My grandfather's scuttle

My mom happened to still have this around. This was her father's (appx. 1886-1966) shaving mug. He died the year I was born, and we don't have many pictures of him or things that belonged to him.

Grandpa's farm house didn't have running hot water, so he was definitely a boil-the-water-and-fill-the-scuttle shaver. I don't think he used a straight, at least not in my mom's memory. But, she was the last of a bunch of kids and it's not impossible he had used a straight when he was younger.

It's clearly made with a narrower brush in mind than my wide-spray badger (hm, maybe a new brush is in my future). The whole mug is small, even a bit smaller than most of my coffee mugs. It's not easy to "swirl" the brush without scraping off against that straight horizontal wall.

If you used it, how would you make the most of a scuttle like this?

I get the impression that old-time shaving brushes must have been smaller or didn't bloom outwards like modern ones. My main brush is 3" wide, there is no way I could fit it into the "wetting" spout of the scuttles I see on ebay.

You could try pumping instead of swirling, like the gent in the "amazing shaving video" thread. He seems to do fine using something like an eggcup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruuuv...eature=related

As for the mug, that is a most intriguing piece of ceramics. I'd insure it if I were you.
I guess I'd fill it all the way (with a piece of soap in the compartment) with hot water for a minute and soak the brush in it. Then pour all the water out and use only the water left in the brush (some of which I' let run into the mug). Clearly this is an item for face-latherers.

As for the guy in the video, he performs the best, quickest and coolest shave I have ever seen. That is perfection IMO. Most admirable.

Greetings
oskar