Record Breakers: The Aeronaut and The Ambulance Mugs

 

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The record for an occupational mug was broken twice when this aeronaut mug flew to $45,000.

From Antiques and the Arts:

W. Yoder Auction Sets World Record For Shaving Mug Collection - March 25th, 2008

Wautoma, Wisconsin - It was standing room only at the Deforest Comfort Inn Convention Center where Wayne Yoder conducted a sale on February 9. On the auction block were the complete occupational shaving mugs, stoneware and art pottery collections of Jeffery Skou. Many states were represented with attendees from Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa, New York and Missouri, not to mention Wisconsin. Many out of state people were also bidding over the phone.

It did not take long for an ambulance occupational mug, which is one of only two known, to set a new world record price of $29,000, beating the previous auction record of $22,500. Then, just an hour and a half later, that new occupational mug record was broken when a one-of-a-kind aeronaut mug flew to $45,000, driven by some competitive bidding.

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It did not take long for occupational mug records to fall when this ambulance mug came up. One of only two known, and in excellent condition, it sold for $29,000, setting a new record.

The Barber Shop at Shelburne Village, Vermont

All of these images are from a Picasa Photoset by Emma.

Occupational Mug | Farmer?

Occupational Mug | Printer

Occupational Mug | Liveryman

Occupational Mug | Blacksmith

Occupational Mug | Railroad

Occupational Mug | Photographer

Occupational Mug | Mortician

Occupational Mug | Telephone Operator

Occupational Mug | Musician | T. N. Girjalva

All of these images are from a Picasa Photoset by Emma.

Photographic Mug & Female Barbers | Samson & Delilah

 

Photographic Mug | Female "Barber" | Magg E. Clifton

A lady barber's occupational shaving mug, porcelain with a slightly erotic photographic transfer of a scantily clad female barber preparing to shave a customer, teasingly leaning forward, much to the excitement of the man. Gilt name along foot Magg E. Clifton. The scene on mug was first used in a comic stereoview card. From Prices4antiques.com

Roseburg Lady Barber | 1911

Barbers in Seattle joined two gender-separate unions.
These women belonged to the Lady Barbers Union
University of Washington, Special Collections Library

 Coloured Etching by R. Newton | 1791

 Wellcome Library, London

Men being shaved and having their hair cut, styled and crimped by various male and female barbers.

 Coloured Etching | 1787
 Wellcome Library, London

A female barber shaving a man; a male assistant standing on the right holds a "puff lather" bowl. [ Note the Samson and Delilah in the background. ]

Copperplate Engraving by Matham | Samson and Delilah | c. 1613

Delilah was approached by the lords of the Philistines, to discover the secret of Samson's strength, "and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver". Three times she asked Samson for the secret of his strength, and three times he gave her a false answer. First he told her "If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.". Then he told her "If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.". A third time he told her "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web". On the fourth occasion he gave her the true reason: that he did not cut his hair in fulfillment of a vow to God; and Delilah, when Samson was asleep on her knees, called up her man to shave off the seven locks from his head, then betrayed him to his enemies: "the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house".

Some consider one of the false secrets given by Samson, that his strength would leave him if his hair were woven into a cloth, to be reminiscent of arcane woman's magic of the art of weaving that is also inherent in the myths of Penelope, Circe, Arachne. 

From Wikipedia: Delilah

The Female Barber | Mezzotint by J. Dixon

 Wellcome Library, London

Occupational Shaving Mug: Arnold Rothstein: The Man Who Fixed the World Series

Occupational Shaving Mug | Arnold Rothstein

Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (January 17, 1882–November 4, 1928) was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of organized crime, the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, including "Meyer Wolfsheim" in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby; and "Nathan Detroit" in the Damon Runyon story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, which was made into the renowned musical Guys and Dolls.

Arnold Rothstein | 1928

On November 5, 1928, Arnold Rothstein was shot and mortally wounded while conducting some business affairs at Manhattan's Park Central Hotel. He died the next day at the Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital in Manhattan. The shooting was allegedly linked to a gambling event that Rothstein had participated in the previous month with several associates and acquaintances. According to underworld folklore, it was a spectacular three-day, high-stakes poker game held somewhere in Manhattan. Rothstein apparently experienced a cold streak with the cards and ended up owing $320,000 at the end of the game. However, Rothstein refused to pay the debt, claiming the game was fixed. The hit was arranged to punish Rothstein for welshing on this debt. Gambler George "Hump" McManus was arrested for the murder, but later acquitted for lack of evidence. Rothstein, on his deathbed, refused to identify his killer, answering police inquiries with "You stick to your trade. I'll stick to mine" and "Me mudder did it". Rothstein was buried at Ridgewood's Union Field Cemetery in a Jewish Orthodox ceremony.

From Wikipedia: Arnold Rothstein

Some Unusual Shaving Mugs and Related From Flickr Photo Sets

I found these images of shaving mugs while searching through the photography site, Flickr. There are a few unusual finds:

Photographic Shaving Mug | Mrs. L. Jolly | 1910

We are not sure how to explain this shaving mug in our collection of objects decorated with photographs. It carries the photograph of a woman with the inscription "Mrs. L. Jolly - 1910 -" in gold. Is it Mrs. Jolly's mug? That seems unlikely since a lady who needed to shave would not want to do so in a barber shop. Perhaps it was a gift to Mr. Jolly or even a presentation for some event unrelated to shaving. From photo_history

 Occupational Shaving Mug | J. J. Little

During a time when men went into barber shops for a shave and a haircut, the sterility of the hand done shave, and the lathering cream from which it came was of some importance. This gave rise to a now old tradition of the shaving mug. If you were so inclined, you would have your own shaving mug at the shop, for you and ony you to use. This way, you were not using mugs that others were using. These mugs were further personalized, usually with one's occupation and name. In this case, Mr. Joseph J. Little's mug is shown, complete with hand painted O&W locomotive. Mr. Little's name appears in both of my 1904 & 1920 O&W Breed's Directories, and is listed as living in Middletown with the occupation of Fireman. From NYO&W Ry. Collector

 

 Sal's Barber Shop | Pittsburgh

I was interested in the shelves that contained dozens of shaving cups. I said that I would like to take a shot of them and he was very obliging. He said that in the old, very old days, barbers would have shaving mugs for each of their customers on shelves like these behind the "bar."

It is his father's barbershop, in which his father was giving haircuts as recently as March. Now his son, shown above, is doing them (he closes at 3:30 on Saturday's, so get there early.) From EyeSpyPittsburgh

Barber Shop | Montoursville, Pennsylvania | ca. 1914

Bob Miller Picture in chair Bert Weaver. Barber with mustache Bruce Marshall, other barber Clarence Zimmerman. This is where First Nat Bank is now / about 1914. Bruce Marshall was my great-grandfather.

On the wall behind the men is an election poster: "For President / For Vice President" - Woodrow Wilson and running mate Thomas R. Marshall. From Flickr: Joe Holmes

 Source: Jeremy Brooks

I thought this next piece was amusing: a Shaving Mug Rebus Puzzle.

 

Barber's Puzzle | 1883 

From 19th century children's periodical "St. Nicholas Magazine." From Flickr: Al Q

 Occupational Shaving Mug | Fireman(?) 

Unusual theme for a barber shop shaving mug. Hand-painted with gilt lettering. Not personalized with name of shavee. From Flickr: firehousedawg

Source: Frank Petruzella

The caption for this photo indicates that most of the mugs are from the 1920s. Check out the Pool Player and the Light Bulb mug.

Source: bbum

Fraternal Shaving Mug: Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo

Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo Mug

Porcelain with polychrome painted Egyptian cat, whose tail is curled into the number 9, this being an all important number in the Order of the Hoo-Hoos, whose beliefs are grounded in the fighting of superstition and conventionalism. The Hoo-Hoos were founded in 1892 in Arkansas, and were a selective and small order, although nationally based. All of their functions, initiation fees and meeting dates were based around the number 9. This mug comes with a document on the order, and is marked Limoges, France. Minor gilt wear, otherwise excellent condition. Price Realized: $1,495.00. From Cowan's

❂

The International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, Incorporated is a fraternal and service organization whose members are involved in the forests products industry. Hoo-Hoo has members in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South Africa. It was founded in 1892 in Gurdon, Arkansas, USA by five business travelers who were returning from a meeting of the Arkansas Yellow Pine Manufacturer's Association, and had to wait several hours for their connecting train. They were joined by a local businessman. The first name suggested for the new organization was Ancient Order of Camp Followers, but the name Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo was selected instead.

The founders wanted the organization to be unconventional and unregimented. Its one aim would be to foster the health, happiness, and long life of its members.[1] In a spirit of fun, names for some of the officers were inspired by Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark. The chief executive officer of Hoo-Hoo is the Snark of the Universe (formerly the Grand Snark of the Universe). The Board of Directors includes the Chairman, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, the Seer of the House of Ancients and the Supreme Nines. The Supreme Nines include the Supreme Hoo-Hoo, Senior Hoo-Hoo, Junior Hoo-Hoo, Scrivenoter, Bojum, Jabberwock, Custocatian, Arcanoper and Gurdon. The Hoo-Hoo emblem is a black cat with its tail curled into the shape of a figure nine. The order has a traditional chant that is called at the beginning and end of each meeting "Hoo-hoo, made a Poo-poo!" - Wikipedia: Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo

 Logo of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, 

featuring the black cat with its tail curled in a figure nine.

Interesting Facts from the Hoo Hoo International Website

• January 1892: It was decided to call the new order the "Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo", and not the "Ancient Order of Camp Followers" as one founding father suggested.   

• September 1892: The first Hoo-Hoo convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri. The total membership of the order was 167.

• September 1906: The first membership card was issued. Membership fee was increased from 99 cents to $1.65 (99 cents for dues and 66 cents for subscription to the Bulletin).

• January 1909: The first official Hoo-Hoo flag was exhibited during a special concatenation in New Orleans, Louisian

• July 1921: The first establishment of an independent club when the Atlanta Hoo-Hoo Club No. 1 (now the Dick Wilson/Atlanta Hoo-Hoo Club No. 1) adopted a constitution and bylaws and voted to meet monthly.

• March 1924: First club outside the United Stated was established in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - Winnipeg Hoo-Hoo Club No. 24.

• May 1924: Detroit Hoo-Hoo Club No. 28 conducted the largest concatenation in Hoo-Hoo's history with 260 kitten

• 1962: First club in Australia formed - Adelaide Hoo-Hoo Club No. 212.

 Constitution and By-Laws of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo

and List of Officers and Members | 1901

In Hotel Hall in Gurdon, the men set up the basic tenets of the order. Hoo-Hoo was to be an organization comprising men with high ideals, and the order’s motto became “Health, Happiness, and Long Life.” The group (led by Johnson) decided that the board of directors would be called the “Supreme Nine.” The names of the directors were: Snark of the Universe (president), Bojum (chaplain), Scrivenoter (secretary), Gurdon (sergeant-at-arms), Senior Hoo-Hoo, Junior Hoo-Hoo, Custocacian, Arcanoper, and Bandersnatch (later changed to Jabberwock). Some of these names were derived from Lewis Carroll’s Hunting of the Snark, which one of the founders had recently read. The name “Hoo-Hoo” also had a unique origin. In Kansas City, about a month before the founding of the order, Johnson had used the term “hoo-hoo” to refer to an unusual tuft of hair on the head of Charles McCarer. McCarer became the first Snark of the Universe and was given membership number one.

Consistent with their unconventionality, the group chose as its mascot a black cat with its tail curved into the number nine. Originally, membership in Hoo-Hoo was to be limited to 9,999 members. As the order increased in popularity, this number was changed to 99,999. Meetings were held on the ninth day of the ninth month at nine minutes after the ninth hour. Annual dues were $9.99, and the initiation fee was $0.99.

After its humble beginnings in Gurdon, the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo grew tremendously. The first club established outside the United States was founded in Canada in 1924, and other groups sprouted up in places as far away as Australia. Though the Hoo-Hoo experienced a slump from 1929 to 1938, when membership dropped to around 700, the order recovered, and membership began to rise again.

Two U.S. presidents have had membership in Hoo-Hoo. Theodore Roosevelt was given the reserved membership number 999 for his work promoting the importance of forests. Warren G. Harding, membership number 14,945, was “concatenated” in 1905.

- Encyclopedia of Arkansas History

Dance of the Hoo-Hoo (1898)

This delightful folk rag, which is available on the "Lester Levy" website, was written in honor of "The Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo" (the cover has a replica of their official symbol). According to its website TCOHH is, "the oldest industrial Fraternal Organization in existence in the USA" (being founded in Jan. 1892 as a "public relations department of the lumber industry"). From Silent Porn Star

 The only other Hoo Hoo mug I have ever seen.

Source: Fraternally, Yours by Bernie Lucko

Occupational Shaving Mugs: Boxers

Double Shaving Mug | John L. Sullivan | 1909

This double shaving mug belonging to John L. Sullivan, Prizefighter, porcelain with gilt lettering and banding: John L. Sullivan World's Champion Heavyweight in Old English lettering; verso with the inscription Presented by Robt. J. Kideney Buffalo, NY in script (Kideney was the developer of Wildroot Hair Tonic). Underside of one cup bearing a hand-painted monogram (possibly the presenter's) with the year _9; other cup having a partially legible Buffalo NY maker's mark. - From Prices4Antiques

 A cigarette trading card of Sullivan produced in late 1886

On July 8, 1889, an estimated 3000 spectators boarded special trains for the secret location, which turned out to be Richburg, a town just south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The fight began at 10:30 the following morning, and it looked as if Sullivan was going to lose, especially after he vomited during the 44th round. But the champion got his second wind after that, and Kilrain's manager finally threw in the towel after the 75th round. - From Wikipedia: John L.Sullivan

Boxer Shaving Mug | Charles Hitte | Early 1900s

A top entry is the boxing-themed personal shaving mug of Charles Hitte, a celebrated turn of the 20th century pugilist who died tragically and ironically of a non-boxing-related injury. In a New York Times report published Jan. 19, 1905, Hitte's throat was cut by one Joe Gosha, a knife-wielding oyster opener with whom he had quarreled outside a hotel in downtown Albany. The Hitte shaving mug is unquestionably authentic, said Morphy. “We have an old photo of the mug, which appeared on the cover of Ringside magazine in the 1950s,” he said. Sold for $7000.00. - From Antiques and the Arts

 

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Boxer Shaving Mug | Sharkey  | 1917

This mug belonged to Thomas Sharkey, a world famous boxer circa 1900. He fought in 2 world championship fights! Green wrap, Felda Germany mark on bottom. Sold for $4000. - From W. Yoder Auctions

"Sailor" Tom Sharkey (November 26, 1873 - April 17, 1953) was a boxer who fought two fights with heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. Sharkey's recorded ring career spanned from 1893 to 1904. He is credited with having won 40 fights (with 37 KOs), 7 losses , and 5 draws. Sharkey was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. - From Wikipedia: Thomas Sharkey

Boxer / Wrestler Shaving Mug | Harry Israel

Champion Boxer/ Wrestler's Occupational Shaving Mug with Photographic Transfer, porcelain with polychrome floral surround and a photographic transfer of fighter and wrestler Harry Israel, whose name is represented in gilt. Written document with mug states that Israel was from Cincinnati and fought "all over the Midwest," encountering the likes of famous fighters as Sullivan and McCoy, though apparently not in an "official" match up. Israel's widow also had a medal "Israel vs Smith" for "mixed wrestling" and dated "July 4, 93" (not included). When he wasn't fighting, Israel reportedly owned a saloon on Vine & McMillan Streets in Cincinnati. Mug with maker's mark T & V Limoges, France and decorator's mark Fred Dolle. - From Live Auctioneers

 

Prizefighter Mug | Billy C. Duncan 

New Jersey Prizefighter's Occupational Shaving Mug, porcelain with polychrome painted scene with two boxers engaged in a fight, and a donkey kicking its hind legs upward on the side of Billy C. Duncan, whose name is written in gilt. According to a document accompanying the mug, Duncan was a prizefighter and semi-professional baseball player from Mountain View, who died in 1974. Marked Felda China, Germany. - From Live Auctioneers

Boxer Shaving Mug | Shernoff  | 1917

Antique Roadshow: Shaving Mug Collection

[ source ]

Click Here to Watch the Appraisal Video 

From Roadshow Archive | Shaving Mug Collection:

GUEST: I got them for the most part in New York and Pennsylvania in the middle '30s--in, uh, maybe '34, '35, '36. My dad was an oil man, and he became a technical writer for oil trade journals. And so, freelance, he could travel when he wanted to. And so every summer we would travel to a particular petroleum area, and twice we... maybe three times, we went back to New York and Pennsylvania, uh, where the birthplace of U.S. Oil was.

APPRAISER: I mean, in those days, the barbershops still had these, plenty of them on the shelves?

GUEST: Oh, yes, yes, in fact, in New York, went into a barbershop, and he must have had 200 of them on shelves in the back. Each man had his own personal barber mug, and he would go in daily to the barbershop. And then, they slowly, you know, died off and so forth. And so this one place, I said, "Uh, how much do you want for them?" Well, the standard going price was 25 cents, which is what I made when I worked for an hour, you know?

APPRAISER: Right.

GUEST: So, I only got three or four of them from him.

APPRAISER: You made a great investment. It's a great collection of shaving mugs or barber's mugs.

GUEST: Thank you.

APPRAISER: You've even got one of the old shaving brushes, which I like. This one is more of a domestic shaving mug, the kind that you would have at home, which has the little area here to froth up the soap in. So this is not, strictly speaking, a barber's mug. But the rest of them are. They were made mostly in Germany or in France. I'd like to show you one of the few that has a maker's mark on it.

GUEST: Oh, thank you.

APPRAISER: Uh, this one here has just the initials "C.F.H." Charles Field Haviland.

GUEST: Oh, it's a Haviland.

APPRAISER: Who was a well-known porcelain maker in Limoges in France. And this one probably dates from the late 1880s or through the 1890s. And I like this one especially. And this really relates to your father's business. It's an oil derrick, and it's what we call an occupational mug.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: Now, some of the ones you've got are not occupational. This one, for instance, is a typical one. It has just the name of the gentleman on it, and that's pretty much it, with a little gold border. It's worth today perhaps $100, something like that. The occupational ones are where the value lies. And it depends on the rarity or the appeal of the occupation. This one-- which I think is perhaps the best one here... I talked to some of my colleagues about what we thought it could be worth. We've seen very few of these oil occupational ones. We think this one alone could be worth over $1,000, or perhaps over $1,500.

GUEST: Oh! So my two bits is a pretty good investment.

APPRAISER: Not a bad investment back then. The railway ones-- always very popular. Certainly in the high hundreds-- $600, $700, $800 apiece for the nice railway-related occupational mugs. This is not occupational. Quite common, but still worth $300, $400.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: I love this one. Do you know what this is?

GUEST: For a dentist, I presume.

APPRAISER: You see that? It's a dentist. I looked at that a couple of times before I could figure out that it's a set of teeth.

GUEST: Oh, it's a set... Oh!

APPRAISER: So this gentleman, Mr. Brooks, was a dentist. (laughing) Great occupational one, and again, worth perhaps as much as $1,000.

GUEST: Ooh. Ooh.

APPRAISER: This is a rare one. We think, um, if this all came at auction as a single group, you'd have a value here of at least $7,000, and maybe as much as $9,000.

GUEST: Ooh. Just these that are here?

APPRAISER: Just these that are here.

GUEST: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

APPRAISER: Oh, you're welcome.

How long before I can get a haircut?

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A guy sticks his head into a barber shop and asks, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looks around the shop and says, "About 2 hours."

The guy leaves.

A few days later the same guy sticks his head in the door and asks, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looks around at the shop full of customers and says, "About 3 hours."

The guy leaves.

A week later the same guy sticks his head in the shop and asks, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looks around the shop and says, "About an hour and a half."

The guy leaves.

The barber who is intrigued by this time, looks over at a friend in the shop and says, "Hey, Bill. Follow that guy and see where he goes."

A little while later, Bill comes back into the shop, laughing hysterically.

The barber asks, "Bill, where did he go when he left here?"

Bill looks up, tears in his eyes and says, "Your house!"