Thread: Mugs...noob?

If you want to collect mugs that are also useful, look into occupational mugs. These were the mugs that people kept at the barbershop and were painted with just their name or a portrait of their occupation. Be prepared to spend a lot of money collecting these.

If you have some near you, check out "flea markets" you'd be surpised what shows up. Also, stop at gargae sales or estate sales.
Antique shops too. You'll find many times, someone has "beat you too it".

Personally, I use an ugly hand-made pottery mug that is perfect for building lather. Antique shops can be a great resource. Luckily, the AD to collect shaving mugs has not bitten me and I can not tell you how many mugs I have passed up at antique shops as I'm too busy looking for razors or stones.

Here are some sites that may help you get started.

Have fun.

The Shaving Mug Review: Occupational Shaving Mugs: Boxers

Barber Shop Memorabilia

Amazon.com: The Best of Shaving Mugs (A Schiffer Book for Collectors) (9780764312359): Keith Estep: Books

I'll take a better pic of the 2 I use but will give You a idea... I mainly use the small mug in the back ground for lather and the big one to hold warm water to keep the lather nice and warm. So times I'll use the Big one like I did Today, but the lather wasn't as warm as it would have been if I had the big as the heater and the small one for lather..

Save an 'AD' and get a scuttle. Ones enough. More money for razors that way!

I really like mugs from Seaforth (no longer in business). They were an Old Spice/drugstore type of product from the late 30's/early 40's, and they had the coolest stoneware (and later milk glass) mugs and jugs for other grooming lotions etc. The opening is a bit smallish, but i really like the heft of them. I even got a magazine ad to match the set I won (with unused soap in the mug) and put up in the shave den.

eBay: seaforth shave

I am using a rice bowl. It has a great shape, good size and it's cheap. ($5 or less) There is a really nice Asian market near where I live and they have an isle full. Many are made out of porcelain or bone china.

Almost anything will work, but an authentic antique barber shop mug certainly is a nice way to store your soap. When I started collecting pre-ebay, they were almost impossible to turn up, and even the basic mugs with just an owners name in gold were typically very expensive. Yes, occupational mugs are cool, but if you're only looking to spend, say, $25.00, you can pick up a nice floral with a name on ebay. Look at lots of the mugs and you'll learn to recognize the pattern and shape of the old mugs, which was basically the same, with the owner's name in large letters. The mugs that say "Policeman", "Lawyer" and such, are not authentic occupational mugs. A real occupational mug will have an image depicting a trade or trade related object, and the owners name. But again, occupational mugs are usually expensive, and a basic named mug can often be more attractive, and certainly just as useful.

THE SHAVING MUG | The Antique Barber

I have been collecting mugs for years and using them. I have found the best ones for using are not too tall, have a bottom the aprox size of the soap puck and are larger at the top than the bottom, so that it is easier to use the brush and not hit the sides. If they are too tall, then it is also hard to use the brush and get a good lather. The old spice mugs are some of the best IMHO.