Shave and a Haircut Two Bits

 

QUESTION: My grandfather loved to collect old shaving mugs. By the time he died, he had collected over 100 of them. One of them belonged to his father. As his grandson, I’ve now inherited his collection. As much as I admire it, I’m not sure what to do with all those mugs. What can you tell me about shaving mugs in particular? And what advice can you give me on caring for his collection?

ANSWER: Curating someone else’s collection is at best challenging and at worst a nightmare. What you have inherited is the result of years of searching for just the right mugs. Collecting is an emotional process but a collection is a just a group of objects. What you need to do is make his collection your own. And that means learning everything you can about shaving mugs to start. 

Only after you have become somewhat knowledgeable will you be able to curate his collection. Curation is the inventorying of the collection, as well as its improvement. To improve his collection, you’ll want to cull out any pieces that are chipped or damaged in any other way by selling them in order to purchase better mugs. 

There was a time when a man could stop at his neighborhood barbershop and get a shave and a haircut for two bits, 25 cents. Today, it’s nearly impossible to find a barber who still offers a shave with a haircut. That went out with the advent of the safety and electric razors.

Most homes had no hot running water, so one had to boil water in order to shave. The soap used to fit into a cup, and with the hot water and a brush, a man could get a good lather to shave with his straight razor. So men began going to barbershops to get a shave.

When a man went to the barber for a shave, the barber used soap and a brush in a mug to work up a lather which he then applied to the face. Many of the shaving mugs were personalized and kept in a rack at the barbershop for the barber to use when shaving the men who owned them. From 1870 to 1930, shaving mugs were both a necessity and a status symbol. Almost all men owned one.

Mugs that men used at home are came in various shapes and didn’t have the owner's name on them. Some were in the shape of a mug with floral designs while others were plain. Many grabbed a mug from the kitchen cupboard for their shave, but as they were able to afford to go to the barbershops for a shaves, mugs with names and other information on them became popular possessions.

Hygiene was another stimulus for the proliferation of personal shaving mugs. It was thought that a shaving rash that some customers developed came from the use of the same soap on different customers, so barbers started selling individual shaving mugs and soap to customers, keeping in a mug rack in the barbershop.

In 1890, these would have sold for 50 cents to $2.50 each. This service benefitted the barber’s business since customers would generally return to the shop where they had a mug rather than go to another where they didn’t. 

The mugs used in barbershops were of many designs, but all had one thing in common—they were hand painted and had the owner's name on the front of the mug.  Some had just the owner's name while others had floral and scenic designs on them, or symbols of fraternal affiliations and illustrations of the owner’s occupation. It seemed a natural progression from mugs that depicted a man's occupation to those advertising a service or product.

Men sitting around the barbershop could easily identify who delivered milk, repaired shoes, sold meat, or owned the livery stable. This exposure probably led to an increase in the advertised customer's business, since so many men who went to barbershops lived in the area.

Early manufacturers of barbershop products also desired to increase sales, especially shaving soap. The Knights Company gave a free glass shaving mug to anyone who bought their shaving soap, thus encouraging them to continue to buy more soap. There were a variety of glass shaving mugs that barber’s gave free to customers who purchased shaving soap. 

Wildroot had a double bowl advertising mug that it offered in the 1920's. One of the bowls held the lather while the other held hot water. Later, they offered a Fire King shaving mug with a barber pole and the words "Ask for Wildroot" on the mug face. In the 1930's, Shulton Old Spice sold sets that included a mug and soap. Several other companies followed with their own mug and soap. 

In the 1950's, the Sportsman Company went a step farther and offered hand painted occupational mugs that showed various occupations using the name of the occupation rather than the name of the owner, such as Policeman, Lawyer, Doctor, etc. 

Some collectors consider hand painted shaving mugs both advertising and occupational, a type of folk art.  Artists painted them in barber supply houses on blank mugs obtained from Europe, since the United States had a very limited ability to produce porcelain at the time. Koken Barber Supply and Kern Barber Supply in St. Louis, Volden Barber Supply in Cleveland, and Berninghouse Barber Supply in Cincinnati were some of the major producers of mugs, and generally have their marks on the bottom of the mug.

Mugs from 1870 to 1930 are highly collectible, and while occupational shaving mugs are the most sought after, mugs showing advertising are also popular with collectors. The shaving mugs collected today come primarily from that boom period, and their popularity has risen dramatically. Prices range from $20 o $10,000, so there's plenty of opportunity for beginners as well as advanced collectors. 

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