Why Did Medicine Cabinets Have Razor Slots?

The humble medicine cabinet is one of the most ubiquitous fixtures in American homes. It’s a catch-all for everything from band-aids to prescription drugs, and its contents vary widely from family to family.

But one thing that almost all medicine cabinets have in common is a razor slot. Why is that?.

It turns out that the razor slot is a holdover from a time when medicine cabinets were much more than just a place to store your first aid kit. In the early days of the 20th century, before the advent of modern plumbing, medicine cabinets were often the only source of running water in the home.

That made them the perfect place to keep a razor, which needed to be rinsed clean after each use.

As plumbing became more commonplace, the need for a razor slot in the medicine cabinet diminished. But by then, the tradition was already well established, and so the razor slot has remained a fixture in medicine cabinets to this day, even though its original purpose is long gone.

So there you have it: the next time you reach for your razor in the shower, spare a thought for the humble medicine cabinet that made it possible.