Shaving Mugs (Barber Supply or Soap Companies)

[Snowbeard]

There's lots of shaving mugs out there, as we all know. Many, perhaps most, are "kitschy". Lots are not old at all but say stuff like "Grampa's Mug" or other weird things. So, I've never really known which mugs I wanted to try to collect. I've now narrowed it down to shaving mugs that were made by Barbers Supply makers, or shaving soap companies. (I figure with all things shaving, you have to try to put some boundaries on it!)

Here's what I've got so far.

The first mug is the somewhat famous "Tonique De Luxe The Liquid HeadRest" shaving mug from the Koken Barbers' Supply Co. of St. Louis, Missouri. I guess "Tonique De Luxe" was some kind of hair or scalp product. Sounds exotic, anyway. "The Liquid HeadRest" part is just too darn funny to me, and quite inexplicable...

 

[Snowbeard]

The next mug was made by the Benjamin Ansehl Company, also of St. Louis, Missouri, for the Golden Knight Shaving Soap Company. This mug is quite common and can be had for little money.

 

[Snowbeard]

This next mug is a bit of a mystery. Another version of this Gaylord "horse's head" mug is available in ceramic. The ceramic version of this mug is Canadian, made by Medalta Potteries in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I read that this green glass version of the mug was made by the Dominion Glass Company of Canada but I haven't seen any proof of this. I like this mug for the heavy glass, with bubbles inside. I have not found any information at all on what the name Gaylord refers to so maybe this mug doesn't really belong in a collection of mugs made by Barber Supply companies or shaving soap companies, but there you go! (Some boundaries on your collecting should be flexible, right?)

 

[Snowbeard]

I bought this next mug on Ebay (of course). These photos are from the Ebay ad, they are not mine. The mug was made for the Amole Shaving Soap Company of Tippecanoe, Ohio. I believe that the mug may have been made in two pieces, with the bottom section fitted in later.

 

[Snowbeard]

The Amole Shaving Soap Company also produce, or had produced, a nice colourful looking ceramic shaving mug. I don't have this mug but would like to find it sometime with any luck. Here's a couple of photos, from Ebay. Having done a little research, it appears that the Amole Shaving Soap Company relocated from Tippecanoe, Ohio to Peoria, Illinois at some point (or perhaps vice versa?)

 

[Snowbeard]

Next up is the mug known as the Holzsager Antiseptic Shaving Cup, patented on November 3, 1908. I bought this mug on Ebay and these are the photos from that purchase. I await the mug's arrival. I happened to have bought one of these previously but it was defective. This mug was built, it appears, in two pieces. The defective mug I had bought had likely been dropped and there was a hairline crack that allowed water through. It was nice and heavy.

 

[Snowbeard]

Finally, here is a shaving mug made by MA Co. Apparently not much information is available regarding this brand. I have however seen some barber supply bottles bearing this mark. Maybe MA Co. was a barber supply company? These photos were borrowed from the net as I haven't found one of these (yet). On second thought, maybe it's just a beer stein? ha ha

 

[Snowbeard]

This next mug is a bit of a mystery. Another version of this Gaylord "horse's head" mug is available in ceramic. The ceramic version of this mug is Canadian, made by Medalta Potteries in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I read that this green glass version of the mug was made by the Dominion Glass Company of Canada but I haven't seen any proof of this. I like this mug for the heavy glass, with bubbles inside. I have not found any information at all on what the name Gaylord refers to so maybe this mug doesn't really belong in a collection of mugs made by Barber Supply companies or shaving soap companies, but there you go! (Some boundaries on your collecting should be flexible, right?)

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Well I did manage to possibly find something on the name Gaylord. According to reports (that are available online) from the Canadian Bureau of Statistics entitled "The Toilet Preparations Industry" and dated 1951, 1957 and 1960, there was a company in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec called Gaylord-Shelton of Canada Ltd. Where they went or who bought them out, who knows? But at least that's some little bit of information on this Gaylord mug.

 

[efsk]

Do you focus on glass mugs or did barber supply makers mostly advertise through glass mugs?

 

[Snowbeard]

Do you focus on glass mugs or did barber supply makers mostly advertise through glass mugs?

I didn't focus on either ceramic or glass mugs, or really any particular material. I just looked for mugs made by either Barbers' Supply houses or shaving soap makers. Those 7 mugs are all the ones I was able to find, so far. Hopefully more examples may emerge. But I was happy to find just that many. A collection that's "small" in number fits well with me!