More Old Stuff

Found these in a local antique store yesterday. First up, a bakelite handled Gillette Tech. It's in fairly nice condition, except for one chip in the base of the handle. It would make a pretty good daily shaver.



The same trip also yielded this nice old shaving mug. Nothing fancy, just a good solid mug about 100 years old, give or take.

AD - Take Three

Another round of flea marketing and antiques at the September Gold Rush in Rochester last weekend.

I managed to escape with only a little travel razor from Germany, vintage maybe 1930's or 1940's(?) and an old porcelin shaving mug.

Pictures to follow, although the mug has already been pressed into service.

Also, my lovely wife was at the Mall of America yesterday. She noticed the new Art of Shaving store there and ducked in for a quick look. She came out with a sample pack of pre-shave oil, shaving cream, and aftershave.

I'll report on those directly as well.

I'm Back!

Geez...! Has it really been six months since I posted here!? That was a BAD sidetrack.

Anyway, I'm back. I've been shaving every 5 - 7 days in the mean time. Mostly with the Derbys. the current blades are getting close to being finished. I'll hav to come up with some way to objectively rate them. The only thing I have to compare them to is six month old memory of the Wilkinsons.

Lisa and I took a drving trip to S. Dakota in late June - early July. We stopped at numerous antique stores on the way there & back, and I picked up several old Gillettes, a very cool silver and glass shaving mug (probably actually silver plate), and brush.

I'll get photos and publish in a separate post.

More Cool New (Old) Stuff!

Lisa and I just got back from our annual trek - a week at the jewelry trade shows in Tucson. We took a day off mid-week and toured around town to several antique stores and malls. At one of our first stops I found these two treasures - a shaving mug, circa 1870 (so the tag says), and a travel shaving brush, vintage unknown. Please comment, and I'll get better photos posted when my camera batteries recharge.

New Goodies

Lisa and I took the day yesterday and sent spelunking in our favorite antique haunt, Stillwater, MN. I came home with some new-old goodies - a Gillette Tech razor and a silverplate shaving cup/ scuttle.

The gold tone Tech seems to be unused and in near pristine condition. There are just a few minor marks that seem to be from handling, certainly not from shaving use. I don't know a lot about these, and always thought they predated the butterfly safety razors, however, a quick check of the internet indicated that it could be a vintage as recent as the 1970's.

Here are a couple of photos for your viewing pleasure:

The shaving cup/ scuttle is another story. I don't know much about scuttles and thus, I don't know for sure how function follows form in this instance. It's two-piece, with a main cup and a shallow bowl insert that I assume is for a cake of shaving soap. Comments are welcome here, in case anyone has more info on origin or usage.

The halmark on the bottom indicates the cup was manufactured by the Eureka Silver Co. (I haven't researched it yet) and is quadruple plated. The number 260 is also stamped on the bottom near the halmark - perhaps a production run number?

Also, the initials JFY or JYF are engraved on the cup, obviously by hand as there is a slight tilt to the engraving orientation. I apologize for the slight glare in the photo.

Here are some photos:

Let me know what you think!