Antique Shave Mug

T&V Limoges, France

I happened upon this mug at an antique dealer's last week. No, I don't collect these. I just wanted a nice old shaving mug to keep my Old Spice mug company. I have some triple milled french shaving soaps that just feel too "dainty" to throw into the Old Spice mug (which nowadays holds, what else, HBS Old Spice shave soap).

I read about it and read about it, and came across a couple of pretty interesting articles by HGTV antique hunters, the Kovels. I have excerpted them below.

Not surprisingly, there seems to be quite a few vintage shave mugs floating around on ebay. The replicas, however, outnumber the antiques in the order of several thousands to one. Tell-tale signs of a reproduction include having no signs of wear. On close inspection, the dot pattern of silk screening is also clearly evident.

This mug has worn gilding, which I actually like. It gives the mug character, and yes, it is not a fake. It was well-used by someone named "Morrison," who liked pastoral scenes. The beautiful pink and gold enamel pattern is also very eye-catching.








Personalized Shave Mug was a Barbershop Necessity

By Ralph and Terry Kovel
King Features Syndicate
Originally published 12:00 a.m., March 21, 2008
Updated 05:08 p.m., March 20, 2008

This occupational shaving mug with the picture of a horse-drawn ambulance and driver sold at a Cowan auction in Cincinnati for $22,425.

Every Victorian barbershop had a rack filled with shaving mugs that belonged to regular customers. And most customers had a personalized mug with a name and often a special picture showing the owner's job.

Shaving was different in those days. No electric razors -- just shaving soap, a brush and a safety razor. Because shaving was difficult and small cuts often got infected, men went to the barber several times a week for a shave.

First the barber softened the skin and hair with a hot, wet towel on the face. Then the barber would get the customer's special shaving mug, rub the soap with a wet brush and lather the customer's face. Then the barber carefully shaved off the softened beard and soap foam with a straight razor.

The occupations pictured on mugs ranged from policeman or mail-truck driver to dentist, house painter, gymnast, plumber, undertaker or even ambulance driver. Most of the mugs were made in Germany from the 1860s to the 1920s. Unusual examples sell for thousands of dollars.

A Red Cross ambulance driver named McNultie would have been surprised to see his mug picturing a horse-drawn ambulance sell for more than $22,000.

ANTIQUES AND COLLECTING RALPH AND TERRY KOVEL
Mugs for shaving have appreciated at fast clip

January 9, 2005

Old-time barbershops featured an elaborate, adjustable barber's chair, bottles of shampoo or dandruff cure, bowls for powder, razors and decorated shaving mugs.

Men of means would go to the barbershop for a shave each day. But they faced the problem of contracting "barber's itch," a skin disease properly called folliculitis in which the hair follicles become infected, red and painful.

Shaving, because it might cut the skin, makes the infection possible. So barbers kept a mug, brush and bar of soap for each customer. The mug was identified by a special symbol or picture and the client's name.

A personal shaving mug was often also used at home. Collectors have been interested in occupational mugs since the 1930s. Mugs can picture a train conductor, butcher, undertaker, banker or any other occupation suited to the client. The more unusual the occupation, the more valuable the shaving mug is today.

The Cat

This beauty came my way via a trade on B&B. And what a fine specimen of the famous brand.

The blade had some burrs from touching the scales, as the pins were a bit loose. I tightened up the pivot and polished the blade and scales. The burrs honed out on the DMT-E, as the bevel was reset. Polished the edge with the coticules and finished her on the Shapton 16k.

Test shaved today, and yes, Puma steel is smooooooth sharp. A definite keeper!

Puma 89, 6/8

My RW's

When I was starting out with wetshaving, famed custom razormaker Robert Williams was nice enough to invite me over to look at a razor. I was looking for a wide razor that would be an excellent shaver. That afternoon, I came home with Robert's own personal razor, a 7/8 full hollow high-carbon steel short (2 1/2") blade in a set of Chandler cocobolo scales, with the admonission "I am sure THIS is a fine shaver."





The razor was intimidatingly sharp. As a newbie, I was more comfortable with a smaller 5/8 roundtip razor, the most commonly recommended starter razor. It was not after several months of daily shaving did I become adroit and confident enough to use Robert's razor, and see what it is capable of. To this day, it is one of my top shavers.

Fast forward to the present. I contacted Robert and thought it was time to try out another RW special, this time in a stiffer grind. Yesterday, I visited Robert and his wife again. He had another beauty waiting for me. An 8/8 quarter grind barber's notch. The razor has a deep jimped thumb notch and a humpback, all set in maroon linen micarta scales. Robert uses excellent high-carbon steel (I am not a fan of stainless), and his razors take AND hold an excellent edge "moreso than any vintage razor," he finds. My limited experience agrees with his statement.

My New Blog

The Chum Bucket, my main blog, was starting to get overrun by shaving posts. In an effort to consolidate the vast, but widespread, online information about straight shaving, I thought I would create this new blog.

BTW, the Monkey Tail refers to the part of the straight razor otherwise known as the tang, and not this.

Anyway, for my first post, here is a rehash of "Anachronism," posted on The Chum Bucket this past July 4th...

ANACHRONISM

Fountain pens and ink, not blackberry.
Vintage cameras and B&W film photography in the digital age.
Handwound mechanical watches in today's throwaway world.

The newest of my anachronistic hobbies is also the oldest. Try shaving with a one, or even two hundred year old straight razor. It will give you the closest shave you have ever had.

But not before giving you the worst shave of your life. Straight shaving has a long and steep learning curve. It took a couple of months before I started to get really good shaves. Now, this is all I use.

Why do I do it? Lots of reasons.

The obvious - it beats shaving any other way hands down it terms of closeness. Twelve hours later and still not a single stubble.

The relaxation - Thirty to forty minutes at the end of each day, I am focused 100% on the task at hand. Nothing else. No worries, no "to do's," no problems, no regrets. Nothing. There is something about dragging an implement sharp enough to slice just the tip off a single armhair across your face that lends itself to intense concentration.

The cool factor - Not many people can do it. That's why people had their shaves in the barbershop back in the day.

The romance - I shaved with a 200 year old John Barber english razor the other day. It has been completely restored to probably better than new. I couldn't help thinking of whose beards this razor has shaved over the last two centuries.

The tinkering - Buying a Boker Red Injun with excellent Solingen steel on ebay for $3. Then sanding the years of stains and light corrosion (no, don't go buying a rusty razor, that probably is a lost cause) and bringing the fresh steel to the surface. Polishing it to a mirror shine. Honing the steel on a succession of natural Belgian hones until it is sharp enough (now that has an even longer learning curve!) to split a standing hairstrand in two. Then giving it a light coat of oil before tucking it away, it's life renewed for another hundred years. Pretty cool.

The excitement - C'mon, how often is it that you can turn a boring daily routine into something you actually look forward to?

The danger - C'mon, how often is it that you can turn a boring daily routine into something where you can easily lop off a body part with the slightest mistake?

The fulfillment - of learning a craft. A long-lost skill. Mastery... that is another thing.

The list - well, it was on MY list of things to do in this lifetime.

The toys - a boy's gotta have them.

The independence - from overpriced cartridge razors and big business. Look at it this way... if I were alone in a post-apocalyptic New York overrun by zombies (or LA with vampires, if you read the book) with no electricity, I'd be clean shaven. You know I just had to tie this in to today right - have a safe and happy 4th!