Thread: Spanish American War Shaving Kit

I never had much interest in shaving kits until I saw this one. The picture on the cover is from the Battle of Manila Bay and the cruiser is the USS Olympia. The flag ship of Admiral Dewey who made famous the phase 'You may fire when ready Gidley'. She was the only cruiser in her class and I believe she is the only surviving ship from that war. So much for the history lesson.
It comes with a nice 5/8 wedge with an etched show face. It appears to have never been honed. Oak Razor Works is stamped on the tang. Joseph Allen & Sons worked from there so I could be from him. I do not know if other makers worked from there.The mug is in wonderful condition with no crazing or chips and a mirror is stored inside the cover. Alas the shaving brush is missing. I'll have to find something appropriate.
Can anyone school me on these kits? Where they designed for travel or did they sit on a dresser?

That's really cool karlej. I love the razor in there too. Looks like bone scales. It looks more like a travel kit to me but i could be wrong. Very nice find!!!

Could we get a better shot of the mug?

Olympia is the oldest surviving iron warship in the world, she was nearly scrapped for the WWII efforts. She is currently in Philadelphia and well worth visiting. www.phillyseaport.org

Very cool, hard to believe it's all in such good shape considering how exposed it all looks.
Would you say that everything is pretty snug?

Originally Posted by adamkavanagh

Very cool, hard to believe it's all in such good shape considering how exposed it all looks.
Would you say that everything is pretty snug?

I love that razor! I would keep it as a collectors piece & not even use it unless if it was shave ready, I MIGHT shave with it at least once!

Cool setup

Very very nice set. Hope to learn more about the brush for that period :<0)

Close to home, the Olympia at this moment is only a few miles from me. There's a big push currently to try to get funds together to save her.

im not sure about the history but i recently picked up this razor because the name dewy was so similar to my nickname dooey. it has a few chips and is in the restore pile. but an interesting piece of history and the fact that they used razors and shaving gear as commemorative pieces. was it to encourage well groomed moustaches such as the admiral himself sported??

I love this!! The bone scales are in superb condition. A beautiful set. Jealous.