Personna Razors in Piccadilly Circus

LONDON – Many brands that were once popular still get exposure through popular media, especially through photography and movies.

We happened upon one razor brand, Personna, in the back of a 1960s photo of Roger Daltrey of The Who. The rocker is standing a block or two away from the Trocadero, you can see just to the right a large billboard advertising Personna Stainless Steel razors.

Who would have thought such a brand had a history? Today, the brand always sells as a cheaper alternative to Gillette and Schick. Personna was a brand owned by Philip Morris, and the company was later spun off into its own entity, which is now American Safety Razor.

It now owns shaving brands that include GEM Blue Star, PFB, Treet, Pal and Burma-shave and made hit products like Flicker (the pink razor for women). The company claims to be one of the oldest razor companies in the U.S.; they are direct in line from the Brooklyn, NY-based company Kampfe, named for the brothers who patented the first safety razor in the US and formed a manufacturing company in 1875.

We just thought some of the old images of it were fun, including one from its USPTO trademark file, here seen.

Author

Garland Pollard

J. Garland Pollard IV is publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

View all posts