Thread: question on vintage scuttles

Ive been lo9king around for one of these scuttles just to give it a try. I do bowl lather now and then just to break up the routeen. I see these vintage scuttles have 3 holes in the top cup section. Wouldnt that make it harder to build lather in that part? Wouldnt the holes let lather seep down inside when you got hot water in the bottom. I mean, the rising heat would normally make the lather get running wouldnt it?

And whats with all the flowers painted on them. Didnt men use these? Or were scuttles for the ladies?

And while your building the lather, wouldnt you be squishing lather down thru the holes so your loosing lather whaile building it?

The bowl at the top with the 3 holes is where you place the puck in. Some pucks still come with a cupped bottom for that reason. Vintage scuttles are for face lathering.

Modern scuttles are different.

Bob

I also don't think the older style scuttles keep water hot like the modern Moss/Dirty Bird/Georgetown Pottery scuttles do. The brush openings on the older scuttles are small, fitting smaller boar brushes. I don't think large brushes like the Chubby would fit well.

There is a local antique store that has a scuttle for sale-labeled as an egg strainer.

That helps clear up my thought on this a lot.
Egg strainer. Ha. Thats a good one.

Jerry real men use their coffee cup for shaving then fill it with coffee afterwards! You know I have often wondered about all the flower type scuttles too. But there are quite a few out there with manly motifs too.

When I got on this forum, I had been face lathering for 40 years with the occasional old spice mug holding my soap. So after all the glorious talk of other worldly, heavenly lathers that were warm and was like an angel kissing your face I got me a couple of scuttles, Georgetown pottery and a SRD one. Both are nice and give something to that Sunday shave.

But I have dust collecting in them and face lathering us still my go to. Tv

Thanks TC. Ive thought about getting one but then again, i like face lathering. And if i want it warm or hot i just add a few drips of hot water while lathering. I do ise a coffee cup for soaking my brush while i shower. Its just gery thin so by the time i get out of the shower its not that warm any more.

Maybe what i really need is a super thick tiny crock/stoneware. Something that will hold just enough water and stay warm for the 5 to 7 min i shower. This all was just ideas. But i still dont get all the flowery scuttles i see on the bay.

Jerry, back in the old days men were much more in touch with their feminine side and that's why there are so many flowery scuttles on the bay!

Kidding aside, years back women also used shaving soaps and creams for shaving their underarms and legs, so my guess is that many of the flowery scuttles were made for women.

That flowery soap was the style plain and simple. I guess similar to old houses where they put up all that flowery wallpaper.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Ive been lo9king around for one of these scuttles just to give it a try. I do bowl lather now and then just to break up the routeen. I see these vintage scuttles have 3 holes in the top cup section. Wouldnt that make it harder to build lather in that part? Wouldnt the holes let lather seep down inside when you got hot water in the bottom. I mean, the rising heat would normally make the lather get running wouldnt it?

And whats with all the flowers painted on them. Didnt men use these? Or were scuttles for the ladies?

And while your building the lather, wouldnt you be squishing lather down thru the holes so your loosing lather whaile building it?

I will begin by answering the question about why there are flowers and frills on the vintage scuttles. Short answer: I don't know.

As for how they were intended to be use...I have done some reading on this subject. Scuttles were helpful back in the days when there was no running hot water in the bathrooms where men shaved. They heated water on the wood stove, poured the water in the lower chamber of the scuttle and set the brush in to warm. The upper chamber, as you note has holes in the bottom. This was to allow the puck to drain and dry. As others have noted...at one time pucks were smaller and would fit, or a larger puck could be cut into quarters or half and set in the upper bowl. The puck would be held in your hand, the brush would be loaded and then the puck set in the upper bowl to drain and dry until next use.

I use my scuttles often (I have two vintage scuttles) and I modify the use of mine. I fill my lower chamber with hot water, set my brush to soak and I squeeze a small dollop of a shaving cream on the inside the upper bowl. I then shower and when I am ready to shave my brush and cream are nicely warmed and I can "bowl" lather in the upper bowl. Yes, a small amount is squeezed through the holes...but not much. Or I can just sweep up the warmed cream on my brush and face lather. I never realized how nice it is to shave with warm lather and brush.

There was a potter recreating this style of scuttle and selling on ebay. They had 50's style pinups on them. Very cool IMO. Don't know if they are still offered