Thread: Gallery of old occupational shaving mugs

Here is a listing of an auction completed last month with many great old occupational mugs. The pictures are great and it's fun to see the variety and quality. Not being a collector, I can only guess why some sold for less than $50 while others commanded > $5,000. I suspect the usual antique variables of condition, rarity, perhaps cross-domain interest (e.g. the one belonging to John L. Sullivan no doubt appealed to barber and boxing collectors...though it sold under the pre-auction estimate ). Imagine this mug rack with 90 of those mugs in it! Great old stuff.

I would like to get an occupational mug someday. Either I will learn, or I will have one made for me. Either way I think it would be cool to have one for a web designer.

Matt

Many factors determine the value of an "occupational" or "trade" mug as they were originally called.

I noticed that some of the occupationals in the auction are "occupational by courtesy." These are mugs that instead of having a graphic of a working dentist, for instance, or of dentists tools, the mug has only the name of the owner, "Dr. John Doe," and the title "dentist." These often sell for much less than a mug showing a dentist, or any trade, at work.

Other factors include rarity of occupation. Doctors, car salesmen, and airplane pilots were not as common as blacksmiths and butchers at the turn of the 20th century. They are therefore harder to find, commanding higher prices for collectors.

Also detail, artistic rendering, size of graphic are all considerations determining value. In fact, some mugs, if the graphic is rare enough, will sell for a high price even if damaged.

I also saw some occu-frat mugs that not only depict the owners trade, but society affiliation as well. These can sometimes be very valuable based on the factors above.

It's not a hobby to just casually dive into. It is easy to be fooled and get taken advantage of. There are lots of fakes out there that only an experienced collector will spot. Some unwary collectors spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on counterfeit mugs and don't know it. And, many sellers either knowingly, or by ingnorance, call a mug "occupational" when in reality it is not. I see this on ebay frequently.

It's a fun hobby, just make sure you do your "homework."


Scott

I thought I'd add this as some might find it interesting.

One late night a few years back, I was suffering a bad case of insomnia and browsing on ebay. I came across a mug with a "buy it now" price of $25.00. The photo was poor, but it looked like a common saloon or bartenders mug.

My first thought was "why $25 for an occupational mug?" I thought something must be wrong with it or maybe it was a fake. But why would someone go to all the trouble of faking a mug and sell it for only $25??

I decided I'd better click the "buy it now" before some other insomniac mug collector beat me to it. After all, $25.00 wasn't going to hurt me either way.

Turns out it was a very nice "hardware store" mug with a very detailed and atypical graphic. Apparently the seller didn't know, or didn't care, what it was.

I kept it in my collection for a few years and enjoyed it. Then I decided to put it up for a 7 day auction on ebay. It sold to a barber museum for $1500.00.

Not bad for a $25.00 investment.


Scott