I was up at my brother's this weekend, helping celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary, and he gave me our grandfather's shaving mug. Long before I discovered straight razors, I used a drugstore boar's hair brush and shaving soap. I think I've used a brush and soap for about 20 years, and my mug that whole time has been a tin camping cup, because they are unbreakable.

But in honor of Hilare LaBarre, my mother's stepfather, a native of Quebec and early citizen of Fort Benton, Montana, where he ran a livery stable until he converted it into a Dodge sales and repair dealership in the 1920s, I melted one of Collen's soap cakes in it and will be using it. I used one of her excellent summer sale soaps, Yuzu, and I figure this is the first time the mug has been used since the early 1960s, when Hilare died. It's nice to encorporate a bit of family history into my shaving routine!

Dan