After I've spent the last few months recollecting pieces of information on the Gem style SE razors I have to come out of the closet and say I get my better shaves from an I2 Hydromagic Eversharp injector out of the +40 razors in my collection.
There was no need to compile another chart due to the fact it's already there, brilliantly published on Schick Injector Razors following the Alan Appleby classification. Who owns the brilliant "A Safety Razor Compendium: The Book" by Robert K. Waits already had access to further infos about these wonderful razors.
I just wanted to put together these two invaluable sources adding some extra, like a seasoning over a delicious recipe.
I'm not a huge fan of Col. Jacob Schick. Yes, he invented the first "injector" in the beautiful shape of a compact travel razor, where "the blade could be ejected with the speed of a cartridge clip from an automatic pistol", but his was a utilitarian invention, only to funds what it was his real focus: the first electric razor. Later he did what he can to avoid to pay taxes and ended his life as a runaway from justice.
I feel much more admiration for the genius minds, the dedication and inventive of two gentlemen, two immigrant mechanical engineers that through the decades shaped the injector razor as we know it and gifted us with a plethora of tremendous shaving tool: Octavius V. Rodrigues and Karl Leopold Kuhnl.
The history:
Col. Jacob Schick (September 16, 1877 – July 3, 1937) was an American inventor and entrepreneur who patented the first electric razor.
At the early age of 16, Schick was in charge of a railroad line that ran from Los Corrillos, New Mexico to a coal mine opened by his father. Schick enlisted in the 14th Infantry Regiment in 1898 and was shortly thereafter assigned to the Philippines in the 1st Division 8th Army Corps. He returned to the Philippines from 1903-1905 as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 8th Infantry Regiment. He returned to the U.S. suffering from dysentery, where one version of the invention story claims he conceived of the idea of an electric razor. He was promoted to first lieutenant and was transferred to the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Alaska a year later, where he helped to lay telegraph lines for the military. He officially separated from the military in 1910, but returned to duty from 1916-1918 as a Captain (eventually promoted to Lt. Colonel) due to the outbreak of World War I.
Schick left the army in 1919 and again devoted himself to his dream project of perfecting a dry shaver. In the interim, however, he needed capital, and to get this capital he ventured into the shaving business in another matter. Inspired by weaponry he saw in the service, and wondering why people would risk cutting themselves on new blades, Schick put his inventiveness to work to develop the Magazine Repeating Razor, and in 1925 he started a company of the same name. This company sought "to use the principles of repeating firearms in a safety razor not much larger than a good-sized fountain pen" which could readily be carried in the shirt pocket. It was the forerunner of the injector razor. The blades were sold in clips which were easily loaded into the razor without touching the blade....
Without further ado here it is the table I compiled. It's big, it's meant to be downloaded and used as a reference when you're offline. Or just to have as much information on Schick razor I could find at hand without having to browse too much searching for what you need.
I haven't put pictures of the razors otherwise it would have been HUGE. I will try to put pictures for every model later in this thread. Let's make it a gathering point for all the SE razor lovers
There was no need to compile another chart due to the fact it's already there, brilliantly published on Schick Injector Razors following the Alan Appleby classification. Who owns the brilliant "A Safety Razor Compendium: The Book" by Robert K. Waits already had access to further infos about these wonderful razors.
I just wanted to put together these two invaluable sources adding some extra, like a seasoning over a delicious recipe.
I'm not a huge fan of Col. Jacob Schick. Yes, he invented the first "injector" in the beautiful shape of a compact travel razor, where "the blade could be ejected with the speed of a cartridge clip from an automatic pistol", but his was a utilitarian invention, only to funds what it was his real focus: the first electric razor. Later he did what he can to avoid to pay taxes and ended his life as a runaway from justice.
I feel much more admiration for the genius minds, the dedication and inventive of two gentlemen, two immigrant mechanical engineers that through the decades shaped the injector razor as we know it and gifted us with a plethora of tremendous shaving tool: Octavius V. Rodrigues and Karl Leopold Kuhnl.
The history:
Col. Jacob Schick (September 16, 1877 – July 3, 1937) was an American inventor and entrepreneur who patented the first electric razor.
At the early age of 16, Schick was in charge of a railroad line that ran from Los Corrillos, New Mexico to a coal mine opened by his father. Schick enlisted in the 14th Infantry Regiment in 1898 and was shortly thereafter assigned to the Philippines in the 1st Division 8th Army Corps. He returned to the Philippines from 1903-1905 as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 8th Infantry Regiment. He returned to the U.S. suffering from dysentery, where one version of the invention story claims he conceived of the idea of an electric razor. He was promoted to first lieutenant and was transferred to the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Alaska a year later, where he helped to lay telegraph lines for the military. He officially separated from the military in 1910, but returned to duty from 1916-1918 as a Captain (eventually promoted to Lt. Colonel) due to the outbreak of World War I.
Schick left the army in 1919 and again devoted himself to his dream project of perfecting a dry shaver. In the interim, however, he needed capital, and to get this capital he ventured into the shaving business in another matter. Inspired by weaponry he saw in the service, and wondering why people would risk cutting themselves on new blades, Schick put his inventiveness to work to develop the Magazine Repeating Razor, and in 1925 he started a company of the same name. This company sought "to use the principles of repeating firearms in a safety razor not much larger than a good-sized fountain pen" which could readily be carried in the shirt pocket. It was the forerunner of the injector razor. The blades were sold in clips which were easily loaded into the razor without touching the blade....
Without further ado here it is the table I compiled. It's big, it's meant to be downloaded and used as a reference when you're offline. Or just to have as much information on Schick razor I could find at hand without having to browse too much searching for what you need.
I haven't put pictures of the razors otherwise it would have been HUGE. I will try to put pictures for every model later in this thread. Let's make it a gathering point for all the SE razor lovers
