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74-732: Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care . The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham , by Henry Nock in London in 1772. Besides guns, the company has also produced swords, bayonets and products such as typewriters , garden shears , scissors and motorcycles . Gardening equipment

148-403: A comb patterned on various types of protective guards that had been affixed to open-blade straight razors during the preceding decades. To maintain their cutting action, razor blades can be stropped using an old strip of denim. Twinplex also sold a blade stropper which was used to extend the life of vintage carbon steel blades. Safety razor blades are usually made of razor steel which

222-725: A sweating system , which left workers uncovered by the Factory Acts . Such workers received 2 1 ⁄ 4  to 2 1 ⁄ 2  d per gross of boxes. The workers had to provide glue and string from their own funds. In 1861, at the Fairfield Works, a dilapidated site that had once been used for the manufacture of candles , crinoline and rope , close to the River Lea in Bow , they began to manufacture their own safety matches and "other chemical lights". This site

296-482: A 50% increase, and profits increased in an otherwise mature market. The marketing of increasing numbers of blades in a cartridge has been parodied since the 1970s. The debut episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975 included a parody advertisement for the Triple Trac Razor , shortly after the first two-blade cartridge for men's razors was advertised. Mad magazine announced the "Trac 76", arranged as

370-548: A brand share the same razor-head designs, differing primarily in the color, length, texture, material(s), and weight of the handles. Three-piece razors generally have interchangeable handles, and some companies specialize in manufacturing custom or high-end replacement handles. The butterfly safety razor utilizes a twist-to-open mechanism head to make changing the blade easy and convenient. Variations in razor head designs include straight safety bar (SB), open comb (OC)(toothed) bar, adjustable razors, and slant bar razors. The slant bar

444-699: A buyout of the Swedish Match consumer products division, which included Wilkinson Sword, by the Netherlands-based Eemland Holdings, giving Gillette a 22% stake in Eemland. After Gillette was ordered by the European Community Commission in 1992 to sell its interest in Eemland, Eemland sold Wilkinson Sword to Warner-Lambert , owner of Schick razor brand forming Schick-Wilkinson Sword. The Schick name

518-479: A chain of cartridges with a handle on each end. In the early 1990s, the (Australian) Late Show skitted a "Gillette 3000" with 16 blades and 75 lubricating strips as arrived at by working in conjunction with the help of NASA scientists - "The first blade distracts the hair...". The 16 January 1999 episode of Mad TV ran a parody commercial advertising the "Spishak Mach 20" with blades that variously "cut(s) away that pesky second layer of skin" and "gently smooth(s) out

592-415: A generic category of their own and not a variety of safety razor. The similarities between single-edge cartridge blade razors and the classic injector razor do, however, provide equal justification for treating both categories contiguously. In 1974, Bic introduced the disposable razor. Instead of being a razor with a disposable blade, the entire razor was manufactured to be disposable. Gillette's response

666-570: A new company, Edgewell Personal Care , of which Wilkinson Sword and Schick became part. Both are now brands used by Edgewell; Wilkinson Sword is used in Europe and Schick is used in Edgewell's remaining markets. Wilkinson Sword-branded three-, four-, and five-bladed razors for men and women have been produced in Germany since 1998, when production moved from the UK. In India the 'Wilkinson Sword' brand

740-558: A new version a year later at the Stanley Clyde Motorcycle Show at the Agricultural Hall, Islington , London in 1909. Only about 250 Wilkinsons were produced before World War I. Restrictions brought the line to its end in spring 1916, and Wilkinson then produced thousands of bayonets for the war effort. After the war, they continued to develop the in-line four engine – but in a new car called

814-640: A popular alternative to proprietary cartridge razors, and usually offer significantly lower total cost of ownership since they are not marketed under the " razor and blades business model ". Double-edge razors are still designed and produced in many countries, and in 2010, Procter & Gamble estimated that almost a billion men were shaving with double-edge razors. Better known manufacturers include Edwin Jagger, Feather, iKon, Lord, Mühle, Merkur, and Weishi, with several of them producing razors that are marketed under other brands. Often different models of razors within

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888-424: A protective guard to a regular straight razor . The first known occurrence of the term "safety razor" is found in a patent from 1880 for a razor in the basic contemporary configuration with a handle in which a removable blade is placed (although this form predated the patent). Safety razors were popularized in the 1900s by King Camp Gillette 's invention, the double-edge safety razor. While other safety razors of

962-401: A result, American Safety Razor, Gillette and Schick were driven to produce stainless steel blades to compete. Today, almost all razor blades are stainless steel, although carbon steel blades remain in limited production for lower income markets. Because Gillette held a patent on stainless blades but had not acted on it , the company was accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy

1036-469: A series of mergers with other matchmakers and later consumer products companies. Bryant & May was involved in three of the most divisive industrial episodes of the nineteenth century: the sweating of domestic out-workers, the wage "fines" that led to the London matchgirls strike of 1888 and the scandal of " phossy jaw ". Swedish Match owns the registered Bryant & May trade name , alongside those of many formerly independent companies once within

1110-530: A seven-blade cartridge. Gillette has also produced powered variants of the Mach3 (M3Power, M3Power Nitro) and Fusion (Fusion Power and Fusion Power Phantom) razors. These razors accept a single AAA battery which is used to produce vibration in the razor; this action was purported to raise hair up and away from the skin prior to being cut. These claims were ruled in an American court as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate". Safety razors originally had an edge protected by

1184-403: A significant market share. Previous market leaders responded by introducing their own stainless blades. The technology had been available for some time, but the market leaders such as Gillette, which held a patent on stainless blades, presumably knew that any gain for them in market share would be overwhelmed by the dramatic reduction in the size of the market. In 1973, Wilkinson Sword merged with

1258-416: A single-edge blade that was essentially a 4 cm (1.6 in) long segment of a straight razor. A flat blade that could be used alternately with this "wedge" was first illustrated in a patent issued in 1878, serving as a close prototype for the single-edge blade in its present form. New single-edge razors were developed and used side by side with double-edge razors for decades. The largest manufacturers were

1332-408: A smooth bearing for the plate upon the skin, while the teeth or bars will yield sufficiently to allow the razor to sever the hair without danger of cutting the skin." The Kampfe Brothers produced razors under their own name following the 1880 patent and improved the design in a series of subsequent patents. These models were manufactured under the "Star Safety Razor" brand. A third pivotal innovation

1406-566: A variety of specialised blades for professional barber use, some of which have been re-adopted for shaving by modern designs. Until the 1960s, razor blades were made of carbon steel . These were extremely prone to rusting and forced users to change blades frequently. In 1962, the British company Wilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel , whose edge did not corrode nearly so quickly and could be used far longer. Wilkinson quickly captured U.S., British and European markets. As

1480-499: A worker complained of having toothache, they were told to have the teeth removed immediately or be sacked. In the 1880s Bryant & May employed nearly 5,000 people, most of them female and Irish, or of Irish descent; by 1895 the figure was 2,000 people, of whom between 1,200 and 1,500 were women and girls. The workers were paid different rates for completing a ten-hour day, depending on the type of work undertaken. The frame-fillers were paid 1  shilling per 100 frames completed;

1554-509: Is a low chromium stainless steel which can be made extremely sharp, but corrodes relatively easily. Safety razor blade life may be extended by drying the blades after use. Salts from human skin also tend to corrode the blades, but washing and carefully drying them can greatly extend their life. Disposable safety razor blades can be sharpened using various methods. There are commercial devices intended for this duty (Razormate, RazorPit, Blade Buddy, etc.). Double-edge (DE) safety razors remain

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1628-614: Is of practical consequence has, however, been questioned. Gillette introduced the first triple-blade cartridge razor, the Mach3 , in 1998, and later upgraded the Sensor cartridge to the Sensor3 by adding a third blade. Schick/Wilkinson responded to the Mach3 with the Quattro, the first four-blade cartridge razor. These innovations are marketed with the message that they help consumers achieve

1702-574: Is owned by Gillette , who manufacture and sell products using the Wilkinson Sword logo. Following the theft of the Sword of State of South Carolina in 1941, a replacement was procured by the Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax from Wilkinson Sword, Ltd. The sword, the third to hold the designation of SC Sword of State, is made of steel and gold, featuring iconography of the state etched into

1776-571: Is still made under the Wilkinson Sword name by E.P. Barrus under a licensing arrangement. Wilkinson Sword has manufactured its products in three UK locations over the years: in London ( Chelsea and Acton ), Cramlington in Northumberland , and Bridgend in Wales, where it made gardening tools. In 2000, the company closed its razor plant in the UK and consolidated production in Germany. In 2014,

1850-413: Is the "Injector" razor developed and placed on the market by Schick Razors in the 1920s. This uses narrow blades stored in an injector device with which they are inserted directly into the razor, so that the user never needs to handle the blade. The injector blade was the first to depart from the rectangular dimensions shared by the wedge, standard single-edge, and double-edge blades. The injector, itself,

1924-624: The American Diamond Match Company bought an existing match factory in the United Kingdom, at Litherland , near Liverpool , and installed a continuous match making machine that could produce 600,000 matches per hour. Its matches were sold under the Captain Webb , Puck and Swan Vesta brand names. Bryant & May could not compete, so in 1905 it sold a majority 54.5 per cent of its share capital to

1998-558: The American Safety Razor Company with its "Ever-Ready" series, and the Gem Cutlery Company with its "Gem" models. Although these brands of single-edge razors are no longer in production, they are readily available in antique trade, and compatible modern designs are being made. Blades for them are still being manufactured both for shaving and technical purposes. A second popular single-edge design

2072-858: The Swedish Match company's interests in the British Empire (except for major plant in India and elsewhere in Asia) to become the British Match Corporation. In 1929, the British Match Corporation set up a jointly-owned company with another Quaker company, The A & W Match Phosphorus Company . It took over that part of Albright and Wilson's Oldbury site which was manufacturing amorphous phosphorus and phosphorus sesquisulfide , as these two chemicals were used in safety matches and strike-anywhere matches , respectively. In 1973

2146-635: The Wilkinson Sword Company in 1891. Wilkinson Sword produced some of the earliest motorcycles in 1903. These were two-cylinder machines with Belgian engines made by Antoine , which were marketed by a garage in Chelsea, London – one of the first motorcycle dealerships in the UK. The venture was not a success. Wilkinson developed and manufactured the Wilkinson TMC , a luxury touring motorcycle between 1911 and 1916, when production

2220-631: The (American) Diamond Match Company in return for the assets and goodwill of the British Diamond Match Company. In 1913 Bryant & May took over the Gloucester match maker S.J. Moreland and Sons, who made and sold matches under the trade name England's Glory . In 1927 Bryant & May combined with J. John Masters & Co. Ltd (match importers and owners of the Abbey Match Works, Barking, Essex) and

2294-606: The 1980s, factories in Gloucester and Glasgow closed, leaving Liverpool with the last B & M match factory in the UK. It shuttered in December 1994, and was renovated into today's "The Matchworks" (a grade 2 listed building) and the Matchbox. The former Australian match factory, Bryant and May Factory, Melbourne , closed in the mid-1980s. This was converted into offices in 1989. Some British match names continue to survive as brands of Swedish Match, but are made outside

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2368-476: The American pen and lighter company Scripto, Inc. in an attempt to diversify its holdings. Allegheny Ludlum Industries of Pittsburgh purchased Wilkinson Match in 1978. After becoming Allegheny International, Inc., the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1987. Allegheny sold Wilkinson Match in 1986 to Swedish Match , which merged with Stora Group two years later. In 1989, Gillette helped finance

2442-534: The Army in place of Wilkinson Sword. Other sword manufacturers, and in particular WKC in Germany, also bought items, including the roll forge. Many of the tools and machines remain in use, and classic knives such as the Fairbairn-Sykes are produced by both companies. Energizer Holdings bought Wilkinson Sword from Pfizer in 2003, along with Schick . In 2015, Energizer demerged its personal care business as

2516-563: The British Match Corporation to form Wilkinson Match . This was intended to create a stronger company, with a larger advertising budget that would enable the company to fight its American rival in the consumer shaving market, the Gillette Company , and its British subsidiary, also called Gillette. In this advertising war, Wilkinson Sword loudly touted its long and proud tradition of bladesmithing in its print and electronic media advertisements. That same year Wilkinson purchased

2590-426: The British Match Corporation merged with Wilkinson Sword to form the new company Wilkinson Match. Wilkinson Match's shares were acquired by US company Allegheny International from 1978 with Allegheny taking full ownership in 1980. In 1987 Allegheny filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Swedish Match re-acquired the company. In 1990 Swedish Match sold the Wilkinson Sword business, retaining the match business. In 1971

2664-636: The Bryant & May group. Bryant & May was formed in 1843 by Quakers William Bryant and Francis May to trade in general merchandise. In 1850 the company entered into a relationship with the Swedish match maker Johan Edvard Lundström in order to capture part of the market of the 250 million matches that were used in Britain each day. Its first order was for 10 or 15 cases of 720,000 matches (composed of 50 gross boxes of 100 matches each). The next order

2738-599: The Deemster. They never resumed motorcycle production. Wilkinson Sword began producing the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife for British Commandos and special forces during World War II. This knife became widely used by many militaries around the world. Wilkinson's Pall Mall sideline in bulletproof vests also proved instrumental in the design and early fabrication of 'flak vests' used by USAAF aircrew. In 1962, Wilkinson Sword introduced stainless steel razor blades. Soon

2812-538: The Northern Ireland factory, Maguire & Patterson, closed down following a terrorist attack. The original Bow match factory was closed in 1979, when it still employed 275 people; unlike some of the other match factories little recent investment had taken place. The Bow factory site consisted of a number of listed buildings, which have subsequently been converted into the Bow Quarter flats complex. In

2886-519: The UK. Some former shaving products survive, manufactured in Germany and sold under the trade name Wilkinson Sword in Europe , and the Schick name elsewhere. Vitafruit was a confectionery manufactured by the Bryant & May group in 1988. There were three varieties including tropical fruit flavour (Vitafruit), mint (Vitamint) and a throat soother (Vitasooth). When Swedish Match acquired Bryant & May

2960-474: The Westminster, by which time the march numbered approximately 10,000. Clashes ensued, and The Times described that the police had "by their hard usage of the matchmakers and spectators, converted what was before not an ill-behaved gathering into a resisting, howling mob". The Manchester Guardian described that "policemen, strong in their sense of officialism, and bullying in their strength, approached

3034-511: The ages of thirteen and twenty, and were described in The Times as "beyond doubt of the working classes. They ... were accompanied by men and women of their own class, without any admixture of the usual agitators." The marchers were harassed along the way before their progress was blocked by police at Mile End Road . Much of the march progressed through the police line, but parts were split off and made their way via alternative routes to

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3108-414: The best shave as easily as possible. Another impetus for the sale of multiple-blade cartridges is that they have high profit margins. With manufacturers frequently updating their shaving systems, consumers can become locked into buying their proprietary cartridges, for as long as the manufacturer continues to make them. Subsequent to introducing the higher-priced Mach3 in 1998, Gillette's blade sales realized

3182-473: The blades are embedded in plastic – have become the predominant types of safety razors. In 2010, Procter & Gamble stated that almost a billion men were shaving with double-edge razors. The first step towards a safer-to-use razor was the guard razor – also called a straight safety razor – which added a protective guard to a regular straight razor . The first such razor was most likely invented by French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret circa 1762. The invention

3256-456: The business to a three-acre site, on Fairfield Road, Bow, east London . The building, an old candle factory, was demolished and a model factory was built in the mock-Venetian style popular at the time. The factory was heavily mechanised and included twenty-five steam engines to power the machinery. On nearby Bow Common , the company built a lumber mill to make splints from imported Canadian pine. Bryant & May were aware of " phossy jaw ". If

3330-485: The company further moved most of its production to Czech Republic. Henry Nock began trading as a gunlock smith out of Mount Pleasant in London in 1772. In 1775, he formed Nock, Jover & Co. with William Jover and John Green. The American Revolutionary War led to strong sales for the new company. In 1776, the Board of Ordnance granted Nock, Jover & Co. an advance of £200 to start producing bayonets and in 1779

3404-443: The company sold 231,000 boxes; by 1855 this had risen to 10.8 million boxes and to 27.9 million boxes in 1860. Market preference in the UK was for the familiar lucifer match, and by 1880 Bryant & May were also producing them. The same year the company began exporting their goods; in 1884 they became a publicly-listed company . Dividends of 22.5 per cent in 1885 and 20 per cent in 1886 and 1887 were paid. In 1861 Bryant relocated

3478-502: The company won a contract to produce 500 seven-barreled volley guns for the Royal Navy. Although designed by James Wilson, these would become known as Nock volley guns or Nock guns . When Henry Nock died in 1804, he left the company to his foreman and adopted son-in-law, James Wilkinson. When James's son Henry Wilkinson joined the company it was renamed James Wilkinson & Son (also known as simply Wilkinson & Son ). It became

3552-406: The company's blades made rapid gains in market share because one blade, though somewhat more expensive, could be used for a week. The earlier carbon steel razor blades rusted quickly enough that many people used a new blade daily. Although Wilkinson gained a larger percentage of the market, the demand for razor blades declined to approximately 14% of its previous level. This introduction gave Wilkinson

3626-446: The cutters received 2 3 ⁄ 4   d for three gross of boxes, and the packers got 1s 9d per 100 boxes wrapped up. Those under 14 years of-age received a weekly wage of about 4 s. Most workers were lucky if they took the full amounts home, as a series of fines were levied by the foremen, with the money deducted directly from wages. The fines included 3 d for having an untidy workbench, talking or having dirty feet—many of

3700-460: The following month. This differed from the Henson design in distancing the blade from the handle by interposing "a hollow metallic blade-holder having a preferably removable handle and a flat plate in front, to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch, said plate having bars or teeth at its lower edge, and the lower plate having an opening, for the purpose set forth", which is to "insure

3774-428: The following year Gillette introduced the twin-blade Trac II. They claimed that research showed the tandem action of the two blades to give a closer shave than a single blade, because of a " hysteresis " effect. In addition to the cutting action of the first blade, it is also supposed to pull the hair out of the follicle into which it does not fully retract before the second blade cuts it further. The extent to which this

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3848-559: The form of a common hoe", was first described in a patent application in 1847 by William S. Henson. This also covered a "comb tooth guard or protector" which could be attached both to the hoe form and to a conventional straight razor. The first attested use of the term "safety razor" is in a patent application for "new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors", filed in May 1880 by Frederic and Otto Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York, and issued

3922-454: The jawbone" culminating in a blade that "destroys the part of the brain responsible for hair growth." In 2004, a satirical article in The Onion entitled "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" predicted the release of five-blade cartridges, two years before their commercial introduction. South Korean manufacturer Dorco released their own six-blade cartridge in 2012, and later released

3996-511: The poor more heavily. Match-making companies complained about the new levy and arranged a mass-meeting at Victoria Park, London on Sunday 23 April; 3,000 match workers attended, the majority of whom were from Bryant & May. It was resolved to march on the following day to the Houses of Parliament to present a petition. Several thousand match-makers set off from Bow Road in an orderly fashion. The demonstration comprised mostly girls between

4070-460: The poor which would be very wrong and most impolitic at the present moment. The day following the march, Lowe announced in the House of Commons that the proposed tax was being withdrawn. Bryant and May was involved in three of the most divisive industrial episodes of the nineteenth century, the sweating of domestic out-workers, the wage "fines" that led to the London matchgirls strike of 1888 and

4144-426: The rust-prone blade. The risk of injury from handling razor blades was further reduced in 1970 when Wilkinson released its "Bonded Shaving System", which embedded a single blade in a disposable polymer plastic cartridge. A flurry of competing models soon followed with everything from one to six blades, with many cartridge blade razors also having disposable handles. Cartridge blade razors are sometimes considered to be

4218-653: The scandal of " phossy jaw ". The strike won important improvements in working conditions and pay for the mostly female workforce working with the dangerous white phosphorus. The company rebuilt their Bow factory in 1909-1910, with many modern innovations including two tall towers housing water storage tanks for a sprinkler system . By 1911, it employed more than 2,000 female workers, the largest factory in London. Bryant & May variously sold itself to, merged with, or took over rivals. These were: In 1885 - factories in Stratford, Manchester, York and Glasgow. In 1901

4292-421: The shaving industry on course toward its present form with Gillette as a dominant force. Prior to the introduction of the disposable blade, users of safety razors still needed to strop and hone the edges of their blades. These are not trivial skills (honing frequently being left to a professional) and remained a barrier to the ubiquitous adopting of the "be your own barber" ideal. The first safety razors used

4366-492: The sides of the blade and a burgundy leather sheath. The sword was presented to the state in 1951. The sword remains in use to this day as a ceremonial artifact of the South Carolina Senate . Wilkinson also makes double edge razor blades for safety razors. Safety razor Protective devices for razors have existed since at least the 1700s: a circa 1762 invention by French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret added

4440-503: The time used blades that required stropping before use and after a time had to be honed by a cutler, Gillette's razor used a disposable blade with two sharpened edges. Gillette's invention became the predominant style of razor during and after the First World War , when the U.S. Army began issuing Gillette shaving kits to its servicemen. Since their introduction in the 1970s, cartridge razors and disposable razors – where

4514-527: The verge of brutality". On the same day as the meeting in Victoria Park, Queen Victoria wrote to the prime minister , William Gladstone , to protest about the tax: it is difficult not to feel considerable doubt as to the wisdom of the proposed tax on matches ... [which] will be felt by all classes to whom matches have become a necessity of life. ... this tax which is intended should press on all equally will in fact only be severely felt by

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4588-444: The workers were bare-footed as shoes were too expensive; 5 d was deducted for being late; and a shilling for having a burnt match on the workbench. The women and girls involved in boxing up the matches had to pay the boys who brought them the frames from the drying ovens, and had to supply their own glue and brushes. One girl who dropped a tray of matches was fined 6 d. The match boxes were made through domestic outwork under

4662-561: Was a British match manufacturer, which today exists only as a brand name owned by Swedish Match . The company was formed in the mid-19th century as a dry goods trader, with its first match works, the Bryant & May Factory , located in Bow, London . It later opened other factories in the United Kingdom, Australia, and other parts of the world. The firm was formed in 1843 by Quakers William Bryant and Francis May and survived as an independent concern for over seventy years before undergoing

4736-438: Was a common design in Germany in which the blade is slightly angled and curved along its length to make for a slicing action and a more rigid cutting edge. A primary functional difference between double-edge razors and modern cartridge razors is that DE razor heads come in a wide array of aggression levels (where aggression is commonly defined as being less protection from the blade). Bryant and May Bryant & May

4810-638: Was a safety razor using a disposable double-edge blade for which King Camp Gillette submitted a patent application in 1901 and was granted in 1904. The Gillette Safety Razor Company was awarded a contract to supply the American troops in World War I with double-edge safety razors as part of their standard field kits (delivering a total of 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades for them). The returning soldiers were permitted to keep that part of their equipment and therefore retained their new shaving habits. The subsequent consumer demand for replacement blades put

4884-473: Was also chosen to fabricate the Sword of Stalingrad in 1943. The production of swords came to an end when the company's sword factory at Acton closed in September 2005. Wilkinson Sword then held an auction of the tools, equipment, sword drawings, and forging and milling machinery. Robert Pooley, who had commissioned the company to produce swords, bought many of these items and formed Pooley Sword to supply

4958-495: Was also the first device intended to reduce the risk of injury from handling blades. The Gillette blade dispenser released in 1947 had the same purpose. The narrow injector blade, as well as the form of the injector razor, also strongly influenced the corresponding details of the subsequently developed cartridge razors. Both injector blades and injector safety razors are still available on the market, from antique stock as well as modern manufacture. The injector blades have also inspired

5032-406: Was for 50 cases; later orders were for 500. This partnership was successful, so the partners decided to merge the firm with a separate company owned by Bryant, Plymouth -based Bryant and James. The company began production after purchasing the rights in Britain for £100. In line with their religious beliefs, Bryant and May decided to produce only safety matches, rather than lucifers. In 1850

5106-567: Was gradually expanded as a model factory . The public were initially unwilling to buy the more expensive safety matches so they also made the more profitable traditional lucifer match . In 1871 Robert Lowe , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , attempted to introduce a tax of 1 ⁄ 2  d per hundred matches. The Times , in a leader on the proposal, opined that the tax was "a singularly reactionary proposal" that would affect

5180-409: Was inspired by the joiner's plane and was essentially a straight razor with its blade surrounded by a wooden sleeve. The earliest razor guards had comb-like teeth and could only be attached to one side of a razor; a reversible guard was one of the first improvements made to guard razors. The basic form of a razor, "the cutting blade of which is at right angles with the handle, and resembles somewhat

5254-605: Was sold to Fiskars in 1988. Throughout the 20th century, Wilkinson Sword produced ceremonial swords for the Household Cavalry of the British Army , and crafted the ceremonial sword for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002. The sword factory combined state of the art manufacturing technology with traditional skills and 19th century machinery to produce original fighting quality swords. The company

5328-463: Was stopped by World War I. The first 'Wilkinsons' were designed for military reconnaissance by P G Tacchi . Demonstrated to the British military in the summer of 1908, the Wilkinson motorcycle failed to impress the authorities, despite optional accessories including a sidecar complete with Maxim machine gun – and a steering wheel instead of handlebars. The company continued development and exhibited

5402-607: Was the Good News disposable razor which was launched on the US market in 1976 before the Bic disposable was made available on that market. Shortly thereafter, Gillette modified the Good News construction to add an aloe strip above the razor, resulting in the Good News Plus. The purported benefit of the aloe strip is to ease any discomfort felt on the face while shaving. In direct response to Wilkinson's Bonded cartridge, during

5476-480: Was used on its products in North America and Japan, and the Wilkinson Sword name in Europe. In 2000, Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert and three-years later, divested the Wilkinson component. Most of the former Bryant and May operations of Wilkinson Match were closed or sold in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the Bryant and May factories in Bow and Melbourne . The home and gardening tools division

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