Soviet-era shaving brushes

[Alum of Potash]

I am about to embark on a five-month stay in France which requires that I put a hold on my SBAD. SWMBO suggests that I bring stuff that I wouldn't care to leave behind and this strikes me as a good idea. So I have tentatively settled on three Vie-Long horse/badger brushes of various sizes, in order to keep things austere. And given the preponderance of brush types available today, this has led me to wonder about what kind of shaving brushes might have been available in the Soviet Union, in Soviet times, or the Soviet bloc more generally. Was the selection generally austere, or were "high-end" models allowed as well?

 

[riooso]

I have often wonder the same thing. The Russians have been into furs and the like for centuries. I would bet that their high end brushes were astounding.


Richard

 

[mblakele]

High-end shaving in Russia? Rasputin is skeptical.



More seriously, there are lots of badgers in Russia. But my understanding is that the Russians didn't shave at all until Peter the Great, and he didn't convince very many. I think he learned about it in England, so he probably imported brushes from London. Perhaps the later Tsars bought nice brushes from the English too, but the Soviets?

Google did turn this up: http://www.sovietstores.com/soviet-personal-effects/army-ww2-type-shaving-brush

That's stuff to give the troops. But if the nomenclatura had anything better, my guess is that it was smuggled in from the West.

 

[mdunn]

Ive seen soviet straights, so im sure there will be brushes to go with.. Never seen any though

 

[PaulL]

Well I know the Soviet's made knock offs of Parker fountain pens. Maybe they got a case of SBAD too?

 

[Alum of Potash]

Thanks for the responses--and for the Google search that yielded the WWII-era brush (apparently, it was used to clean rifles as well!). As a follow-up, I am wondering if things might not have been fairly "high-end" in Soviet times, since if I'm not mistaken, Plisson badger brushes (as well as Vie-Long badger brushes) are currently made from Russian badgers.

 

[dude22blue]

I will ask my dad if he ever saw any soviet brushes in Cuba. Hope he answers instead of laughs in my face.

His Answer: The ones he knew did not shave and the few that did would shave dry or with water

I really hope that he's pulling my leg because that sounds painful although I've heard some middle eastern men shave dry as well maybe they got it from the soviets?

 

[SDJs]

This isn't soviet, but it might interest you. Got a couple of these myself, but They're nothing fancy at all. My wife tells me that both her grandfathers were wet shavers; one used a DE razor, and the other a straight razor. Don't know about them using creams or brushes, but there are plenty of Russian creams available now.

http://pomazki.ru/

 

[blantyre]

I like that persian jar style on the second row. I think of the super iridiums as one of the best blades out there - post-Soviet I suppose, but great blades. I'm sure there were some good badger brushes about too.

 

[DOLLARBILL]

Enjoy your tour be safe!
EnjoyYour Shave!