Thread: Barbers Bottles

In the many hours I spend scouring ebay for deals I started to notice all these wonderful bottles.

I think they look really cool, and the idea of pouring my witch hazel out of a corked bottle rather than a plastic flip top just appeals to me.

I know this is more the area or a collector rather than a shaver but still. I'm curious, do any of you have, or collect barber bottles? What are your thoughts on them?

Post your pics if you got em.


380109971403 If your curious that is the item number to a set I just picked up. They're a bit floral but the nicer bottles seem to go for more than a W&B chopper.

I don't collect them but I have several clear glass Koken Bottles and few clambroth bottles from the 1950s that I use. At one time I was thinking about collecting them however to do that you have to compete with bottle collectors and some of those bottles cost enough to buy several nice razors. I passed on that idea.

Be careful on eBay because what some sellers call barber bottles are nothing more than fancy old vases or old perfume bottles, or worse, fakes. And often, if you don't know your stuff, you'll get taken.

The item number you posted is a good example. Those are actually dressing table bottles. Possibly used for toilette water or something similar, but were for home use. Those would not have been found in any barbershop, at least not typically. Realistically, a barber could have used a Coke bottle for aftershave and technically it would be a 'barber bottle." The bottles here could have been used by a barber, but they are not barber bottles.

When collectors talk about barber bottles, they are referring to what would have been available from a barber supply catalog such as Koken, or Theo Koch's. Those two bottles were probably not.

Item Nos: 260377826132, 250389943886, 260377594563, 310129968525, 150332759974, 330314581144, 120395166472, and 350180919944 are all true barber bottles.

The linked photo below shows some very collectible barber bottles:

http://www.bottlebooks.com/BARBER.jpg

Notice the two tall bottles in the back row. Those are Whithall Tatum bottles that can easily go for over $2000.00 on eBay or at an antiques auction. The Tatum barber bottles are considered the cream of the crop to collectors.

I recall when I used to go to the barber in the 1950s they used either the Koken Bottles for water and witchazel or the milkglass bottles that had script on them saying water, witchazel, hair tonic and a few other things. They mostly used Pinaud scents then and they used the glass bottles those products came in.

The really fancy, hand-blown art glass barber bottles were popular during the late 19th century up until about the 1920's. During the 1920's the bottles became more plain as the concept of "hygienic" barber shops became more popular. It was about that time that the milk glass, or "clam broth" barber bottles came into use.

The big barber supply companies offered barber bottles in clear glass, milk glass, and porcelain. They were available either plain or decorated, with customers names, and with the intended content such as "Bay Rum", "Witch Hazel", "Shampoo", "Sea Foam", "Water", and others.

The bottles used a separately sold squirt top called a bottle "tube" made of either German porcelain or pewter. The tube was held in the mouth of the bottle via a cork. Bottles with tubes included are more desirable to many collectors, although bottles without tubes are still desirable depending on the bottle.


Scott

Scott, thanks for all the info.

It sucks that the two I got aren't true barber bottles, but at least I didn't pay too much for them. Really as long as they hold my witch hazel I'll be a happy camper.

@ Spendur: Yeah, some of those bottles fetch quite a bit. I would love to have one of the tall amethyst bottles but there are a lot of razors and stones I would want more for the same price.