mgbbrown's Entry to the Hall of Fame

Welcome, Tony!

Is that a hand painted old spice mug???? I love it. My Dad was an Old Spice man.

Welcome, Tony!

Well-Yes Keen Dog! Not having any children means you got to claim something to project on, and it is pretty hard to restore a couple of Labs, which are as close to kids as we are able to get at my wife and my age. Finding my father's razor snowballed all of this, just as finding my childhood slot cars after not seeing them since my brother and I prepared for the BIG TRIP to sunny Vietnam which was so close I could smell its breath... That too became quite the vintage adventure which will need to consolidate once the MGB is completed. I restored them to a high standard, with no reproduction bits in sight, to enjoy them as we did in the late 1960's. Razors though, give one the chance to emulate our father's world on our terms. Windows into the past, and a chance to remember simpler times. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Keen Dog; The first series of Old Spice mugs were made by Hull Pottery in Roseville, Ohio. Hull did three releases for Shulton, making aftershave and talk bottles too. Pictured is the third release, correct for the early Gillette Super Speed period. As Old Spice grew in popularity, so did production volume, and leakage problems and irregularities followed. The last of the Hull contract mugs were sold up to the early 1950's, with some overlap to those produced by American Glass. My father too was an Old Spice man, and so am I. As for the Old Spice script and the ship FRIENDSHIP- this was done with a glaze stencil, which was subject to smearing and imperfections. By this time, the hallmark, inside the concave foot rim had become illegible-one of the features used to relatively date the mug, along with nuances in the Old Spice script, and the clarity of the glaze stencil. Ohio clays were famous for their light tan, almost white color, and the exposed and unglazed foot rim exhibits this clearly. If your father was an Old Spice man- a Hull Old Spice mug would be a nice piece to remember him by. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown View attachment 588809

Welcome to the HOF Tony!

Loved all the photos !! Welcome !!

Thank you all! The addiction is controlled by a well known drug to many shavers, and for me- it really works! It is available in both the generic form as Wife, and the name brand Sharon Ann. On the street it is known as SWIMBO. I have a couple of things arriving to finish off the contents of the Dopp Kit, and then it is a hasty retreat back to the saving den to enjoy the loot as best as I can. I have been given my first dose of this medicine already... I have converted a couple of folks at work to vintage double edge shaving. One of the internists at work now has a 1952 Gillette Super Speed Black tip razor, and a birthday year 1954 Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip, both of which I restored for him along with their respective blue and red styrene case bases, awaiting clear covers in decent shape. He now has to take the wife pill regularly as I do. The director of the long-term care division of the hospital I work in now has a 1956 Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip that I also restored. He already was accustomed to shaving with a safety razor from his Navy submarine days, but he still enjoys the vintage appeal that they have. No wife pills for him though! Good Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Mgbbrown, thank you for the lesson on the old spice mugs. That was awesome. I do believe I want to get a mug to remember him by. I like the "bled" look of the one you have. It makes it more vintage, you know? I always think of him when I think of old spice for sure. I also like the name of the ship. Those are real ships, right? I too like slot car racers. While I don't have any of my own, my kids have a set. I get mesmerized, still, watching the cars go round and round. I love that shot of the car on the track. It looks like it ready to take off. Great Eye!

Keen Dog, Look for an article I should have completed and posted in the General Shaving Forum in the next couple of weeks. It is a discussion of the shaving culture from 1949 through 1955 in the United States. Hull Pottery made three releases of their earthenware Old Spice shaving mugs for Shulton. For me- they are classics in their own right, and because of their short wall height- are easy to swirl lather in, or extract lather with a brush to either hand lather or use a bowl for building volume, both popular methods in period. I am sure that vendors on the site may offer them, and ebay is also a recognized source. Use caution, as condition is everything with these, as is the release. Look for examples with a minimum to no glaze crazing, and certainly ones without chips in the earthenware. The foot rim can easily be cleaned to almost as new, using a citrus-based cleaner and generous scrubbing. The glaze stenciling from the first release is faint, but still pictures the tall ship FRIENDSHIP as does release two and three. The glaze on the third release is generally thick, and the least subject to glaze crazing. All of the ships used by Shulton were actual United States flagged vessels. For me, purchasing was a learning curve. I have two, one of which is the second release, but is extensively crazed and now holds some smaller men's essentials in my medicine cabinet. The stenciling is also smeared, which occurred during production and was fired despite imperfections. It still is a nice mug which was purchased for under ten bucks. The one pictured is the shaving mug that I use. You'll have to post a photograph when you land that special mug to remember your father by. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Thanks I will keep looking. You are a true renaissance man. Thanks for all the info again. Love those slot car pics. I will surely put a pic up when I get that mug!

Tony, welcome to the Hall of Fame!

Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Tony!

Welcome Tony! Thank you for sharing your story, and the photos of your gear!

Welcome! I may be the newest member currently, but wanted to say hello! What pottery is that with the face on it? Tried to find it in the posts but must of overlooked it.?

Tony, It's driving me nuts now, I have to ask what/where the (brown) mug w/ the face from.? I absolutely adore it!

Thank you Kampfe! This is a period McCoy Pottery coffee mug that has a brown, Cobalt Oxide glaze covering the entire vessel. McCoy was a famous pottery in Roseville, Ohio that figures prominently in the history of American commercial pottery. That area of Ohio contained large deposits of white clay, and the clay, or earthenware itself, fired to an almost porcelain consistency. Virtually every large pottery in the United States used Cobalt Oxide or its variant, a dripped glaze, from the Depression well into the 1950's. The face itself is similar to the Man in the Moon caricatures from the early 1900's. On the inside of the foot rim, one can see the McCoy logo- a large USA inside a rectangular stamp. As an aside, McKelvy chose McCoy to produce their Seaforth shaving mug, and it contains the same McCoy hallmark in the glazed center of the foot rim. Old Spice used Hull Pottery for their shaving mug, also from the same area of Ohio, with both mugs produced under contract during the same period that the face mug was made by McCoy. The handle is a "D" type, which was originally introduced by a potter at McCoy during the Depression. Condition varies greatly, as these mugs were made in large numbers. They often contain finger prints in the glaze, or spots on the surface may contain no glazing at all. The foot rim itself received a wax coating before the mug was glazed, as the unfired piece was dipped in a Cobalt Oxide glazing vat with tongs. Because the wax prevented the glaze from adhering to the foot rim- it remained glaze free after firing. These mugs can be found online at auction routinely, as they are fairly common. Mine holds a 1954 Z1 Flare Tip Super Speed and a 1955 A2 Red Tip Super Speed. I hope this helps! God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrownView attachment 597016

Thank you Eutycus! Kampfe- I sent you via a PM more information on the McCoy Pottery Face Mug in hopes that you can attain one yourself. These were actually quite common during the late 1940's following the War, and featured a D handle that was developed by a potter at McCoy, and this handle featured prominently in their line of drip glazed restaurant and dinner ware. The face itself is similar to Man in the Moon caricatures that were popular in the 1920's and through the Depression. It is also a part of their whimsical ware that formed a major portion of the McCoy lines. The text to my reply did not appear yesterday, so I am editing the post. Inside the period Tupperware bread box are travel related gear dating to the same period as the razors. The late 1940's travel kit as a style of toiletries container before the widespread popularity of Dopp Kits and similar, less organized bags for shaving gear. The one in the photos is a fitted kit offered by Fuller and is unused. It was not too uncommon for things out of this style to be pirated into a Dopp kit at a later date. The burgundy container holds a 1953 Plastic Tech, and the celluloid container has a 1964 Z1 Flare Tip as a travel razor with a pack of blades and room for a used blade bank. The marbled toothbrush container is also from the period, and could hold a straight razor if necessary. I will take an amalgamation of vintage and modern gear on my wife and my fifteenth wedding anniversary to the North Carolina mountains this Fall, and hopefully turn the owner of the bed and breakfast in West Jefferson into a DE shaver! That area is full of antique shops, so I will be hunting with wild abandon in the wild as well. I have, on the way, a 1950 C date coded back stamped, Sterling heavy striped diner mug to use as a shaving mug that is far more durable than my Old Spice mug. Perhaps I can move it to the vanity counter permanently and use the Hull made mug to hold a 1955 Blue Tip Super Speed razor that I am also on the prowl for to complete the collection. The toothpaste tube needs a vintage winder, and a good travel Dopp kit should have a sewing repair kit inside, so those are also two possibilities to further the remodeling of the shave den if you will. Thanks again Eutycus! God Bless! View attachment 597110View attachment 597111 RN mgbbrown

Welcome to B&B, from one Tony to another! It's great to have you here with us, especially with such lovely photos.