When did the descent from DE to Carts begin?

[Greglam]

I'm 41 and started shaving in about, oh, I'd say 1984-ish with any kind of regularity. Obviously the cartridge was the dominant type of razor at that time. When, I wonder, did the DE's, SuperSpeeds, Adjustables, etc, get phased out? AND did the "handles" even get date coded at all?

Was there a period, e.g. 1960's -1970's when there was a VHS/Betamax-esque battle to the (near) death?

Or did the major manufacturers pretty much just stop making the DEs cold turkey?

-Greg

 

[kingfisher]

I think Gillette started making the Trac II in the mid- to late-70s. They continued to make DEs well into the 80s (I think even into the late 80s), but very few Americans were buying and using them.

somebody with a lot more knowledge than me will come along with exact dates soon, I'm sure.

I was born in '58 and remember shaving in high school, and I never used a DE. Pretty sure I was shaving in 1976, and the only DE I ever saw was in my grandfather's bathroom.

 

[Saunterer]

My very shave was was with a Trac II in 1975 when I was only 5 years old.

(I learned not to horizontally shave a Kool Aid mustache off, leaving two red lines across my face. If I make it back home, I'll definitely have to scan a picture.)

 

[mblakele]

The wiki (http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/US_Gillette_Dating_Information) places the Trac II in 1971, Atra in 1976, Atra Plus in 1985.

 

[jebib3]

I started shaving in 1965 with a Gillette Adjustable ( I was 14 at the time). I continued using DE's till approximately 1980. However, as I remember there were two chief selling points in the switch: (a) the disposables were a safer alternative; and (b) disposables were CHEAPER. I grew very accustomed to the cartridge/disposable over the years. And with the passage of time my memory of the DE's was of an increasingly aggressive alternative. I am again DE shaving and am amazed at how inexpensive really good stainless blades are. On the subject of agressiveness now that I am retired I am not compelled to try to get the shave done in less than 7 to 10 minutes though. I hesitate to say I am saving any money because shaving has morphed from a strictly utilitarian experience to something of a hobby. But to make a short story long as I recall the key to the migration to the cartridge/disposable was the difference in the price point between the two. In closing my only thought is how everything goes full circle because now the circumstance is exactly the opposite.

 

[Topgumby]

As posted, 1971 in the USA.

While DE production continued to the mid 80's, Gillette aggressively marketed the cartridge and disposable razors as superior, and the changeover was pretty rapid for the majority of shavers. At the time, plastic and modern were admirable, and old-fashioned was more of a pejorative than it is now.

The fact that you can still find DE blades at most drugstores attest to the survival of some DE shaving to this day, even among non-enthusiasts.

 

[Slivovitz]

I learned to shave with a DE in 1971 or 72, just as the Trac II was coming out. Try as I might, I can't recall when I switched to the Trac II, but it must have been within a few years at most. I still have my original Atra handle, and it has a 1985 date code, so that must have been about when I moved on to it.

It simply wasn't an issue at the time. If you'd told me at the time that I would become a shaving hobbyist, debating the merits of different razors on some sort of hi-tech computer network, it would have seemed too ridiculous for words. Also, the Trac II and Atra really do shave very well.

I'll add that my father, who passed away in 2002, never did switch to cartridges as far as I know. Granted, I wasn't particularly paying attention to shaving matters at the time, but I recall still seeing his old DE in the bathroom when I'd visit. Probably a Super Speed, from what I know now.

 

[instpasr]

If the revolution began in 1971 when would you say the "rebellion" began. 2000 2001?

 

[john parker]

My point of view on the "descent" was that it was accompanied not only by a marketing campaign to promote cartridges, but also be ceasing to produce DE blades. I switched when good blades weren't available at my local stores. As to the reemergence of the DEs, suspect that is when good DE blades were made known and available through the internet. Switched back to DEs when I found I could get good blades.

 

[Rivguy]

If I remember correctly, Gillette marketed the cartridge in part as a response to the inroads Wilkinson blades were making in the market place. The rest, as they say, is history. I have to admit that I did swerve into the cartridge craze from time to time and still use one occasionally, but I could not get excited about a stack of blades on a vibrating stick.

Enjoy your shaves,

Doug

 

[Sparafucile]

I learned with a DE and brush-and-cream in 1960 or 61, bought a Hoffritz Merkur Progress in about '65, then a slant and switched to the Atra in the mid-80s because the DE blades available were just terrible. I never stopped using a brush-and-creme.

I really liked the Mach-3 but for the cost; and only went back to DE when a Japanese colleague gave me Feather and Kai about 6 years ago.

 

[shecky]

If the revolution began in 1971 when would you say the "rebellion" began. 2000 2001?

Close enough. Internet and ebay. Buying DE blades became easier, blade choice broadened (I had no idea so many brands of blades from around the globe were available), and easy access to inexpensive used DE razors became possible. Also, enthusiasts were able to find each other.

 

[the beav]

I think an argument could be made that the cartridges first began with the Gillette Techmatic, which debuted in 1965.

 

[Never2Late]

If the revolution began in 1971 when would you say the "rebellion" began. 2000 2001?

Yes, I'd say around 2000.... Fleeing from the Cylon cartridge tyranny, the last wet shaving forum, Badger & Blade, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest for a shining face, known as BBS - Commander Adama

 

[njpaddy]

I was using a Schick Injector in the mid to late 60's before the carts came out. I don't remember DE's being that popular with my generation. I think by then DE's were considered our father's razors. Most guys I knew, if they bothered shaving at all, used electric or injectors.

 

[taffy]

I am 46, and i can honestly say that when i started shaving, maybe around 1999/80, i cant remember seeing any de's around over here, though at that stage i may not have been looking that hard at razors

 

[the beav]

I'd agree. I can barely remember my dad having a Flair-tip Super Speed in the mid to late 60s, but I think after that he had a plastic-handled Schick adjustable before disposables came out in mid 70s. Then he switched to those, Bics and Gillettes you know, and when I began shaving that's what I used. Plastics--that's the future. By that time DE's seemed cumbersome and fuddy-duddy. And let's face it, the black-handled DE's of the mid-70s weren't much to look at compared to the razors of earlier years.

 

[TxPhoto09]

My son, 44, shaves with either a Trac II or a Mach 3, I'm not sure. When I sent him a SS adjustable made in his birth year just as a collectible, he e-mailed me: "You realize you're reverting to double edge shaving, while I have never shaved with anything with fewer than two blades. That thing [the adjustable] scares hell out of me, and this from someone who's seen missiles intercepted overhead."

I thought it was hilarious. Now that he's no longer under SCUD missiles, that is.

Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure knowing he walks into burning buildings as a profession is much better.

 

[instpasr]

Yes, I'd say around 2000.... Fleeing from the Cylon cartridge tyranny, the last wet shaving forum, Badger & Blade, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest for a shining face, known as BBS - Commander Adama

 

[haiti222]

Schick continued to have both Injectors and DEs as bonus items to buying blades and specially priced offers well into the 80's and even early 90's. Gillette had already made their DE razors into a premium priced item by then (e.g. Get Schick Razor and 5 blades for $2 while Gillette Razor was $6.99 in mid 1980's). They were using the DE blades mainly as a way to make money and get users to try the cartridges. I remember buying the Gillette DE at a big premium just to see what all the hype was about.....I really preferred the injectors back then, but tried almost everything....