In is 1894 book the human drift gillette detailed plans for a massive metropolis located at niagara falls and designed to house tens of millions of people. Human drift and the utopian city imagined atop the niagara falls. He published a book titled the human drift 1894 which advocated that all industry should be taken over by a single corporation owned by the public, and that everyone in the us should live in a giant city called metropolis powered by niagara falls. He both wrote and subsidized books on the subjects, including the human drift 1894, gillettes industrial. In the human drift, published in 1894, gillette proposed a collective, cooperative community. How gillettes founder dreamed of a carfree, moneyless. Gillette is widely credited with inventing the socalled razor and blades business model, where razors are sold cheaply to increase the market for blades, but in fact he adopted this model only after his competitors did. See all 14 formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
Gillettes ancestors came from england to massachusetts in 1630. The human drift is a work of utopian social planning, written by king camp gillette and first published in 1894. The human drift and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. This was the first of several books in which gillette set down his ideas. Gillettes first book, the human drift, is largely forgotten now, but it caused quite a stir among those radicals who had been attracted to.
The human drift by gillette camp 9780353523067 fast for. Gillette wanted to nikola tesla design a waterpowered electrical grid, which would be amply. Gillettes first book came out in 1894, the human drift. A later book, world corporation 1910 was a prospectus for a company set up to create this vision. A utopian in the times of the robber barons with a lesson for them then and. The thoughts herein contained are dedicated to all mankind. Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, shaving was a nuisance, and sometimes even dangerous. The human drift issue 59 of twentieth century library. Gillettes first book, the human drift, is largely forgotten now, but it caused quite a stir among those radicals who had been attracted to bellamys looking backward, gronlunds cooperative commonwealth, etc.
Gillette blade national museum of american history. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library. The book details gillettes theory that replacing competitive corporations with a single giant publicly owned trust the united company would cure virtually all social ills. Gillette, inventor of the safety razor published a book in 1894 titled the human drift in which he envisioned a gigantic city that encompassed. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and. His views were also discussed in two other books, gillettes social redemption 1907 and gillettes industrial solution 1908, written by melvin l. Paperback march 2, 2012 by king camp gillette author 4. Map showing the proposed location of metropolis, from the pamphlet the human drift. Twentieth centurywhich by that time was nothing like an anarchist paper, but still featured plenty of anarchistswent through. The human drift was published in 1894, right before its author had his epiphany about the safety razor and blades.
In 1894, king camp gillette, the future razor magnate, outlined his plan for. Gillette, inventor of the safety razor published a book in 1894 titled the human drift in which he envisioned a gigantic city that encompassed buffalo, niagara falls, rochester and parts of. How gillettes founder dreamed of a carfree, moneyless metropolis. The city, which he outlines in his book the human drift, would be built on top of niagara falls. Gillette, the human drift 1895 the libertarian labyrinth. An imaginary city that changed the twentieth century.
Some of gillettes proposals in the human drift were progressive. In addition to the human drift 1894, gillettes books included the ballot box 1897, world corporation 1910, and the peoples corporation 1924. Five facts about king camp gillette inventor of the. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The human drift gillette wrote a book that was published and pushed the case of all industry throughout the world being taken over by a single corporation. See all 11 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Paperback march 2 2012 by king camp gillette author 4. Gillette in his early days the inventor of the razor and. King camp gillette is the author of world corporation 2. Share the human drift by gillette camp 9780353523067 fast. Human drift and the utopian city imagined atop the niagara.
From the first chapter, it is clear the chicagos world fair influenced gillette with all its great improvements on mankind from skyscrapers, to electricity, to the ferris wheel. The human drift by gillette camp 9780353523067 fast. In the book, he stated that he believed all competitive corporations should create one company. The human drift by king camp gillette 97876357042 for. He was born in fond du lac, wisconsin and raised in. The human drift was created as a postscript to an earlier project worldshaving which investigated the sociourban ideals of late 19th early 20th century businessman and razorblade magnate king c. This is the first book where gillette publicly discussed his support for a utopian society. The book details gillette s theory that replacing competitive corporations with a single giant publicly owned trust the united company would cure virtually all social ills. The metropolis would be the only city on the continent and would house nearly all of the nations inhabitants. In theory, however and despite his given name king gillette had always been an opponent of capitalism. He wrote a number of books promoting a socialist utopia, beginning with the human drift 1894, in which he declared competition to be the root of all evil. King camp gillette, born january 5, 1855, fond du lac, wisconsin, u. The first example dates back to 1894, when the founder of gillette, king camp gillette inventor of the first safety razor published the human drift.
Recently, gillette has made headlines for its ad campaign against toxic masculinity, but searching through the archives, it would seem its not the first time the company has demonstrated a visionary approach. The first example dates back to 1894, when the founder of gillette, king camp gillette inventor of the first safety razor published the human drift, a book in which he argued. Despite considerable economic success in the competitive market, gillette remained an anticapitalist utopian and a staunch advocate of social engineering. Simultaneously enacting one of the earliest truly global capitalist enterprises and heralding the principle of planned. The human drift smallboat sailing four horses and a sailor nothing that ever came to anything that dead men rise up never a classic of the sea a wicked woman curtain raiser the birth mark sketch the human drift the revelations of devout and learnd who rose before us, and as prophets burnd. At the age of 40, king gillette was a frustrated inventor, a bitter anticapitalist, and a salesman of corklined bottle caps. In fact, he wrote and cowrote several books on the topic. That changed when king camp gillette 18551932 founded the gillette safety razor company in 1901 and began selling his safety razors with disposable blades two years later in his book the man and his wonderful shaving deviceking c.