My twin brother, Dick, introduced me to the art of shaving with a straight razor, complete with a brush and a shaving mug. This sparked my curiosity about the diverse range of shaving mugs and the many brands of shaving soaps available. Which soaps produced the thickest lather, for example, in a relatively brief amount of time? (That process is called “blooming,” by the way.) How fragrant were some of the soaps?
I was particularly intrigued with shaving mugs, and I picked up a dozen or so, either in antique shops or online. As well-respected collector and dealer Keith E. Estep notes in his classic The Shaving Mug and Barber Bottle Book (1995), the shaving mug serves as a simple container meant for holding a bar of shaving soap. He writes that for many years, barbers relied on a single mug to create lather for all their clients. However, in the 1870s, the emergence of a fungus called “Barber’s Itch” led to the introduction of personalized shaving mugs. This troublesome infection was serious enough that customers would steer clear of shops plagued by it, which could potentially doom a barber’s business. To avoid such risks, barbers began to promote the idea of each customer owning their own clean and personal shaving mug.
Estep observes that the era of shaving mugs kicked off during the late 19th century and can be categorized into three distinct phases. The first period, spanning from the 1870s to 1891, marked the introduction of personalized mugs, which gradually gained traction. The golden age of shaving mugs unfolded between 1891 and 1914, characterized by exquisite craftsmanship and widespread appeal. However, the landscape shifted from 1914 to the 1920s as the safety razor emerged, leading to a decline in the mug’s popularity as home shaving became the norm.
As the era of the shaving mug came to an end, some found their way back to their owners, while others were discarded or left to gather dust in the basements of barbershops. Yet, a handful of enthusiasts began to appreciate their history and started collecting these unique pieces.
Quite a few books have been published on shaving mugs. The first was W. Porter Ware’s Price List of Occupational and Society Emblems Shaving Mugs (1949), also known as Occupational Shaving Mugs. Besides Estep’s fine work, I have a signed copy of Robert Blake Powell’s Antique Shaving Mugs of the United States (1972). Six years later, Powell published his Occupational and Fraternal Shaving Mugs of the United States. In 2000, Estep came out with another book, The Best of Shaving Mugs.
One easily notices by going to eBay and other online sites that there are thousands of shaving mugs out there. For more information about some of them, see the “Old Spice” and “Personalized” sections of this part of my home page.