History of the Hair Clipper Patent

The first manual hair clippers were invented in the mid/late 19th century by a Serbian barber, Nikola Bizumic. While breeding pigs in rural Serbia, Nikola invented clippers with a mechanism that intersected blades when the handles were squeezed, making it easy to cut hair quickly.

Quickly understanding the value of his invention, he left for the city of Ruma where he met a barber in need of an apprentice. As Nikola’s career developed as a barber, so did his invention, eventually spreading from Ruma to the rest of the world. 

Another leap in barbershop instruments occurred in the early 20th century when Leo Wahl invented the first electric hair clipper. Wahl began experimenting with electromagnetic motors as a high school junior at Sterling High School.

His interest in motors continued as an engineering student at the University of Illinois. Not long after graduating, Wahl took over his uncle’s manufacturing business and experimented with a new electric hair clipper design. He applied for patents on his design in 1919. Soon after the patent was granted, electric clippers were being mass produced at the Wahl manufacturing Company. His clippers took the world by storm, eventually becoming nearly ubiquitous in barber shops around the globe. 

While electric clippers are most common today, many barbershops still use manual clippers.

In 1881, not long after Nikola’s initial invention, Herman Candrian of Chicago, Illinois filed a patent for a manual hair clipper design. His design made it simple for barbers to adjust the clipper blades to cut hair at different lengths. This was Herman’s only known patent.

Check out the patent