impressed with heroic, romantic, ironic, and nonsensical mnemonic names,
such as Mac’s Smile, Merlin, Super Gam, 7 o’Clock, Tre Teste, Carezza,
Honor, Stormo, and Eclipise. Each was adorned with a mini-poster
design—sometimes bold novelty typography, other times drawings of
elegant men, sensuous beauties, and goofy mascots. The blades themselves
were made from white, blue, and gold steel, and were differentiated from
each other with such superlatives as “extra,” “superior,” and “super extra,”
although the same traits were really common to all. A few were touted as
flexible, and at least one was said to be “magic.”
In the early days of what is now called branding, any verbal and
visual trick was used to capture attention. Once purchased, a good clean
shave would presumably ensure the customer’s loyalty.
Why were there so many brands and wrappers? Well, during the
1920 s and 1930 s when these packages were current, razor blades were fairly
easy and inexpensive to produce, so one company could issue half a dozen
mini-brands in the hope of hitting big with just one. Every basic safety
razor model accepted the same double-edge blades, which would last
for between five and ten shaves before turning dull, thus adding to the
widespread need to replenish supplies. Since consumers were not
necessarily loyal to any one blade—except in the United States and
England, where Gillette was long a major brand—it was incumbent on
producers to distribute enough new products to maintain the sense of
novelty that seduced most buyers.
Blades are Lilliputian, so manufacturers had to find visible means
to attract the consumer. The most common sales devices were easel-back
point-of-purchase displays (or “risers”) on which tiny individual boxes
containing five to ten blades were attached to cardboard hooks. These
countertop “standees” were colorful, eye-catching, and cheap. Another
common form was the countertop box with die-cut panels that, when raised
off the surface of the box, highlighted the logo or trademark of the product.
Blade packs were anonymously designed by commercial artists in
printing plants that specialized in this and other forms of consumer
packaging. The format was obviously proscribed, but within the limitations,
anything was possible. Color was a requisite, and many blade wrappers
were printed with metallic inks or multiple primary hues. Simplicity was
the watchword for obvious reasons, yet a few brands—such as Apollo No.
10 , a German blade—were designed with an engraving of the Greek god
framed by classical filigree, and Lama Italia, an Italian brand, had
Novocento-styled graphic iconography. Most of the wrappers were as
colorful as posters and as visually spirited as book jackets.
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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