Back in late January of 1906, in the Pendleton Oregon East Oregonian Newspaper, an ad appeared for a special sale. A special sale of the Christy Hoe Razor.

Ten days of cut prices, the ad promised. A single dollar, with an extra blade. Limited time only – the loss will be charged to the advertising account. Or in other words, they sold it as a loss leader.

A dollar may sound cheap. But once you take inflation into account, a 1906 dollar is the same as 35 US dollars (33€ / 28£) today. Not an expensive razor, by any means, but not all that cheap even on a special sale.