Inventor of the Disposable Culture: King Camp Gillette 1855-1932 - Softcover

Dowling, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 057120810X ISBN 13: 9780571208104

Publisher: Short Books, 2001

Synopsis

King Camp Gillette's safety razor - eight years in the making - revolutionised a dangerous chore, and made its creator a very rich man. In this incisive biography, Tim Dowling examines the contradictions at the heart of the razor king, a socialist utopian who fulminated against the evils of capitalism while at the same time zealously embracing his role as father of the disposable economy.

About this title

Review:

Utopians have often proved the greatest inventors. One thinks of Jeremy Bentham and his Panopticon prison, Robert Owen and his factory villages. In "Inventor of the Disposable Culture: King Camp Gillette" Tim Dowling adds another to the list: Gillette, the American inventor of the disposable razor blade, who turns out to have been a socialist visionary. For those who know the story already there is not a lot new here, for those who don't it is a well-written and pacey introduction. --Miles Taylor

About the Author:

Born in Connecticut, Tim Dowling moved to London in 1992. He writes for the Guardian and The Times, and is currently working on a book on fatherhood.

About this edition

• Publisher: Short Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 057120810X
• ISBN 13: 9780571208104
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96