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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A Little Piece of Home

QUESTION:  Recently I discovered a well-worn copy of the Bible dated 1861 while going through an old trunk left to me by my father. He said it belonged to his father and his father before that. What’s intriguing about this Bible is the inscription inside: “Presented to John C. Gillespie of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to take with him to the field of battle, June 1, 1861.” Can you tell me why my great grandfather would have had such a Bible and why it has been handed down all these years?

ANSWER: Bibles are often what bind families together, even today. This occurred even more during the 19th century, when each person may have had their own personal copy. But this Bible, I suspect, was special, for it belonged to a Union soldier who fought in the Civil War. It’s something he carried with him into battle and which he kept his entire life, passing it down to future generations, after one of the most traumatic experiences of his life.

The Civil War continues to fascinate generation after generation. And with this fascination comes a desire to own a piece of the war, to hold on to a bit of its history.

A collection of Civil War memorabilia often begins with the purchase of a 25-cent minie ball, picked up as an inexpensive souvenir after touring a battlefield. Other people  become collectors after participating in re-enactments, as they replace reproduction articles with the real thing. Still others, perhaps like yourself, become collectors because descendants have passed down items that they carried into battle.

Collections of Civil War memorabilia can be broken into three general categories. Most collectors focus on weapons. Others specialize in collecting military uniforms, as well as associated items such as buttons, patches, badges, buckles, and hats.

And some collect the personal effects of those who left their homes and fought their neighbors on the battlefields of their own country. It’s often these homely objects that intensify the romantic appeal of this horrific war. Collecting what soldiers carried with them to war provides an intimate glimpse into their lives.

Volunteers, assembled in a short period of time, comprised most of the armies of both of the Union and the Confederacy. Men—or more often boys in their teens—reported for duty with hastily gathered supplies, and there was little uniformity about what they brought from home. Although each state was expected to supply its fighting forces with necessities, it was often the mothers, wives, sisters, a and girlfriends who were responsible for the materials that the soldiers actually brought with them when they reported for duty. As a result, there was a great variety of items included in the soldiers' personal effects.

With little idea of how the war would eventually be fought, new recruits generally overpacked, and soon found it necessary to shed their excess personal belongings as the war stretched on. These early recruits often reported with items intended to create a home away from home. Consequently, silver knives and forks, pincushions, and even embroidered booties found their way into camp. The soldiers didn’t anticipate years of war—early recruits signed up for only a few months—and the ensuing movements resulted in the abandonment of these niceties.

Identifying Civil War personal effects has been made easier because most of the soldiers marked their belongings with their names and regiments.

In addition to the items which soldiers brought from home, camp visitors gave soldiers  gifts of food, towels and soap, blankets, hammocks, tobacco and pipes, and pills. Soldiers traded their watches for some of these items. And even though the typical soldier would have appreciated more useful items, god-fearing visitors often distributed  religious tracts. Some gave soldiers sewing kits called "housewives," with which they spent idle hours mending and repairing their clothing. The soldiers played various games, including a primitive form of baseball, as well as poker and cribbage, chess and checkers, dominoes and marbles, and even bet on dice.

As the war stretched on and soldiers found themselves depleting their personal supplies brought from home, they turned to sutlers to replenish their need. Both Union and Confederate governors granted special permits to these civilian merchants. They accompanied the armies with horse-drawn wagons and sold, often at a great profit, the personal items a soldier would find in his pockets or haversack.

Articles owned by soldiers on either side differed little. Instead, social class and military rank are what determined the kinds of items the men carried,, Wealthier men, especially those with higher military ranks, were more likely to carry finer things, more things, and things not absolutely essential to day-to-day existence. On the other hand, many of the ordinary soldiers were poor men, often farmers, or recent immigrants from Ireland or Germany. Their possessions were far more modest.

One accessory common to most soldiers was a wallet, usually of folded leather, lined in linen and held together with a leather strap. Soldiers carried their money—generally not much, as a private's pay was typically $9 a month—and photographs of those at home in their wallets. Leather wallets in very good condition sell for about $65.

Another item that most soldiers carried into battle was a copy of the Bible. These  pocket-sized books are often found in poor condition today because of the amount of use they received. Inscriptions increase their value.  A typical Civil War Bible sells for about $75.

And they wrote. Soldiers of the Civil War kept extensive diaries, and maintained regular correspondence with friends and loved ones at home. Many of the envelopes they used are of particular note with patriotic scenes depicted on them, as are the many writing implements and accessories. Ordinary soldiers wrote on paper with wooden lead pencils, which they purchased from sutlers for a few cents or received as gifts.
Officers, however, often included writing sets in their holdings. Many carried bottles of ink—glass bottles covered in materials like leather to prevent breakage—and pens which, being made of a breakable material, rested in brass tube-like protective cases. Today, uncut Civil War-issued pencils can be had for $5 to $10, and fancy pens in brass cases bring $45.

Pens weren’t the only things transported in protective cases. Whiskey flasks were often covered in leather and encased in silver or pewter. Collapsible tin or pewter cups rested in little tin cases with snap-on lids. Other personally-supplied mess pieces commonly found include combination knife-fork-spoon utensils and plates.

On a more personal level were the items that soldiers carried in leather toilet kits tucked inside their haversacks. Toiletry items such as toothbrushes, tooth-cleaning powder (little more than baking soda), hand soap and shaving soap, brushes, and  mirrors were often packed in these kits. In many a soldier's pack was at least one straight razor with a bone or ivory handle, even though beards were in style.

Each article tells a story, has a message, is worthwhile keeping. The Civil War is about people. Those who fought it are no longer here to tell us about it. So the next best thing is to collect the items they carried.