I learned much about Old Spice shaving mugs from various postings on the Razor Emporium website, including episode 8 of season 1 of I’d Rather Be Shaving, “Old Spice Collectibles w/ Douglas Smythe and Matt Pisarcik.” Also the YouTube video The Gentleman’s Club with Marc Antomattei, featuring “1st Old Spice Shaving Mug Ship Grand Turk by Hull Pottery (1938-41).”
I use two different, fairly common Old Spice shaving mugs, with two different brands of shaving soaps. I started reading up on Old Spice and I learned that its shaving mugs first appeared in 1938, introduced by William Lightfoot Schultz’s Shulton Company shortly after the debut of the Early American Old Spice line for men. The first shaving mugs were handcrafted of ceramic and pottery by the A.E. Hull Pottery Company in Crooksville, Ohio. These early mugs typically featured the “Ship Grand Turk” sailing design, celebrating the spice-trading heritage of Salem, Massachusetts.
The Shulton Company was a toiletries and cosmetics manufacturer founded in 1934 in New York City. As demand outgrew the space, officials leased larger facilities at the Lipton Tea building in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1946, Shulton opened a massive 42-acre corporate headquarters and factory complex located in Clifton, New Jersey. It was vacated and demolished in the early 2000s and eventually converted into a residential townhome complex. The Shulton Company manufactured the brand for decades until Procter & Gamble bought out the Old Spice brand in 1990.
Material: Pottery vs. Milk Glass
The composition of the Old Spice mug instantly narrows down the decade.
- Thick Ceramic / Pottery (1938–1948). The earliest mugs were made of pottery and ceramic and often included handcrafted characteristics and slight factory imperfections. They were produced by companies like Hull Pottery from 1938–1941 or McCoy Pottery. (In 1970 the McCoy company was commissioned to make limited edition mugs for officials and employees. In 1984 to 1985, Old Spice made coffee mugs with the Old Spice logo.)
- White Milk Glass (1948–1992): In 1948, Shulton transitioned to machine-made glass mugs manufactured primarily by the T.C. Wheaton Glass Company. These have a smooth, translucent quality and usually a small mold number stamped into the glass on the bottom.
The Interior Bottom of Milk-Glass Mugs (Rib Count)
If you have a milk glass mug, look inside at the very bottom where the shaving soap cake rests. The internal ridges or “ribs” were added over time to prevent the soap puck from spinning while lathering.
- No Ribs (1948–1949): The first-ever glass mug variation is completely flat and smooth on the inside bottom.
- 3 Ribs (Late 1949): A very rare transition model that features just three raised ridges. It was only manufactured for a few months.
- 6 Ribs (1950–1992): The most common style. Virtually all standard glass soap mugs made from 1950 onward feature six distinct interior ribs.
Ship Graphic and Text Styling
The specific historical clipper ship and the type font printed on the mug reveal the precise sub-era.
- Ship Grand Turk (1938–1941 / 1960s): Appears on the earliest pottery mugs, but a refreshed version featuring “Ship Grand Turk Salem 1786” also returned on glass mugs throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
- Ship Friendship (1941–1950s): Introduced during World War II on later pottery mugs and carried over into the earliest glass mugs.
- Bold Cursive / Script Logo (Mid-Century): Mugs from the 1950s and 1960s feature the words “Old Spice” written in a sharp, bold, red cursive font.
- Decal or Printed Logo (Late 1970s–1992): Later Shulton models feature less pronounced, flat-printed graphics and sometimes cleaner block lettering.
Post-Shulton Identification (1992+). Should be 1990????
If your mug features a generic sailboat rather than an authentic, detailed colonial clipper ship, it was made after Procter & Gamble bought the brand. Procter & Gamble officially retired the classic glass shaving mugs in the early 1990s.
Shown here is the first Old Spice shaving mug, a pottery mug made by the A. E. Hull Pottery Company of Crooksville, Ohio, from 1938 to 1941. It features “SHIP GRAND TURK” in a blue banner below a blue sailing ship, with “Old” and “Spice” in bright red letters on each side. On the bottom is blind-stamped “Early American” / “Old Spice” / “Shaving Soap” / “USA” / “Shulton.”
Since this is mug is handmade pottery, not the milk glass that was characteristic of later Old Spice mugs, it has slight imperfections, such as smeared and blurred lettering (note the smeared “ND” of “GRAND”). It measures 3.0” in height and 4.5” from rim to handle. (Many of the milk glass Old Spice mugs are 2.75” tall or smaller.)
Beginning in 1941, the A. E. Hull Company manufactured a similar 3-inch pottery shaving mug featuring the “SHIP FRIENDSHIP” (shown here). These, like their “GRAND TURK” counterparts, generally have smeared writing or other imperfections.
I also have (not shown) a pottery “SHIP FRIENDSHIP” shaving mug that is 2.75” tall. On the bottom is blind-stamped: “Early American” / “Old Spice” / “Made in USA.”
In 1948, Shulton introduced its first glass mug (shown here), which was manufactured by T. C. Wheaton Company of Millville, New Jersey. It is the only glass Old Spice mug that does not have any vertical “ribs” around the interior sides to keep the soap puck in place while a person is gathering lather.
This mug is identical to Shulton’s first glass mug, except for its three interior ribs. According to the website Old Spice Mugs—Dating and Variations, these shaving mugs “were only produced for a few brief months before being quickly replaced by the six-rib design which can be found on all the Old Spice soap mugs from that point through 1992.” It is 2.75” tall.
https://www.razorarchive.com/articles/old-spice-mug-variations