His father was a German immigrant who staked prospector’s claims and established a coal mining company, where Jacob began working as a child.[4] At the early age of 16, Schick was in charge of a railroad line that ran from Los Corrillos, New Mexico to a coal mine opened by his father.He returned to the U.S. suffering from dysentery, where one version of the invention story claims he conceived of the idea of an electric razor.He was promoted to first lieutenant and was transferred to the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Alaska a year later, where he helped to lay telegraph lines for the military.[4] This business provided the necessary capital to develop his electric razor concept when he sold it to the American Chain & Cable Company in 1928.
An early Schick electric shaver advertisement.
Detail of Schick's funeral monument in Mount Royal Cemetery, in Montreal.
