Burma shave!

I just got a Burma-Shave gift set in the mail from eBay today - a mug, cheap bristle brush and a puck of Burma Shave. I think it was 8 bucks for the kit, complete with a gift tin.

I remember finding Burma Shave about 10 years ago, in retrospect I'm sure now it was re-labeled Williams; I distinctly remember the "citronella" scent. This one is a tan colored soap, we'll see how it turns out.

I just noticed they don't call it "Burma-Shave soap", but "Burma Shave-scented soap". Hmmm...

Worst case, I have a mug, brush and soap for my family's cabin in the woods.

That set up was my start into the world of DE Shaving. Because it was cheap I got two students to try it, and they are still on that first puck of soap.

I have a similar set a friend gave me. Ironic, the Personna Co. marketing a mug, brush and soap set, branded with the name of a co. that originally came out with some of the first brushless shave cream

When you really like that soap you might think of buying what you can get because it is out of production (according to my vendor). Never tried the stuff BTW.

DunEdinRanger said:

...I got two students to try it, and they are still on that first puck of soap.

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i'm afraid to ask how long ago this was!

I own three of those sets. It's my review on Amazon.

They are basically junk but I like them anyway. I bought one on a lark then figured I'd get a couple more to use as semi-joke gifts for someone someday, probably my sons next Christmas.

Note that the brush that comes with it appears to be a down-grade from the one pictured on the tin. All three sets I have look like they were opened before shipping and I wonder if that's because the brushes got switched.

The mug's lettering comes off on your hand.

I like the tin a lot and figure that will outlast the rest of the set. I will try the soap someday.

A fun item.

Although Burma-Shave started as an alternative to soap and brush I believe they did get into shaving soap eventually.

Shaving brushes
You'll soon see 'em
On a shelf
In some museum
Burma-Shave

Turns out they were largely correct. They just didn't realize they would be on the next shelf!

Oh, yes, one of them had a Wal-Mart price tag ($8.97).

I got the set a few years ago at Wal Mart. I still have the brush, it sure looks bad and cheap, but the mug is pretty good. The lettering on mine stayed on and I use it to soak my brush in hot water prior to shaving.

tg16 said:

I got the set a few years ago at Wal Mart. I still have the brush, it sure looks bad and cheap, but the mug is pretty good. The lettering on mine stayed on and I use it to soak my brush in hot water prior to shaving.

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Did you ever put it in a dishwasher? I think that was my mistake.

Oh yeah, does your brush match the picture on the tin or is the handle solid red?

Robert Paulsen said:

I own three of those sets. It's my review on Amazon.

Note that the brush that comes with it appears to be a down-grade from the one pictured on the tin. All three sets I have look like they were opened before shipping and I wonder if that's because the brushes got switched.

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The picture showed a solid red handled brush, the kit I received had a two-tone ivory/red brush. It's all the same, but I liked the solid red one a little more. Shrug.

poindexter said:

The picture showed a solid red handled brush, the kit I received had a two-tone ivory/red brush. It's all the same, but I liked the solid red one a little more. Shrug.

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The picture on Amazon shows the solid red, but the tin itself shows a two-tone. The solid red is so bad I thought the two-tone must be better!

I've had one of those mugs for the better part of 10 years (I've never put it in the dishwasher though). I used one of the solid red handled brushes for close to that long too. It was really shedding so I got a new VDH brush that is working just fine now (yeah, I'm cheap). When I got the Burma Shave set, that was pretty much all you could find in the stores if you wanted to use a brush to make lather. It was my second brush, someone gave me the first and I used it until the knot fell out. I didn't even know badger brushes existed until I joined these boards last summer.

Robert Paulsen said:

The picture on Amazon shows the solid red, but the tin itself shows a two-tone. The solid red is so bad I thought the two-tone must be better!

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I have one of those sets. I have been using the mug and brush from it for I have no idea how long. The mug never lost any markings. The boar brush shedded for a while but hasn't lost a hair in the last 5-6 years I don't think and remained in daily use until a week ago when I finally bit the bullet and got an Omega boar.

MikeLip said:

I have one of those sets. I have been using the mug and brush from it for I have no idea how long. The mug never lost any markings. The boar brush shedded for a while but hasn't lost a hair in the last 5-6 years I don't think and remained in daily use until a week ago when I finally bit the bullet and got an Omega boar.

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I took another look at the brushes in the three sets I have. The brush is a little nicer than I remembered. The brush in the one I opened before had the bristles sticking off to a slight angle and it just made it look bad. Perhaps a bit of quality control. So, I decided tonight's SOTD will include the Burma-shave soap and brush! (I shave at night.)

Robert Paulsen said:

I took another look at the brushes in the three sets I have. The brush is a little nicer than I remembered. The brush in the one I opened before had the bristles sticking off to a slight angle and it just made it look bad. Perhaps a bit of quality control. So, I decided tonight's SOTD will include the Burma-shave soap and brush! (I shave at night.)

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Tell you what - after 5-6 years, that brush feels OK!

Please see http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=993935&posted=1#post993935

DunEdinRanger said:

That set up was my start into the world of DE Shaving. Because it was cheap I got two students to try it, and they are still on that first puck of soap.

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crocto said:

i'm afraid to ask how long ago this was!

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Fall 2008. They shave about once a week.

I am reviving this thread because I just got one of these sets off the bay. I figured that for less than $8 I couldn't go wrong. Two questions how old is this set? Clearly it is a modern recreation of an old Burma Shave set but I'd like to know when these were made (1980's?). Also how does the soap shave? I noticed that sodium tallowate was the first ingredient which is always a good sign!