Help Solve a 50 Year Old Family Mystery!

July 28, 2010 11:17 PM

Help me find a vintage shaving brush set issued by the US Navy circa 1948-1950!

When my Grandpa got out of the US Navy in 1948 - 1950, he had a shaving brush set (shaving brush/razor/cup?) that he'd been issued by the Navy. He was very proud of this and used it frequently. However, one day he found that the brush had been shaved bald, either by one of his 5 kids (my dad/aunts/uncle) or by one of the kids friends. To this day, the person who did this has never confessed and it's something that all the kids accuse each other of (in good fun!) and everyone speculates about. Well! This October we're celebrating my grandparents 60th anniversary & their 80th birthdays with a HUGE party and we'd like to FINALLY solve this mystery. Also, we'd like to replace that brush set.

I need help finding this set. Ideally, we'd like to get 5 sets, but I figure one will do. I don't know what the set looks like nor do I even know where to look for one. For obvious reasons, I can't ask my grandparents what the set looked like and nobody else really remembers. So my question is what does this set look like and where can I find one?

tl;dr: I need help finding a shaving brush set that my Grandpa, getting out of the US Navy in 1948-1950, would have been issued by the Navy.

posted by TurquoiseZebra to grab bag (5 answers total)

Here's a WWII era Ever-Ready Shaving Brush, available for $20 from this site (scroll down about halfway through the page).
posted by amyms at 11:28 PM on July 28, 2010

Heh, so all five kids will come clean and give him a new brush? I'd like to see that!

You could try asking in the shaving forums, in no particular order Badger & Blade, The Shave Den or ShaveMyFace.

ebay is the goto place for old shaving paraphernalia. You wouldn't believe what people pay for a sixty year old safety razor.
posted by stereo at 12:23 AM on July 29, 2010

I would set up a saved search on eBay for "USN Shaving Kit" and call around to the old style Army Navy stores to see if they have one or can get one for you. Realize they are probably going to want to charge you the most they can if they have one, but $50 does not sound unreasonable.
posted by mlis at 12:25 AM on July 29, 2010

Have you contacted the Navy Department Library? It's possible that they have archived regulations/purchase orders for the years in question.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:22 AM on July 29, 2010

Yeah, post on Shave My Face an "in search of" request. Lots of vets and collectors (and ol' softies!) who might be able to help. But it may be hard to assemble five of these.

In fact, if you MeMail me the details, I can post in the "Buying & Selling" forum oj your behalf (since you need a minimum number of posts elsewhere on the site for that privilege).
posted by wenestvedt at 6:36 AM on July 29, 2010