduced (like the Protector and Feather MR3)?

I can’t edit the first post but now we’ve got

1975: First disposable - Bic
2008: First six blade - Dorco

 

[mjclark]

Oh and what about the introduction of the trimmer blade on the back of carts?

 

[Sabre]

Kai launch the K3 in 1998, but before Gillette.

KAI Group

The Wilkinson Sword/Schick Protector 3D was also launched in 1998.

Schick シック・ジャパン株式会社｜COMPANY HISTORY 沿革

 

[Sabre]

Oh and what about the introduction of the trimmer blade on the back of carts?

The Fusion, Quattro Titanium, Dorco Pace6, and Hydro5 all have this feature. So sometime in the late noughties or early 2010's.

 

[ajkel64]

The Schick SuperII/ Ultrex would have to make it in there somewhere. I remember buying mine towards the end of 1983. They could have been around before that though.

 

[mjclark]

Kai launch the K3 in 1998, but before Gillette.

KAI Group

The Wilkinson Sword/Schick Protector 3D was also launched in 1998.

Schick シック・ジャパン株式会社｜COMPANY HISTORY 沿革

The Fusion, Quattro Titanium, Dorco Pace6, and Hydro5 all have this feature. So sometime in the late noughties or early 2010's.

More great info!
So...

1998: First triple blade - Kai K-3
First lateral pivot - Schick 3D
2006: First trimmer blade - Gillette Fusion

So was the Lubrastrip introduced with the Atra Plus (and it’s a retrofit on the Trac II Plus)?
And were guard wires from Schick with the Protector as a response to the sprung blades of the Sensor?

 

[mjclark]

The Schick SuperII/ Ultrex would have to make it in there somewhere. I remember buying mine towards the end of 1983. They could have been around before that though.

Great! This is turning out to be really interesting and informative.
What features did the Schick SuperII introduce?

 

[ajkel64]

From memory the add on the TV said something about Pivoting head, lubricating strip and push clean blades. There is an ad on YouTube plus if you do a search on Schick Super II in the search bar, the add might even come up. I’m sure someone put it on a couple of months ago.

 

[mjclark]

From memory the add on the TV said something about Pivoting head, lubricating strip and push clean blades. There is an ad on YouTube plus if you do a search on Schick Super II in the search bar, the add might even come up. I’m sure someone put it on a couple of months ago.

Brilliant! That’s a great idea - those YouTube ads are a really good resource for constructing this timeline.

The Push Cleaning mechanism is completely new to me...
... and the first lubrastrip is the Atra Plus in 1985.
The Trac II Plus was a retrofit in 1988.

So:
1979: First push cleaning blade - Schick Ultrex II
1985: First lubrastrip - Gillette Atra Plus

 

[Sabre]

Great! This is turning out to be really interesting and informative.
What features did the Schick SuperII introduce?

The Schick Super II introduced the push button...

Beaten to it.

 

[Sabre]

Brilliant! That’s a great idea - those YouTube ads are a really good resource for constructing this timeline.

The Push Cleaning mechanism is completely new to me...
... and the first lubrastrip is the Atra Plus in 1985.
The Trac II Plus was a retrofit in 1988.

So:
1979: First push cleaning blade - Schick Ultrex II
1985: First lubrastrip - Gillette Atra Plus

The Ultrex/Super II Ultrex/Ultra/Pivot are the same product but different name for geographical location.

 

[Sabre]

More great info!
So...

1998: First triple blade - Kai K-3
First lateral pivot - Schick 3D
2006: First trimmer blade - Gillette Fusion

So was the Lubrastrip introduced with the Atra Plus (and it’s a retrofit on the Trac II Plus)?
And were guard wires from Schick with the Protector as a response to the sprung blades of the Sensor?

It would appear the Feather Soltech was available in 1990. It's described as a sideways pivot.

 

[mjclark]

It would appear the Feather Soltech was available in 1990. It's described as a sideways pivot.

Gosh! Feather really think outside the box sometimes.

1990: First lateral pivot - Feather Soltech

My Feather MR3 Neo and the Feather F3 have the same lateral pivot.

 

[ajkel64]

I have all my Cartridge Razors together in a box. I will have a look through them in the morning and see if I have anything that has not been previously mentioned. I have no idea on time lines as some of mine were purchased in discount shops and could have been many years old before I bought them. I’m liking this thread immensely.

 

[mjclark]

I have all my Cartridge Razors together in a box. I will have a look through them in the morning and see if I have anything that has not been previously mentioned. I have no idea on time lines as some of mine were purchased in discount shops and could have been many years old before I bought them. I’m liking this thread immensely.

Brilliant!
We could do a timeline with photos....

 

[ajkel64]

If go to the search box and type in “Show us your carts” you will find a thread I tried to start over 12 months ago. I put a photo up of most of my carts. Some were doubles and there was a couple that I just found recently that were not in the photo. This might help a little but most have been used and don’t have the packaging.