Baseball Shaving Mugs: Show Yours

[aelefson]

Hi-

I recently acquired two new baseball shaving mugs so I figured I would photograph those and the other two I own. The crossed bats ones are my newest examples. One has ring type bats and the other has a Y stitch ball which I believe dates them to pre 1900. I think my other two are circa 1910 but they are a little difficult to date accurately. They have come down a lot in price (my OK McGarrah one had a price tag for 2000.00 from many years ago on it) but are still really cool and fairly difficult to find. Please post any examples that you have.

Alan

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Hi-

I recently acquired two new baseball shaving mugs so I figured I would photograph those and the other two I own. The crossed bats ones are my newest examples. One has ring type bats and the other has a Y stitch ball which I believe dates them to pre 1900. I think my other two are circa 1910 but they are a little difficult to date accurately. They have come down a lot in price (my OK McGarrah one had a price tag for 2000.00 from many years ago on it) but are still really cool and fairly difficult to find. Please post any examples that you have. Alan

Wonderful!

[aelefson]

Thank you Hank!

[CarltonHendricks]

Alan...congratulations that's a beauty....I like the squared barrels...I just got my first occupational mug this last September of a bicycle racer...I did a feature on it and occupational shaving mugs as a whole...link below...
https://www.sportsantiques.com/c1890...having_mug.htm

[aelefson]

Thank you Carlton! Your bicycle one has great graphics and history! I really appreciate your article. Two of mine are made by the same maker as yours. I too had gone years admiring them from afar and did not buy my first one until four years ago (Betzel). I then got another one (Peterson) about a year ago from a dealer friend. The crossed bats ones (There were 3 in the collection. I will sell or trade one but I am keeping the more interesting ones that are pictured above) came from a collection I recently purchased. It is amazing to me the variety of these that were made.

Alan

[UKCardGuy]

Those shaving mugs are great. Thanks for sharing the photos. When I see them in an auction, I add them to my watch list but I always seem to other priorities.

For those who might not be familiar with the history of these:
The history of shaving mugs is really interesting (at least I think so). In the late 1800s up to 1920, barbers would sell customers a shaving mug. At the time, common thought was that sharing shaving soap led to shaving rash so everyone wanted their own shaving mug. Almost every man owned a shaving mug either at home or at his barber shop. The barbers would keep each customers shaving mug on a rack and they'd get your mug when you came in for a shave. If you moved to a new town, your barber would even arrange to have your shaving mug shipped to your new barber.

Because shaving mugs remained with a man for many years, they tended to be personalized with their family name and images of their occupation. Because some occupations were much more unusual in those days (like baseball), those mugs can attract premiums.

[perezfan]

Great information Gary, and excellent pickups, Alan! IMHO, these are an underrated segment of the hobby (which can be said of so much early baseball memorabilia).

Love the graphics on these, and condition looks great too... Great post!

[aelefson]

Thank you Gary and Mark! I really appreciate the historical information from Gary's post and Carlton's article.

Alan